Aussie
Years ago

Brisbane Bullets future?

Does anyone else have concerns about the Bullets future?

Playing at the horrible Brisbane Convention and Entertainmant Centre, 4,000 capacity and rarely filling it up. Pretty bad for the 3rd largest city in Australia.

Very little activity from fans on Facebook.

It's a shame because, I believe, they have a great coach and 3 great assistance in Downer, Bruton and Mackinnon.

Also, Richard Clarke did and great job in NZ but appears to have little impact in Brisbane.

So why the lack of support and popularity? Is it simply not winning consistently? Lack of community engagement? Lack of funds? Or is there more too it?

I personally don't like the look of their future.

Thoughts?

Topic #42319 | Report this topic


Aussie  
Years ago

* sorry about the spelling errors

Reply #660512 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

NO one was interested in financially investing into a new franchise for a long period of time. it goes back to the NBL days and the (false belief IMO) that they "had to be there" because it was an important TV market.
Bleeding millions I assume.

Reply #660513 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Still early days. Takes a while for these things to pick up and become meaningful enough to people that they attend every game and discuss online each day.

Need some continuity with key players (including imports) for one thing.

They seem to lack a project player that fans can watch develop over time. Someone like McCarron or Creek.

Reply #660514 | Report this post


Aussie  
Years ago

They have Kenyon and Fullarton who could be great NBL players IMO.

They barely get 1 minute of court time.

No wonder young guys prefer College over the NBL in their teens

Reply #660515 | Report this post


AshT  
Years ago

A team that plays with more heart and don't throw away games through embarrassing save-it tactics would help a lot. Hopefully they can build of their latest form revival.

Reply #660517 | Report this post


AngusH  
Years ago

They are in dire need of some success. They are a pretty fun team to watch outside of all the throwing away leads business... All that money tied up in Bairstow really hurt them with his injuries, and that same cash thrown at an impact level import and it's probably a very different story for them.

I kinda feel like they have made similar mistakes to the Kings in terms of the balance of talent they've brought in. Not to the same degree, but similar enough to also account for some of their lack of success.

Reply #660518 | Report this post


NJS  
Years ago

Kenyon's been out for the last 6 weeks in a moon boot.

Living in Brisbane, they're being promoted more than I've ever known them to be since the very early 90's.

I think it comes down to winning... simple as that.
Brisbane people love a winner, and if they can start doing that we won't be having this conversation.

Hopefully that starts this afternoon in NZ. I keep waiting/hoping for everything to click.

Reply #660519 | Report this post


Reality  
Years ago

Bullets getting plenty of airtime and promotion around town as outside of Cricket and RWC final not a lot has been going on so they are getting a pretty clear crack at the average punter in SE QLD.

Biggest issue is without winning regularly the casual fan does other things as its a very outdoors culture up here compared to Melbourne and even Sydney as the weather is either perfect or bloody wet!

Give it more time and it will build but early signs aren't great to be honest

Reply #660521 | Report this post


NBL Fan  
Years ago

There is no benefit to becoming a member. Poor social media presence. Poorly scheduled games at the Entertainment Centre. Club doesn't respond to emails. Zero community/public engagement.

I haven't seen a whole lot of promotion either.

A general feeling of a team that cares about your wallet more than they care about you, which is true for all sports teams but at least they appreciate their fans.

Reply #660524 | Report this post


Aussie  
Years ago

"Living in Brisbane, they're being promoted more than I've ever known them to be since the very early 90's."

That's fantastic to hear, hope they keep it up

Reply #660525 | Report this post


Aussie  
Years ago

What is the participation rates like for kids playing basketball in Brissie?

Reply #660527 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

If LK's cash and efforts went into the Crocs instead of these muppets in Brisbane(who never wanted a team) you wouldn't have to be worried about Bris.

Reply #660540 | Report this post


LoveBroker  
Years ago

"If LK's cash and efforts went into the Crocs instead of these muppets in Brisbane(who never wanted a team) you wouldn't have to be worried about Bris."

Did you see the embarassing crowd numbers at the embarassing RSL club the Crocs were playing out of?

The reason you go to a smaller venue is so you don't need to curtain up the empty seats.

Reply #660541 | Report this post


NannasAlwaysRight  
Years ago

The current mix of teams is fine.
Brisbane in my opinion needs to be in the competition.
If Cairns has succeeded then Brisbane being the capital of the state should.
Groupon codes might need to be sent around to get a few people in.
Maybe its high time the rich clubs fork out for the struggling clubs. In good and bad times, everyone needs a little help.
Yes, NZ and Perth and Melbourne would be forced to shell out money but for the sake of the league, it might have to be factored in

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Groupon tix. JUst give em away like the old days.

Reply #660551 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Problems:

- poor community engagement
- poor game night experience
- poorly scheduled games

... among other things like a large number of members still not having received their passes.

Didn't help that the initial staff hired to run everything had no previous experience with basketball, and here we are.

A real shame as participation rates in SEQ have never been higher.

Reply #660556 | Report this post


skull  
Years ago

Patience....

Reply #660566 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Second year expansion team. It takes time.

Reply #660573 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

If LK's cash and efforts went into the Crocs instead of these muppets in Brisbane(who never wanted a team) you wouldn't have to be worried about Bris
Crocs got money from the league at varying points during their fade out. Brisbane is a better investment for the league.

Their roster is fairly competent, but entering during a talented period so going to be hard up against it in being a solid contender.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Bullets have now lost 12 consecutive road games. Including last season.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/brisbane-bullets-suffer-twelfth-straight-away-loss-to-new-zealand-breakers/news-story/429754a3c111f5f86f181d3ba1548292

Isaac the NBL owns the Bullets and there should be no reason that they should not be able to compete talent wise.

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tonsilzz  
Years ago

who cares. if bullets can't compete off the court then let then fold and find a team who can. should be no different than townsville crocs

Reply #660743 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

Except Fox didn't put anything in their TV contract about a Townsville team being necessary.

No Bullets, no Fox. No Fox, no sponsors.

Reply #660746 | Report this post


Jim Bert  
Years ago

The Brisbane market was frozen out for close to a decade. Give it time.

A boost in stadium infrastructure would help in the same way it did for Perth, although that's still some way off (see Brisbane Live proposal).

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Ben  
Years ago

Nothing wrong with stadiums imo, Southbank and Boondall serve their purposes well and can hold the fort for the time being.

Expecting healthy crowds to fight through godawful traffic and attend either venue on a school night for a 630pm tip-off is another thing. I live 10km from each and it takes me 90 minutes on a good run. Changing the start times to 730 would be a good step to fattening crowds.

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Haz  
Years ago

Seems to be a lot of easy and common sense solutions such as schduling tip off time, day of the week, promotion, engagement etc. So why arent these things implemented? What's being done about it?

Winning games is one thing and it would help, but if you can fix the things that are in your control then why dont they?

No denying Brisbane is a tough market. Even though the Bullets are essentially an expansion team that needs time to get going again, they still have a lot of history and have been around a long time. Most of which in the last 15 years havent been good at all.

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