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Why do we bother with the NBL?

31st March, 2014
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The Perth Wildcats have one of the greatest finals records in professional sport, but their streak looks to be in trouble. (Image via NBL)
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31st March, 2014
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Two interesting pieces of news from the NBL this week. Firstly, the Perth Wildcats announced a $1 million dollar profit for their franchise. The Australian Financial Review covered the story and revealed that the Wildcat players are required to undertake 350 hours of community engagement.

Their business model sees revenue from across a range of sources, including 27 per cent of income from membership and 23 per cent from other ticket sales, 15 per cent to 20 per cent revenue is from corporate hospitality, 15 per cent from sponsorship and the remainder from other sources, such as merchandise.

A bright spot in an otherwise struggling league.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, there continues to be talk in my town about re-establishing the Canberra Cannons.

Cal Bruton, the Black Pearl, still harbours dreams of the blue and white treading the boards at the Palace once again. However, given you need $5 million to start and $3 million per annum to stay and play in the NBL, a revitalised Cannons is but a pipe dream.

A more important question was asked on Tim Gavel’s ABC Grandstand radio show on Saturday morning, when this issue was canvassed. The question was simply put – why would you bother? The NBL is never likely to reach great heights and re-create its glory days in the foreseeable future.

While some of the games are exciting the majority of the games are for the purists only as the athleticism of the NBA is simply not replicated in Australia and New Zealand. NBL players do not get up above the rim with enough flash and dash to draw a crowd. Say what you like but until you get consistent above-the-rim players, the crowds will always go watch the AFL big men fly in preference.

The talent is diffused over the eight teams, the import rules too restrictive and the mediocre approaches to community engagement (save for the Wildcats) have rendered the league dull, dismal and detached from Australians.

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So what are the options? If you are going to raise $5 million to join a league and then work your butt off to stay, do you look at the NBL or elsewhere? I would argue that you go to Asia.

Take a look at the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). This is a six-team competition representing six of the countries in ASEAN (Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand). The market is 600 million people, with a gross domestic product of $2.3 trillion – numbers significantly greater than what is on offer here in Australia.

My recommendation is that the three most financially viable Australian teams, plus the Kiwis, join the ABL and push it out to a ten team competition. Australia could then offer three well-managed, high-quality teams to take on the best of ASEAN.

The league is televised throughout Asia by Fox Sports Asia and watched by millions. Government funding for our participation in an Asia-based competition could be secured under the Asian century initiatives.

It would also be a stepping stone for Australia to break out of the FIBA Oceania cohort, which does nothing for our international reputation. We are already a member of the Asian Football (soccer) Federation, so basketball would a logical progression.

Locally, we could then stop pretending that a country of 23 million spread out over 7 million square kms can sustain a fully professional league that rates lower than netball in national consciousness. The NBL can become a semi-professional D League and act as the feeder competition for the ABL.

My suggestions are radical but I am really struggling to see how the NBL (with the exception of Perth) is going to be a viable league in the years ahead.

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Does anyone have a better idea? Does anyone disagree that the NBL is moribund?

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