Townsville have 35 shareholders at the moment, with varying stakes in the team, I believe...
A community model would just be spreading that out a little more. It's not like they are owned by one guy right now.
At the same time, is running a "not for profit" selling yourself a little short?
Townsville have made big profits before, even well after the basketball boom in this country. There is no reason why, in a large regional centre with only NRL to compete with, they can't return to at least a semblance of that level with the right choices being made at the top.
But right now, they are running at an operating loss of half a million each season over the last couple of years, according to the Townsville Bulletin.
That's a pretty serious bleeding that needs to be stemmed, and personally, I am not being part of any community offering unless the shareholders have a voice and that the people at the top are the right people, not just a repackaging of the old model with the funding coming from some place new.
At the same time, I think it needs to be said that Smythe played a huge part in the restructuring of the NBL following it's rebirth a couple of seasons ago, and many people are saying there wouldn't be a league today if it weren't for his extra-curricular efforts working for the wider league itself. He just didn't do a good job of running the Crocs.
