Just because shutting down the old National Soccer League and "rebranding the competition" worked for football in Australia, it "does not guarantee success" for basketball if it followed suit, according to Paul Suttor of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Former Australian basketball player Andrew Gaze's call this week for the NBL to shut down for a season "to get the house in order" has been rejected by the NBL head office, clubs, players and fans. If "you need evidence of the passion for basketball in Australia, check out the social media posts with the #WeAreTheNBL hashtag." Clubs have already said they will "die if the season doesn't start again in October." In '04 when the NSL "petered out, it was a mercy killing." The NSL was "not spread out geographically" -- five of the 13 teams were from Sydney, another two from New South Wales. The NBL's franchises "have no such cultural problems" and they are already spread out -- all "enjoying hoops monopolies in their markets." The problem for the NBL is that, unlike its main competitors, the four football codes and cricket, there is no lucrative central broadcast rights deal "which sends dollars down the line to the clubs." The NBL "surely can't get a worse deal" than the one that recently ended with Channel 10, but it is "highly unlikely the next contract -- even if it's split between a free-to-air network and Fox Sports -- will give the coffers the massive boost required to make the league profitable." The NBL has indicated it would "press ahead" even if there are only six licensed teams next season. It will be hard "selling tickets to games when the same opponents keep rolling into town every few weeks." The NBL's "dream is to have a league of profitable well-supported clubs with five-figure attendances," like the Perth Wildcats. However, the reality is it will never "enjoy such prosperity nationwide in the crowded Australian sporting landscape" (SMH, 3/12).
CLEAN SLATE: In Brisbane, Beth Newman reported former NBL side Bullets Manager Joe Tertzakian said a "clean slate might be just what the NBL needs." Tertzakian was the Bullets team manager for nine years before it folded in '08, as well as "spending three years with the now defunct NBL side Gold Coast Blaze." After both the Wollongong Hawks and the Townsville Crocodiles went into "voluntary administration in the past fortnight," Tertzakian said Gaze's suggestion that the league should take a season off and "reboot, a la soccer's A League, had merit." Tertzakian: "It definitely needs a clean slate. People fear ... that you're going to lose the players and what have you but I mean 12 months is not a long time in the scheme of things. ... I try and be as positive as I can about it but I mean the reality is it does need a revamp" (BRISBANE TIMES, 3/12).
