There were 2 Brisbane bids that the NBL were making a decision on.

Never ever heard about a 2nd Brisbane bid ever. Someone said to me just now, why would they withdraw after all the earlier 'hype'. TV was the word mentioned.
Why introduce another NBL side if as hoped / prayed for there was to be no decent TV coverage.

Good theory. Hence the withdrawal.?

I have never heard anything about there being two bids? I thought the whole Brisbane concept was being pushed by the NBL, not by bidders? Surely if there were legitimate contenders out there we would have heard a lot more?

The only substantial thing I have heard is that it will be run by Sengstock and backed by Paul Bendat.

Whose JVG?

After the consortium working for a bid was rejected by the Chair all I'd heard of was the NBL working to establish a team. Incredible if they can't start a team in their own league, doesn't augur well for the future.

Nah, I don't really see a board member as a bidder.

I would personally consider Bendat's efforts to be related to NBL efforts because of his postion.

How do we know there's no progress on the TV front? I'd imagine they wouldn't announce anything until after the season, unless they're renewing the current deals.

Graeme Wade isn't the CEO, he's the chair of the board, so he can't be put in the same class as:

John Rymarz
Rick Burton
Larry Sengstock
Kristina Kenneally
Chuck Harmison
Peter Ali

I thought Nick Marvin was now responsible for TV rights.
JVG said "The latest Bullets "bid" has apparently been withdrawn. It seems like we've heard similar things before!"

I believe Nick Marvin is in charge of the TV side of things at the moment. It's a bit too early to write off TV for next season yet, from memory the deal was sealed a few weeks before the season in 2009.

The Brisbane bid isn't dead. It's "near dead."

Just read that every ANZ Championships game will be on TV between foxtel and channel 10 or the next 2 years yet the NBL can't strike a deal or give us any news on that front

Not sure where you get the notion of near dead UweB.
JVG said 1 hr ago "Well as I understand it the plan that was considered their best, has now fallen through. I'd be doubtful a second plan or group would get up now. It's nearly March. I think even with the money in place - which has generally been the major factor to this point - any group trying to get an entire franchise organised in 6 months is inviting chaos"
If you cant get money from Bendant then IMO it is over. The question has to be why the money now isn't apparently forthcoming.

It was a joke based on the "near live" clause which has plagued the TV deal for five years.

Seems like a strange time of the day to make a major announcement . Where are you sourcing that information from ?

I just saw the announcement is that Brian Conklin is in the NBL 1st team and Todd Blanchfield is the most improved player for the NBL.

I didn't know JVG even commentated on NBL? What would his interest be?

If you knew who he was you would understand his NBL interest.
After last nights debacle of the NBL MVP, you really truly see what a joke this new NBL is.

In today's Sunday Mail it says the NBL and the ownership group are battling over restrictions and especially over the playing venue.

What restrictions are they battling over?

"the two parties (NBL and ownership group) are battling over restrictions being placed on the ownership licence, especially with regards to the playing venue."

Plans were being made to announce the team had been accepted into the NBL in a few weeks time but progress has slowed down once again.

The NBL (Marvin's?) obsession with the team playing in certain venues has killed off one bid, they better not do it again.

If the Bullets have to play in a mix of venues early on to be sustainable let them do it, trying to limit their options in the licence agreement is just stupidity.

Well they said they wanted to start in the Brisbane Convention Centre and then move to the QLD Tennis Centre once it become possible. I don't see any problem with the Convention Centre, great location and easily accessible but very expensive from what I hear. Maybe NBL wants them to play at the Entertainment Centre?

I always thought that the Entertainment centre could be used for 2 or 3 games a year. Opening night and two other big games.

Not as silly as the NBL Board arguing with a board member to get a team they need in the competition!

A 4000 or so seating venue is not up to what Nick wants clearly.
But has Nick obtained the TV rights as he has been tasked to do is more important. No TV who cares.

If you're talking basketball and referring to JVG, then that's Jeff Van Gundy. (Unless you are just randomly assigning monikers to people?)

And no, apart from his obvious Basketball credentials I can't understand why he would have an interest in the NBL.
I obviously do not know him personally, so if there's a connection I don't know about, maybe you could enlighten us instead of talking in riddles?

If you're talking basketball and referring to JVG, then that's Jeff Van Gundy. (Unless you are just randomly assigning monikers to people?)

No, it's Jeff Van Groningen. Former Bullets GM, IIRC.

The NBL has been BURNED, again, and again, and again, by unsustainable fly-by-night teams.
They cannot afford for a new Brisbane team to go the way of countless others, and are right to insist on certain parameters.

If the "bidders" are saying "we don't have enough money to pay for a decent venue so we want to play in some shed in the sticks" then the NBL is right to reject this.

And here's the thing; either Marvin is a genius for what he has achieved and should be listened to. Or he is simply lucky enough to have seen the difference between playing at Challenge and at Perth Arena.

Brisbane is still a bigger city than Perth, so either The Wildcats are just epically awesome, or Brisbane can ASPIRE to similar crowds.
I am the first to admit, that had Challenge stadium been a 10k venue (but still in the middle of nowhere with poor access, shit facilities, bad seating and ludicrous parking) the Cats would never have filled it.

If you want to open a new 6-star hotel, you don't start with a roach motel in the burbs on the basis of moving later when you get the numbers up.

Part of the Cats success at Perth Arena has been signing over 9000k season members. You can't do that by playing a few games at the premium venue. And how would you pick? (Given that these things have to be programmed in well in advance.)

I'm not suggesting that Brisbane must achieve massive crowds in the first years back, but they need to start as they mean to proceed. Playing in front of 2000 diehard basketball fans is not an option, and that means they need to attract and look after the "softer" crowds.

A few years back, detractors suggested that Perth Arena would bankrupt the Cats and that they should stay at Challenge. Peth Arena was criticised as being too big for the NBL, and nobody could imagine them going form crowds of 3~4k to 13k+.

NO riddles here. You made an incorrect assumption.
Most basketball fans of the NBL, know of JVG and his former role with the Bullets. Currently he is with the Broncos and if anyone in Brissie knows whats going on with local Brissie sports JVG should.
The NBL lurch from once crisis to another. The mismanagement of the Brisbane (non) bid and now the NBL Awards are a joke.
Paul suggested earlier about steps forward, I have no idea what they are.
The old NBL IMO were better. All the new NBL have done is poached former Kings staff as their own who do very little.
Poor website, no media guides, stats poor, not even the ability to have a NBL AWARDS night.!!! Alienating the public by incompetence. Where does it stop. The list goes on and on. Now the NBL are in a position to possibly have no TV rights as well.
The vision of 16 teams in the NBL is a seriously deluded notion. As has been a Brisbane team for years.

The steps forward were getting on FTA, increasing crowds, increasing TV ratings, increasing social media presence. None of them were massive steps, but over time there was gradual improvement.

@ Dazz, if having a sustainable team in Brisbane means playing some games at big venues and some games at small venues, so be it. Name me one team that started in the league playing in only a big venue and succeeded?

No, as I said, JVG IS Jeff Van Gundy.
Not Jeremey Van Gutherson, or Ji Vo Gun.

I wouldn't claim that "I live next door to Madonna" because that is the middle name of some old Italian lady.
And in a basketball context I wouldn't say "Marvin told me the Brisbane Bid is going ahead" because I heard it from Marvin my barber.

Sorry mate, in Australian basketball JVG is Jeff Van Groningen. It's no shame not knowing, he hasn't been actively involved in recent years.

Particularly in the context of Brisbane specifically, it's quite clear (if you've heard of Van Groningen) which JVG is meant.

Paul I say yet again, what has the new NBL people actually done?
TV rights, they didn't get them. Crowds are up, that has nothing to do with the current NBL management.
Social media presence? Are you serious? Did you see the 2014 - 2015 NBL Awards announcement FB post like I didn't?
TV ratings? Possibly? but still pathetic.

Cant run a website, no naming sponsor still since taking over, alienating fans as I have already said. Premature ejaculation about Brisbane, Crocs close to extinction, TV rights possibly zero. NO general media interest. It's a train wreck.

What did I say about the new NBL?

JVG has been in the NBL since the early 90s as Supercats assistant.

The term JVG was know around NBL traps long before Van Gundy became head coach of New York.

Aren't the TV, website, and NBL.tv deal all left over from the BA adminsitration?

What the new admin has focused on is reducing costs for teams and making them more sustainable, and I understand they've done reasonably well.

The issue is, none of it will be sustainable without growth, and they don't appear to have achieved anything in almost two years that will drive that.

It's too soon to write off deals for next season, there's still a long way to go, but achieving a Brisbane team is an important plank in that and a real test of their credibility.

The other thing they did well was bring in some quality people like Tony Cochrane, Fraser Neill and Graeme Watson. Sadly, without some sort of independent governance those talents appear to have been wasted.

That Footlocker Hoops Classic thing would have been a good idea if it was played in some sort of outside setup in the city.

Sorry buddy, you misinterpreting my post and going off on a tangent isn't my issue.