By Michael Scibilia
May 17th 2009 @ 7:47am
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Time for private ownership to become public
The National Basketball League’s most recent crises have drawn several conclusions from the game’s heavy-hitters. The respective captains of the two rebel clubs clearly don’t do decorum, with Mark Worthington labelling Basketball Australia “idiots” who “killed our game”, and Chris Anstey describing the league as a “piece of crap.”
Victorian Sports Minister James Merlino, who prior to this month’s announcement of a new basketball complex at Knox had never shown any great interest in basketball, suggested the prospect of a national league without Victorian representation was “a joke.”
“Basketball’s dead”, meanwhile, has become a cliché within sporting discourse, particularly from those who conveniently become instant experts whenever the game hits troubled times, in the same way as people becoming racing aficionados when the spring carnival arrives.
Beyond the emotion and hyperbolic ignorance, however, is the realisation that basketball can simply no longer tolerate the perils of private ownership.
Too often an entire sport – which comprises hundreds of thousands of participants, supporters, sponsors, administrators and volunteers – has been dragged through the mud by the self-serving agendas of one or two individuals.
The fraudulence of former Sydney Kings owner Tim Johnston epitomised the risks of private ownership, as did the more innocent troubles of Eddy Groves.
Now, as basketball has sought unified reform through the establishment of an independent board, the actions of a few owners has once again shattered the game’s perception.
The Adelaide 36ers are perhaps one of the proudest clubs in Australian basketball, with ‘Title Town’ home to the most passion-fuelled, knowledgeable supporters in the country. Yet, when the whole club recently stared death in the face due to its inability to secure a million-dollar bank guarantee, owner Mal Hemmerling showed his commitment by hopping on a big bird for a holiday.
This shows the ludicrous imbalance in the fate of a club under the private ownership model. Consistent crowds, healthy media coverage and a successful on-court history are all rendered irrelevant by the dependence on a sole benefactor.
The South Dragons are a similar story. Mark Cowan was known as one of the most passionate and wealthy owners in the league, yet, according to the grapevine, the whole club has been brought to its knees by minority owner Raphael Geminder’s refusal to support changes which are incongruous with his personal agenda.
Melbourne Tigers owner Seamus McPeake, meanwhile, believes it is impossible to make a profit under the proposed 2009/10 model, and he wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning if there was no prospect of earning a dollar that day.
Cairns and Wollongong, albeit out of necessity, have turned to a more sustainable model of community ownership to lead them into the new age of Australian basketball.
With the Hawks now operating under a not-for-profit board acting in the interests of the club’s members, it is difficult to see them ever withdrawing from the competition because of some personal gripes, or being driven into oblivion by reckless spending.
Ignore the doomsayers; basketball in this country is not dead. The national men’s league is on the cusp of being placed in an induced coma, but the product of elite basketball is too good not to make a full recovery.
All it needs is some tender loving care from people who genuinely love the game.
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Greg Russell said | May 17th 2009 @ 10:18am | Report comment
Thanks, Michael, for a very interesting and thought provoking article. Just two comments to perhaps even the ledger a little bit:
1. It’s a very difficult time for private owners right now, because of the state of the world economy. I don’t think that the concept of private ownership should be dismissed on the basis of what is happening now.
2. Not all private owners should be lumped together, as some are very generous people who are not in it to make money. Frank Lowy is an obvious example. Another from the A-League is Terry Serepisos, a millionaire Wellington property developer who stepped in two years ago when professional football in New Zealand was all but dead. Serepisos was not a football fanatic – he said at the time he was forking out the big bucks primarily for philanthropic reasons. He has said that one day he would like the Wellington Phoenix to break even, but after two seasons they are still far from doing that. The payback for Serepisos is that he has gone from being a virtual unknown in New Zealand to being someone who is widely recognized, and I am sure that is worth a lot of money to his property businesses.
It seems to me that the problem with basketball in Australia is not private ownership per se, but that it hasn’t had more private owners like Lowy, Serepisos and Russell Crowe.
AG said | May 17th 2009 @ 9:35pm | Report comment
Hemmerliong is a strange one, as he has a fairly deep basketball heritage as both a player and an administrator. I was the last person who thought he would seemingly abrogate his responsibilities when the club and the league were at crisis point.
bozo said | May 17th 2009 @ 9:43pm | Report comment
The A League can not be used as a model for any other sport. The Federal Government has poured many millions of dollars into soccer, which it has not done with other sports, to get a competition structure in place.
jub jub said | May 17th 2009 @ 9:48pm | Report comment
bozo.. if you’re going to make such claims as the government is supporting the A-League, please provide your source. Otherwise, shut the **** up.
jub jub said | May 17th 2009 @ 9:49pm | Report comment
and for the record.. your claim that the government does/has not supported other codes is wrong.
Mushi said | May 18th 2009 @ 5:03pm | Report comment
Jub Jub does the A$15m given to start over about 5 or so years back count? Did the NBL get this and everyone is just failing to mention it?
From the way I read it he is not saying other sports don’t get support, just that the level of support from the government to soccer is very substantial and makes it impossible to use as a blue print for another game.
Personally I love basketball but am extremely pessimistic as to a third tier survives as a truly professional league with the limited following.
I share the authors concerns regarding private ownership, but I fail to see where these community groups are going to get the capital required to build a truly professional national league.