NBL:

"The League understands that the Blaze took this difficult decision in order to act in a responsible, legal and ethical manner to try and find an appropriate way past their present financial difficulties."

So they have appointed a voluntary administrator to get out of paying out a contract, is that correct?

I don't know much about this field, but I wonder if they were legally obliged to do this due to being unable to meet the debt before the investor can be brought in?

Would probably be worth the NBL paying out of an emergency fund to make this problem go away before it knocks back some of the league's recent progress.

I completely agree. Surely the fund could be used for this purpose. Joyce should not be put in this position.
Blaze players openly say that they are continually informed by the owners that there are no money worries. Plenty of cash in overseas accounts that take some time to transfer. Mmmm!!!This is 2012 isn't it? Electronic transfers?
I think the Tomlinson's have finally decided that enough is enough. Their hobby is too expensive.
Regardless of their personal wealth, the club is not
going to survive.

I wouldnt touch Wortho.
Look at his track record
Dragons: Gone
Kings: Gone (ofcourse came back)
Blaze: Close to it

Not that any of them were HIS fault, but gotta be some bad luck right there!

Perhaps one of the Oz Lotto winners might want to consider bailing out the club and league?

I would have renovated and revamped the Brett Maher Court if I won starting with the scorers cube up high.

What is it with the gold coast?
To much time wearing thongs down the beach.

Blaze in trouble.
Titans in Touble.
United no crowds folded.

Suns, yet to prove they can stand on theior own 2 feet.
So much for the fastest growing region in AUS.

Blaze players are saying that the club (the Tomlinsons) did not put up the million dollars as required by the NBL.
Someone please say this is rubbish!

Do not put sport on the Gold Coast. 3100 people attended their semi final and they have struggled to get bums on seats since they opened their doors, despite playing in one of the nicest arenas.

United were a failure, the Suns are struggling and will only survive with AFL money backing them, the Titans (I don't follow NRL but have heard they are in trouble) and all former teams are enough to suggest that the GC just isn't built for sports franchises. Is there a city that cares less about sport than the Gold Coast?

I hope the Blaze can get out of this mess that they put themselves in, but the writing is on the wall.

Really hoped I had got that one wrong. The other clubs were probably Cairns and Wollongong if there were 2 more. Existing clubs would have been given every chance to continue in the new system.
Lucky for the past CEO that he's not there when a lot of stuff comes out from under the carpet?
The Dragons had a lot of other problems besides the guarantee. They wanted to put a few extra board members in the control seats. Good time for Worthington to fly the coup and get back to Melbourne.

Mr Heal would know about this & taken his best mate to the Kings! Sengstock? The plot thickens...

so....let me get this right...."the Blaze took this difficult decision,in order to act in a responsible,legal and ethical manner"

wow,what a load of BULLshit.

this prick is the last of the rich,ruthless fuckers left in the nbl(now seamus is gone).

the NBL needs to make a stand NOW on the treatment of OUR players and coaches by owners.

The good thing now is that the blaze are history which opens up the door for the Brisbane Bullets to come back into the league.

i understand the legals alone for this case are already in excess of $200k....typically Mr.Tomlinson will sacrifice ALL and EVERYONE to avoid his obligations.

BA/NBL you have your chance to make a stand.

Why should Brendan Joyce delay anything?
He's been owed money since March 2009, since his sacking, and now has a legal bill that is crippling.

I'm no fan of Joyce but he was contracted and should be paid in full or to an agreement; if the organisation is bankrupt, I guess he gets nothing.

Can't be blamed for this.

I think a lot of these clubs are run at a loss and don't have room to cover hefty, unplanned issues.

the NBL needs to come out in support of J oyce on this.

turn it around....let the Blaze go.....gain some face with support of our players & coaches.

like any low in the business world,you need to find a base to build on....this is it.

Would some please think about the cheerleaders.

Im with joshuapending here.. What will they do!

Actually that makes a lot of sense. The NBL were more concerned with the clubs that had been struggling in previous years so those clubs had to put up their insurance in case of a fail. Clubs with "sugar daddy" type existences didn't. Not sure where the new Kings rated in that theory, tho.
Stupid me thought the NBL were giving them a helping hand by being lenient re the $1mill rules.
What a mess!!!

Cairns and Townsville have their $1million guarantee through an agreement with their local councils ie. Cairns Regional Council is $1mill guarantor and has seats on the Taipans Board and can fold it up if its losing $$$ to avoid paying anything. Townsville I am not sure on their arrangment as they aren't community owned at the moment (soon will be??)

Wollongong have their $1mill guarantee backed by a local businessman - its on their website.

The 'other 2 -3' mentioned above that didn't pay the $1 mill guarantee aren't the community owned clubs or TSV.

Poor Joyce...seriously the guy is up to his eyeballs in legal debt, the courts ruled in his favour for Blaze to pay him 2 yrs plus legal, and now this. I think his is just some kind of dodgy ploy for the Blaze to not pay the poor guy what he's owed. Disgusting and this is why the NBL desperately needs a players assoc to look after players/coaches in these situations. Unfortunately for Gleeson I think the same thing could happen to him with the dirty Russians.

I hope big Joe knows whats going on back here at home....someone please tell him to return from his LV trip courtesy of the blaze

any chance of relocation to Brisbane if gold coast falls through. they surely would have more support

Skull, you are a dickhead in the eyes of fans like me.

We have done nothing wrong yet we're the ones who lose out (yet again if you were a Rollers supporter like me).

And all you care about or want is for the Blaze to be kicked out. No thought of the fans, club employees, impact on league, and most of all impact on GC basketball. The Blaze have run hundreds of clinics at schools and local clubs and have probably introduced thousands of kids to the sport.

No stuff all of that. Get rid of the Blaze. Simple. Thanks wanker.

BTW most of us were very pleased when Joyus was sacked.

Pull your frigg'n head in you gumby.

It's not an ideal situation for anyone if the Blaze fold, and it would be highly disappointing if that occurs.

However, clearly there was some sort of debt owing by the Blaze to J0yce. It's really not proper business efficacy to bail on a contract they had negotiated if that is what occurred. They've created their own demise here by the looks of it and you can't fault someone for asking what they are genuinely owed.

This situation is horrible for the fans, it's horrible for the players and it's horrible for the league, and it seems to have been the cause of the Blaze organisation negotiating a deal that in hindsight they would rather have not done.

Keep the tissue flowing Burntfan!!

You think the Blaze are the ONLY team that go to schools? LOL and grow up.

Blazefan, so many of you (other than Statman) come across as such complete and utter idiots that it is almost impossible NOT to enjoy the potential demise of your franchise.

Be interesting here some legal opinion on what has transpired as it seems a little murky and the NBL's statement tells us nothing.

That's why I imagine too anon, the owners have the means to pay that debt but seem to have chosen this route. Hopefully it doesnt bite them on the bum.

I wrote this massive post but deleted it.. I ramble sometimes..


Basically - The Blaze asked for an extension on paying Joyce (5pm Wed). His team said no. So they took this course which effectively freezes any debts, giving the Blaze (somewhat) an extension.

I've spoken to one of the new signings today who was kept in the loop the whole time, he isn't phased about it all, to the players its BAU.

The debts belong to the Club not to the owners personally. The owners have millions.

If this finalises (and has to be pretty quick to be signing new players) that the Club pays 50cents in every dollar owed (pure guesswork number )
would Brendan Joyce then have to sue the Tomlinsons for the remainder of his awarded monies? Wright sued Groves not the Bullets, didn't he? Not a nice thought for BJ this morning. An impossible outcome, surely.

The new investor could then come in and not immediately have to be confronted with owing his share (whatever % he owns) of a whole pile of debts.
Who would invest in this scenario?

Spot on Greg. If the club has little in the way of assets joyce appears, from a distance at least, to have few choices but to accept an agreement or get next to nothing. The Tomlinsons seem to have gambled joyce wont put them into liquidation (or perhaps they know the majority of creditor votes are friendly?) to avoid paying this out of their own pockets to keep the club alive.

Blazefan - Gumby??

i've been called a wanker a few times before...but not a Gumby??.

i just googled it...

"a green clay humanoid model character"

nasty Blazeman.

Having been on the receiving end, of a similar situation a few years ago, I can be fairly certain of what will happen.

If the Blaze do not owe money to anyone else (or just small debts/creditors that they will not require the services of, in the future) they will crash the current business (as they have done) and say they do not have the funds to pay out any outstanding debt(s), therefore their previous coach (we all know who he is) will be lucky to be paid 10c in the dollar, "if" there are any assets left with this company.
They will then form a new company (with a similar name) and everything exactly the same as before and carry on like nothing has had an effect on them. Their accountant will see to that, it's all legal.

This is an extremely selfish and cowardly way out of their responsibilities. I hope the NBL have the backbone to stand up to them over this issue, it is a very bad way to do business and reflects horribly on the NBL as the governing body. I have not been a huge fan of the previous coach, but the NBL NEED to protect his due payment (as set by a court of law), and that of other coaches in the future.

If I were a player, coach or any employee I would be very wary of these people / new company, as you can see 'in writing' means nothing to them.

I received one email and obviously Nat has info suggesting that this is indeed just a way of getting them the delay Joyce didn't provide.

So a billionaire liquidates his business to get out of some debts so he can start the business up again with no debts. What is Chocco owed? If the legal fees are 200k & he is owed 300k that's half a mill, right? The court has ordered in favour of Chocco! How can they get out of this & why so spiteful?

If any other club offers more than 1 year deals in the future i'll be very suprised!

Another bad day for the comeback of basketball.

Orbit? to which billionaire are you referring? Certainly not the Tomlinson Family I can assure you - wealthy yes but certainly not anywhere near to Billionaire status!

Natwhereyouat is pretty much the closest to what I understand the truth to be. The Club knows they have to pay out their debts and are manouvering to do so by bringing in a new investor. This however is taking longer than hoped.
Brendan J had set a deadline to be paid (5pm Wednesday) which the Club was unable to meet so rather than face having the club forced into recievership they appointed an administartor which in effect quaratines the club for a short period ie they get the extension on paying out the debts. Now they need to get the new investor locked away and get his cash injection in the bank, remove the administrator, pay out the debt and carry on business.

Certainly not an ideal situation by any means but better than the alternative

The Gold Coast seems a problem city for sport. Someone said to me once that the worse the weather, the more inclined people are to watch, rather than play. Perhaps this is the case with the town. The weather is too good and people would rather spend it surfing, cycling, gardening, sailing, picnicking etc If you live in a cold, dreary place, much better to watch sport on TV, or stand around with your mates complaining about the weather in a grandstand.

Voluntary administration doesn't necessarily mean bye, bye. What is does mean is that it sends a strong message to the NBL and other clubs to watch the finances.

A sporting club cannot rely on spectator tickets to cover all of its costs. If that was the case, the average price of a ticket would be much, much higher. In other posts someone mentioned about TV rights etc. The AFL is able to fund expansion into areas based on the revenues provided by the TV rights. The cost of which is then covered by advertisers knowing people are watching. These TV $ then filter down to the clubs and is a nice little passive income stream.

An industry will never improve by looking at within their own industry. The NBL has a graveyard full of former clubs. It is perhaps one of the only sports where the only consistency is inconsistency.

The NBL needs good, financially viable clubs. It is not an issue that is solely the Gold Coast's issue. With KK now in charge of BA, there is an opportunity to benchmark how other leagues here and around the world in a variety of sports remain viable.

Teams that have tried to buy a championship have always stuggled.
There is lot to be said about building a team not buying one.

Elvis, re-read my post cheeseburger boy. I never said they were the only team that went to schools. As for growing up, let me see you're about 22-23? I do feel very privleged that your response to my post was just your 7th since 2005. Look forward to catching up next year 'Tuna King' (LOL).

Mutley, if what I posted was the ramblings of an idiot, what can I say. You were the one to read it and feel strong enough to reply negatively. Just be very thankful that Jokefan from Ozhoops doesn't post here, you'd become a fulltime responder.

Skull, apologies for dickhead and wanker. I'm happier today as it looks like we might survive. Can't take back Gumby though. Have to keep my 'nasty' reputation.

sydney and parts of queensland are just different to other states. generalising, they see sports as entertainment. nothing more. its the same as a night at the movies or going to cirque du soleil. it doesnt have the same fervent consideration in their lives as it does to people in other states. remember this is generalising so it wont apply to everyone in those states just the majority.

the afl is funding the gws and gc teams, has given them star teams so they will be very attractive for awhile but in ten years when these teams are not winning every game they will lose supporters very very quickly. 15 years after their inception ild be massively surprised is they still existed, and if so will be massively undersupported with-in their communities and will be bank-rolled by the rest of the afl just to keep a team in those markets to keep some marketing boffins at some desk somewhere happy. blah.

"If this finalises (and has to be pretty quick to be signing new players) that the Club pays 50cents in every dollar owed (pure guesswork number )
would Brendan j0yce then have to sue the Tomlinsons for the remainder of his awarded monies?"

Gold Coast Pty Ltd has the obligation with J0yce, not Tomlinson personally. He would not be able to recover any of his contract by suing Tomlinson personally.

Glad we have some legal business knowledge on board.
Thanks peoples.

Skull - personally, I always thought Gumby was cool. He was on Tv back in the B&W days. Though Professor Gumby of Monty Python days was a little more recent.

Blazeboy, You need to re read your vitriolic(answer tomorrow when you find your dictionary) rant, Elvis is spot on.Grow Up!

One million dollars in debt to the GC Convention Centre, medical facilities and schools (training?)
No mention of the Super not paid for some, or all, of the players last season.
Anyone else hear this on the news Chn 9?
Is written up elsewhere.

Blaze CAN'T pay it and Tomlinson's WON'T pay it.

Everybody connected with the Blaze has been contacted and told it will not affect their life whatsoever....ignore it they have been told.
Salaries will continue be paid and obviously by the owners as the Club has no control ATM to pay them.
Haven't heard the words "smoke screen" but......

If they have put $11 million of their own money into the Blaze in 5 years, why not clear BJ's debt, one that they caused?
The new investor must be a relative?

Greg- yeah,this whole thing stinks......brendan hasn't done himself any favours in his recent NBL gigs but he has put in (approx)35/40 years of service to bball in australia(and still going).

we need to be aware(fully)of the people who have worn this product on their sleeves....lived and breathed it...defended it...and mastered it(both players & coaches).

we should not sell these people short for the sake of others with money and self interest.

As outsiders looking in Skull i totally agree! There's something there that doesn't add up. Does someone have some form of dirt - nude photos? I doubt it!

Chocco was a well respected coach & won a c/ship in the Gong. Things went sour however.

A contract should be honoured or it's not a contract.

There is anger here & the lawyers are winning...

BTW Blazefan you are a very angry man. i could call u a number of things based on your posts but i'll never stupe to your level.

Grow up dickhead! - Oops i just did.

I agree with Skull and I agree with Orbit.

People who dodge debts are dirt/thread

5 members of staff laid off but expected to be back in the near future when this is all cleared up?
That's being on holidays in my book. This is the only time an NBL club can give their office some leave. Don't GC have the biggest number of 11 anyway? I thought that the Wildcats had one or two more tho.

Blaze have 7 staff. Only CEO and accounts remain. Marketing, memberships, community, reception, sponsorships all axed on redundancy packages

Redundancy packages? How could they be paid out?
Who has the power to pay them and from what source?
Also they talk of paying the 4 contracted players as usual. What about the other 6 players who have 2 more monthly payments due in their contracts?
Tomlinsons will personally pay the contracted players whilst the others will get nothing....and their super payments will remain unpaid by the look of it.

Imports are paid for the months they actually play. That's why it's tough to get them to hang around for Awards' Nights etc unless accomodation and salary covers that. Aussies should start to look at not doing their club the favour of spreading out their salaries payments. From August 1 to May 1 could be the only "safe" dates.

Looking like Clive Palmer could be the new partner.

Is this all possible? Business gurus please respond!

I think that's a fairy story.

However, I have met several NBL players who have said that they worried about receiving the last 2 months pay after they left a club and signed elsewhere.
Often, the money is not paid on time as for the contracted players who remain and they have to chase it up. What the hell the agents do for their payment I don't know. I bet there are 6 Blaze players who are feeling very concerned right now.

The entire thomlinson family are nasty, ruthless and full of self worth! The NBL needs to exit them from the league. Owen, Sean and jack are human shitbags and well hated on the coast! Several of their business partnerships have been soiled at the hands of this family. It's their regular card at the detriment of others. Sh&tbags!

If it's Clive Palmer, say no more.
No need to worry about the new investor being taken for a ride. The NBL should be a bit worried tho.
Will leave Sheamus for dead with antics etc.

Down the plug hole goes another franchise.

This is crazy that things need to change some day.

In the same holding pattern as 20 years ago.

This crap goes to show why state fudge there participation numbers are dwindling.

FFS!

This franchise is going nowhere but into another season and better off financially. Wortho will be pleased. His $225k next season then $250k in 13/14 is intact, his captaincy assured. It's all a set up to avoid paying BJ his rightful money. Some people believe it's just to give them more time but why would multi millionaires need more time to pay $360k, a court ruling, when they are about to pay Blaze salaries and other necessary expenses, out of their own pockets?

And if you were dumb emough to give him a contract in the first place you should still honor that contract.

Otherwise any club can claim bankrupt and not pay all workers and then just restart.

Joyce was fired by the Gong as a result of his behaviour as set out in his contract and after warnings from the club to curb that behaviour. The club went about it the right way and as a result he did not take legal action. The Blaze hired him knowing full well what went on (or enough to get the gist of his issues)and also signed him to a long term contract. If that contract was broken by the Blaze without any conditions being broken by Joyce (as the court must have decided) then they should pay up. If that means that they cant afford to spend as much on their roster (Hawks style) then bad luck. They deserve what they get for their stupidity in signing him to that contract without the right conditions in it in the first place and allowing him to sign his son.

The owners will HAVE to pay the players etc out of their own pockets if the current situation is not finalised by the 1st of June, which is next pay day for all the players from the 2011/12 season. No crap about it. This is what they have all been assured, or the contracted ones anyway.
If these owners have put $11 million over 5 years into this club, do you honestly believe it is self funding, wouldn't be bust if they didn't? It's a hobby for them and just like any hobby, how much do they want to spend on it? Personally, it's about $3k a year for mine.
No NBL club makes money but sometimes we hear about clubs breaking even...I think, don't we?

I can't believe you really believe that any NBL team has shit loads of money by any other way than the owners keep putting it in kitty?
How come Kings players are still owed plenty from their last contract?The owner stopped putting in, couldn't put in, cash to keep them afloat.
Blaze players cannot be paid on the 1st June if they are still in the current situation of VA.
More than once the guys have been told to ignore what they read as their is plenty available through the Tomlinsons.

Townsville has never had excess cash, they just adhered to a strict budget with top ups from their private owners the last few years. They are moving to a community ownership model like the Taipans and the WNBL team (who followed the Taipans model to save itself) because the private owners can't afford to do it any more.

Prior to community ownership, the Taipans were propped up by the private owner (owned a whole heap of Car yards country wide, one of the largest toyota dealers in Queensland) via cash injections. They spent beyond their means and obviously went bust when the private owner couldn't prop it up anymore.

The new Taipans community ownership model is based on what the club can attract in community support, sponsorship and ticket/merch sales each season. It operates as a not-for-profit with a board and club president. Thus why the club is highly integrated into the community / activities and lives 'hand to mouth'. While it means 'no championship team buying', it also ensure long term viability as the NBL club is integral within Cairns Basketball all the way down to the juniors (junior clubs have an NBL player assigned to them to assist with coaching and running of the teams for example. School visits are an opportunity to attract new young players to basketball and increase ticket sales cause the kids want to see the team who spent the afternoon playing basketball with them etc).

Power at the Taipans resides with the board, not 1 individual. They are voted in yearly at the AGM and all club members have a vote.

Its sad to see an NBL club who is growing basketball on the GC, bringing itself and the rest of the league into disrepute because the private owners put legal wrangling over integrity.

VENOM....Where have you been?
Please keep writing, most interesting.

Surviving community based NBL teams (or any national league sporting teams)should be held up for awards throughout Australia. A fantastic achievment by all involved. Unfortunately private owners must get NBA stars in their eyes. Does anyone know if an NBL Championship won by an Aussie club actually brings heaps of generous, new sponsors the following year?
I leave the Breakers out of that as I always thought they are locally supported like a National team anyway.No offence meant.

Well this thread crashed fast.

How do people know all those aliases are joycefan?

Because they're obvious. Greg however is a different person. Lollipop/orange/etc is the usual guy who posts threads about gay players, masturbating, Vanderjagt (who would actually like to meet the guy, with his fist...), etc. Just a troll called Thomas. I think he might be a special kid.

Statement released by the league today:

"The National Basketball League has released the following statement from Basketball Australia interim Chief Executive Officer Scott Derwin as an update on the status of the Gold Coast Blaze, who were placed into voluntary administration last week.

"I flew to the Gold Coast last week and on Thursday met with the ownership of the Gold Coast Blaze as well as the players, team staff and the club's appointed Administrator, Roland Robson," said Mr. Derwin. “Those meetings have given us reason for renewed levels of optimism around the future of the club.

“The team’s ownership and management are extremely confident of finalising negotiations with an additional new investor with whom they had already been in discussions.

“Clearly, we still need to allow the Administrator to analyse these plans and the overall position of the club in detail before we can be certain that Gold Coast will continue to play on in the NBL. However based on the information we have so far, those who have been forecasting the demise of the Blaze since Friday are certainly premature and quite possibly wrong.”

The NBL will provide a further update once the Administrator has completed his analysis."


I'm going to have to learn how to do the proper quoting formatting.. Is it [quote] [/quote]?

[quote]Maybe... [/quote]

no!

< blockquote > Quote < / blockquote > (but remove the spaces)

Quote

They have been very confident all along they would come out the other side. If there is a rich investor interested then why wouldnt you keep speaking to potential recruits.

Obviously your disadvantage is you cant sign them to official contracts, but if I was them I would be speaking to players and letting them decide rather than sitting on my hands and waiting.

Petrie and Goulding both paying own medical bills for ankle surgery rehab. Surely the bills could be sent to the Blze owners? Not very reassuring.
Going to be another large debt mounting, in the monies to be reimbursed to players, by the time this is sorted out. Also talk of superannuation not paid for some or all players.

The Blaze had to raise ticket prices this year because Gold Coast Convention Cntre was raising rent. I hope the Blaze get out of this. I am a fan but I am from Brisbane. Gold Coasters=Lazy

They were referring to none paid atall this season.
I'd be checking every quarter if I was employed in any role within the NBL.

A lot of people would be thankful if they hadnt had any super paid the past 3-4 years!

ADministrator meeting with creditors on Monday.
I wonder if any players will show up?

Surely the bills could be sent to the Blze owners?

Limited liability is a concept whereby a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a company or partnership with limited liability. If a company with limited liability is sued, then the plaintiffs are suing the company, not its owners or investors. A shareholder in a limited company is not personally liable for any of the debts of the company.

The owners have assured the contracted (and prospective players) that they will personally pay their salaries. That's why the players are not looking for the out clause in their contract nor showing any panic whatsoever.
I would also imagine that their super is also paid up.
Actually, they may have even received some advance payment because a promise would normally still leave you pretty shaky.
How could the NBL walk away without some confidence in the players' future?
Probably not their problem.
Does a VA meet with creditors and offer a % payout, as the Titans' at 17% are doing, or is that not happening tomorrow?

GC Blaze declared themselves $11-12 millionj in debt
at creditors'(15) meeting this morning.
Same amount the owners have contributed over 5 years.

Thanks, I did see that, in the revised article that is now a little longer. Was just going to add it.
Not interested in headline grabbing but certaintly
interested in how all this works.

Who can declare a loan, who is a sponsor and is anyone actually donating anything in sport?
What does it cost to run an NBL club that has a following of 3000 max people? Obviously more than $12 million plus ticket sales plus sponsorship.
Still not an attractive picture, even as a hobby for a multi millionaire.