Article on the NBL site with a bit more info.

From 10,000 people at a game in the grand final series, to gone. Nice work, owner.

What a foolish business decision by the owner not to pay the bills. The first goal is to protect and grow your investment. If you are running a business and have to make certain payments to stay in business, you make sure you pay them. Now, their investment they put into the licence is worth zip.

What will happen with Saville, Hinder, Crosswhite, Tovey, Carter and Kendall?

Hang on a minute it is not just the Kings that have been hurt by the same person

from what i can recall Firepower have damaged

Western Force
Tasman Motorsport and
South Sydney

So there are some pretty savvy business people that have also been blindsided by Firepower promises

No Kings = No FOX Contract IMO

They'll be back. Probably the following season as a re-package.

I agree about the Fox contract too. Now that will be something that really hurts this great game in Australia.

Yeah definitely won't get a foxtel contract now. How many Sydney games did they used to show! It was their main market. The League will also struggle to get a Major Sponsor now as well, with no presence in Sydney or Brisbane who would want to sponsor it?

Major sponsors may want to take up the vacated license instead of sponsoring the NBL directly.

Might need to look for sponsors to replace those that move on.

Fox have already decided not the cover the games, this was said prior to the Kings folding.

They may cover the finals though.

How do I know this? A friend of Steve Carfinos told me that FOX told Steve he wouldnt have a job next season.

http://linky.com.au/y6l50
I wonder if anyone had already joined on up? and if so, whether they would have any trouble getting their money back?

I think we could just look back on this day as the day that the NBL died. Sure, we may have a season this year/into 2009, but after that, with no Sydney or Brisbane franchises, there will be no sponsorship, no Fox Sports deal, and therefore, the NBL as we know it will cease to exist.

The only thing that can save basketball in this country is some savvy business decisions and the gamble that a new and improved league from the ground up can be sustainable. Led by proven individuals.

This is a time when owners of teams should be fighting to build championship contenders, not fighting off extinction and creditors.

Basketball enjoys a solid grass-roots representation in Australia, but has traditionally struggled to attract general interest at the highest level. Whoever can solve that riddle will hold the key to a national competetition in this country.

I think the main reason MW has not got the ownership prior to there expulsion of FP license, would be that he would have had to take on their Debt to do it.
Any debt would considerably kill off the revamped entity.

MW then would of wanted to restart afresh, with new Backers and Sponsors, which coul not happen with out the license being pulled.

The ball is now in the court of any new Consortium to provide a plan and surity to the NBL Board.

Timing would be critical if 2008/9 season was targeted, days not weeks.

Brisbane is next on this merrygo round.

But has until end of June I think.

I think MW could've got the licence from TJ without the debt, but needed NBL approval to do it and they wouldn't approve it without a plan, and wanted a plan that involved Sydney playing through this season.

Of course, if MW did get the license from TJ, what would have happened to GQ? NBL HQ would have been KD, MS would have gone AWOL, BA would be OOO, and IF's site wouldn't get as much traffic. Just some BS, IMO

OMFG!

Bye Bye NBL.

I think Rick whatever his name is as much to blame. Chuck took on the role in a tempoary role but seems to have stayed. But realistically the game has been in decline for over a decade. The Australian sporting market is already full and with new soccer and netball leauges there just isn't enough sponshorship and support to go around.

I just think the NBL has to accept that it is a marginal sport on the Aussie sporting landscape

To be fair, Eddy Groves lost buckets of money and Tim Johnston's enterprise went up in a puff of smoke - what can Chuck do about that?

Isaac,

How about not letting teams blow their salary caps.

The teams that have cheated to win a championship are gone now.

In a recent interview Eddy Groves said he bought a championship back to Brisbane. He was spot on, in other words he should of said I paid for a championship.

The first steps to correcting this mess is as follows:

* Change back to winter or at least June - December

* Owners of NBL clubs should not be in charge of running the league, get an independant body in.

* Either have a salary cap that is policed or don't have one at all.

* Start the league from scratch, keep big teams like 36ers, Wildcats, Tigers. Have one team from each area, like one between the cairns and townsville cities.

It should be:

Perth
Adelaide
Melbourne
Sydney
Brisbane
Far North Queensland
Darwin
NZ

Maybe Tassie, maybe Gold Coast

New - So do you believe they were the only 2 clubs to blow the cap?

You dont believe 2008 Champs Melbourne might have as well?

and lets not over look our own backyard in years past

rumour going around but no sources are stating that foxtel wont take the nbl season this year... but channel 9 have got the rights. a little bit intersting

Mookie is right, it was Rick Burton who took the league down this dead-end road. He was looking too much toward expanding into Asia, and not enough into keeping affairs in order in the local backyard. Why look for a lucrative Cable TV contract in Asia when you can't even get a FTA deal at home? What made him think the product could fill stadiums in Asia when half the crowd at Sydney's games were Goorj's assistant coaches? Get the league stable, get the product right, get the local interest and the local exposure, get the finances right, *then* launch into expansion from a solid foundation.

No FTA station wants basketball, Basketball doesn't rate, so it will never get FTA coverage. How is it Ricks fault the Kings owner was a bad egg, how did he know Eddie would loose most his money? Its no good blaming who took over a sinking ship in the first place.

Sydney in general just doesn't care about the Kings or basketball. While the Kings story is big news on foxsports.com on the daily telegraph web site, its not on the main page, its half way down the sports section under 'other sports'.

The 13 month turnaround from this article:
http://sportsaustralia.com/articles/news.php?id=1296

"Tim has grand plans to make the Sydney Kings one of the premier basketball clubs in the world  a truly global club. The management, players and fans are excited by this prospect."

NBL Commissioner Rick Burton welcomed the transfer and said Johnston had already demonstrated his strong commitment to the Kings.

"He is the chairman of a highly successful group of companies and the information he provided to my office more than satisfied all the stringent requirements the NBL places on individuals wishing to become majority team owners."

Article in today's Herald Sun in Melbourne from the players perspective:

http://linky.com.au/aagpc

Adding to the Herald-Sun, this is what The Age has to say, with some candid respsonses from Hinder and Carter:

http://linky.com.au/dii63

After reading those reports; half the problem was there was all talk and no action. Nothing was actually proofed with talks about the salvation of the Kings license.

You have more than a dozen people who shouldn't have been re-hired at all; not because they're bad or anything along those lines, but because you've now stringed all of them along for so long that you've completely screwed up their lives.

I think that shows how poorly the league is being run and how lighthanded the dealings have been.

While I'm not a Kings fan, its sucks when rivals dip out; rivalries make leagues what they are. Shame the Sydney government aren't keen on jumping in.

NBL would of been hamstrung leagaly, acting before it did.

I think the Coaches/Players have to realise that they are making $ from the NBL System, but its there ability to draw $ into the NBL Clubs that should be the starting points of $ paid for players.


Clubs (Compamies) need to show restraint at spending $ they don't have.


NBL has to police the Cap and each player should sign a declaration that they are not getting above salary cap policies and be subject to ATO audits etc etc.

Sport, unless sponsored by Benefactors who cover the losses or have Big Sponsorship TV deals, will loose $.

Its the Nature of the Beast.

NBL struggles for credibility in the broader market - not to have a Sydney team in the NBL is like the NBA without the Lakers....NRL without St George or Parramatta, and the AFL without Collingwood.

I have been to every sport known to man, and almost everywhere. When you have 10,000 in the Ent Centre and the Kings firing - there is no better atmosphere anywhere.

The Kings definetely lost their way. Game Night at the Ent Cent had become so steril this season (and for the last few years), with such little razamataz I felt like I was at a Snr Citizens event. The Kings, if they rtn, should consider a rebrand around the original Opera Hs logo, and base the look and feel of the Kings brand on the Lakers - more yellow then purple - what man wears purple!

The package on game night would need work if the kings amazingly reappear:

- Pack what crowd is there in close - spreading 5000 people in a 10000 seat arena = bad atmosphere, just like a dogs game at ANZ stadium;
- Repaint Court without Purple - as per Lakers. NBL and Kings need to think about consistent placement of branding, sponsorship logo's etc to present national synergies;
- Consistent Camera angles for Coverage by Fox, mindful not to display half empty arena's where possible;
- A replay screen is essential, regardless of whether game covered by TV - preferably above the court - this is likely expenseive but really adds to the game night experience and bring punters in to see 'something different'
- FOX commentators need to suit up - they look like hobo's
- Introduce players with lights off, fireworks, spot light
- Bring back blimp
- Song selection for music players needs to rtn to the basketball basicis and crowd favourites - get the crowd into the atmosphere;
- Music and court annoucements this season too quiet and sometimes unable to be understood;
- If you are going to have dancing girld, you cant have 6 - there needs to be done, or heaps. 6 girls dancing on a court is just lame
- National Anthem is essential at all games
- crowd to stand/clap til Kings first basket
- Legitimate on-line clothing web site, and options - as per Sydney FC;
- Fan section of web site to include updated screensavers, wallpapers etc - these are kings advertisements in city offices
- Retro kings yellow button up collar players training shirt recently sold for over $40 on ebay - it was such a cool shirt versus the stuff that is produced now;
- Advertising........if only someone had the $$$

The overall thing to remember is that small detail on game night, and in coverage, all goes to present and more impressive offer to those watching on TV.... Make that offer attractive enough, and punters will get off the couch and into the Ent Cent for a game - just like they did for game 5!