Is this the first time in history a team has had a player lined up before a license?

Interesting but even if they push hard and expedite the process, I reckon they won't make 18/19 season since venues need to be set-up in advance. 19/20 is more realistic, in the meantime Crivelli and JVG probably calling Bogut every chance they get.

Steve2k, in the meantime, Bogut also gets older and potentially more brittle!

But it would be great for every club in the league. Drawcard player visiting their stadium twice a season plus more press for the NBL which can't hurt TV and sponsorship at all.

But a big budget team would be a threat to a number of teams keeping their best players.

Disturbing if true.
Referring to how infrequently LK allegedly changes his undies, I mean.

Would provide a real injection to the league.

it would be nice to supplement the 8 teams we currently have

Bogut also gets older and potentially more brittle!

If Essendon get a club then Victorian basketball can go and get fucked.

First United and now Essendon?

Ew and ewww.

Would they be affiliated in colours/name etc or only through admin and staff?

As a lifelong Essendon member and ex-Giants/Magic/Dragons supporter I would be thrilled with this. I could see the scenario where my friend who has little to no interest in bball (but follows soccer as well - Melb Victory) would develop an interest because a) I would drag him to games & b) he is a sports follower and would naturally be interested in anything Essendon related. Big potential.

It won;t matter how old Bogut is if the Bombers signed him...they'd have him on all the best supplements and he'd be like Bogut at the Bucks again!

3 teams in a 9 team comp wearing black and red...perfect

Essendon aint the only one

The AFL team is Geelong

well then there is another one to these two

Essendon? Seriously?

The only Victorian AFL team i'd want to see in the NBL is the Geelong Cats. And that's coming from a Richmond supporter.

Anyone know if Geelong have a decent arena to play bball? I doubt the NBL would accept anything less that 4000 capacity.

I believe AFL backed NBL team or two or three coming through is a brilliant idea.

As an Essendon member myself, I'm not sure how I feel about this.

On one hand, I feel that a team having the backing of an AFL club (Be it Essendon, Collingwood or whoever) would make it a more stable than some millionaire that could get bored in a couple of years with it.

However, at best you are surely only going to be able to target 15% of the Melbourne population? I can't see someone that follows another Melbourne AFL team choosing to follow Essendon in the NBL.

That was my main concern as well.

Mind you, taking the glass half full approach, it would only take a fraction of the people who attend Essendon AFL games to fill an NBL stadium, so if they can sell it as a way to support the club through all 12 months of the year then it's got potential.
Traditionally it wasn't always easy to sell basketball to footy people, but I think the American stigma is less of a thing these days.

Anon - Just because you have 70,000 football members, doesn't mean that they are going to be interested in attending basketball as well.

Adelaide has 1.2 million people. Only 0.5% of those people attend a game.

Based on AFL membership numbers for Melbourne clubs, 13% of Melbourne (or just over 500,000 people) go for the Bombers (obviously not an exact science). So they are working with less that half the audience of Adelaide.

Not all of those 70,000 members live in Melbourne either, let alone support basketball.

I imagine the Netball Super League could provide a reasonable case study into understanding the benefits/conflicts of an AFL team being involved in another national sporting competition.

Unfortunately it would be a pretty small sample at this point in time.

I think Skip makes a good point about non-Essendon fans being put off an affiliated NBL team. I also wonder what happens when the NBL club is losing money year after year and Essendon pulls the pin to protect its footy operations? Do we have yet another defunct NBL team?

Yes , I seem to recall Richmond pretty keen .. got knocked back by nbl...

Collingwood - Powerful, although they already have the netball team which they pump money into.

Richmond - Equally powerful, There is no team called the 'tigers', but United hold the naming rights which is an issue.

Hawthorn - successful club but Wollongong already named 'Hawks'

Essendon - probably not due to drug stigma (which is unfair)

Geelong - would be perfect, but the city doesn't have a bball stadium over 3000 capacity

St Kilda - small fan base
Footscray - small fan base
Carlton - good fan base but won't happen
Melbourne - lol
North Melbourne - irrelevant


If the NBL want crowds it should be between Richmond and Collingwood.

just think about what is going on here and why.

Do United own the named "Tigers", or "Melbourne Tigers"?

The same people that owned the Melbourne Tigers franchise still own the Melbourne United franchise. LK doesn't own United individually

Yes- LK & Slepoy- or whoever owns United, exactly- own the Tigers license which includes the ability or rights to use the Tigers name.

Sigh, there is no such thing as "the right to use a name"
There are however various trademarks registered, and anything involving "tigers" and a basketball would likely infringe those owned by the Melbourne Tigers.

But anyway, the so-called "Richmond Bid" was only a smokescreen for Cowan trying to backdoor his way back into the NBL.

As for Essendon, well yeah, say no to drugs.