Roy Ward has also tweeted "...Graeme Wade has also told me the NBL now has the IP for the Brisbane Bullets name, issue is now the stadium "

2 years later the NBL have the IP for the Bullets.
What have they been doing ignoring this issue for the last 2 seasons?

Do you ever see the positive side in anything Harry :P

""Broadcasters are not unfamiliar with issues involving teams, it happens across sport all the time," Wade said. "It's inherently unstable - they just move on and take it."
Yeah the AFL is totally unstable and we all know a 6 team sport is clearly unstable. A bean counter in charge OMFG.
Maybe you should get your GM not threaten to hang up on the Courier Mail journalist who was trying to get exact info on the Brisbane bid. Left hand and right hand mate. Even a bean counter should know that. Same page, same lies, please.

C'mon Harry what's with all the negativity. Everyone's getting tired of it.

Curious know what exactly the "Stadium Issue" is. There's a few places they could play in Brisbane, surely its not coming down to availability.

There are a few venues in and around Brissie. Its a matter of getting the right one, at the right price, AND negotiating a contract.

A someone mentioned, a stadium sits empty 95% of the time, being let to Church groups to cover the power bill. Yet when a sports team comes along and offers 14 solid bookings a year, the dollars signs start flashing and they go for the jugular.

It's like anything, you've got something worth nothing, till somebody wants it, then its suddenly priceless.

Thanks for your input Tom. Please tell us all your thoughts on the matter.

One report said the NBL wanted stadiums stipulated in the licence agreement while potential owners understandably did not given it could severely reduce their bargaining power.

Well you can't blame stadiums for trying to get as much as they can. Stadium operators aren't in the business purely for charitable reasons.

True, but they also need to realise that long-term relationships with teams can be a godsend, that in a market like Brissie a team has choices, and that sporting teams aren't there to pay for their Villa in Tuscany.

Obviously we would all like to see the Bullets play in a prestige city venue, but if they're going to charge an arm & a leg, then they have the option of going elsewhere.

There is a government regulation stating the tennis centre cannot have regular week to week events/games there. Brisbane convention centre is so expensive it's not viable, boondal is too far out with no real public transport other then a train station down the road. I know council have put forward a cheap deal to go to chandler with some refurbs. Once again public transport although I believe that could be overcome from what I heard.

Boondal has a large carpark - why do you need public transport to get there, especially for the people coming from the southern/Logan area that would rather drive anyway.

From afar, it seems like the convention centre is capped at 4-5k which would limit opportunities to drag in big crowds?

Boondall is 10k+, right? Distance from BCC to Boondall looks to be 2-3 times that of Adelaide Arena from Memorial Drive.

I think the convention centre is where I've seen NBL before? Kinda steep seating?

At least this thread is a bit more encouraging re the NBL for next season. Be nice if the NBL Officals would make statements to update the public on the facts.

Re stadiums it seem inner city venues are al the rage. Adelaide Oval is a classic example. Perth venue is another. Playing right in the city where the people either are, becasue they just finished work etc or becasue all public transport routes go through the city. Inner city also means there are things to do before or after the games so a few hours at he NBL becomes just a part of the night!

Which Stadium would be closest the Brisbane CBD ? Brisbane Entertainment Cent ?

A stadium is definitely an issue in Brisbane.

The Convention centre is an ideal location, but is too small to be a long term option if the team is a success. It's about 4000, maybe a little more if you really squeeze in the temp baseline stand and floor seats. In the Groves days, they had the issue of only usually half to 3/4 filling it, but you couldn't really spend marketing money to fill the rest, as the return on those seats would be minimal. Plus it is VERY expensive, run like a profit slaughterhouse by AEG Ogden. They keep all the F&B profit (and do a shitty job of it) plus you have to lease every piece of equipment each game night at ridiculous rates, right down to the paperclips. The Netball team wants to leave because of expense. If you were able to get the rates down and fill it, then jack up the ticket prices, it could be viable. Centre of town is what the NBA does, for good reason.

The tennis centre has neighbourhood 'event limit' issues, and is not a sealed venue, there's few actual walls. It could be viable with legislation & building changes. But it's a bit better capacity at 5,500 and is close to a train line.

Chandler is old, small and imho not viable. It's in a terrible part of town with no public transport too.

Boondall is the biggest by far. Although it's on the outskirts of town, there is a train line, plenty of parking and people are familiar with it. And it's a great venue with permanent practise courts and a basketball association. It would make sense not just as the game venue, but as the home base/training centre too. The statue of Leroy is out the front and the halls have plenty of old bullets singlets on the walls. It's issue is also expense and it is run by AEG as well. There'd also be some juggling of game dates in between concerts etc but that is an issue at any building.

Realistically, any Bullets bid needs to be aiming to either play at Boondall or team up with the netball Firebirds & Queensland tennis to make Pat Rafter Arena viable as a specialist court sports venue and move Leroy's statue over there.

Would there be any value in having multiple venues the way Melb & NZ have done? Use the 4-5k stadium for most games while getting established, with occasional showcase games at the bigger one?

Does the same venue management company run both? If you can avoid a monopoly situation it would have to help negotiate better rates for venue hire.

"The Netball team wants to leave because of expense."

How does the netball team (Firebirds) afford to play there anyway? I know they don't pay their players much, but apart from player salary, the expenses would be the same for everything else, and they don't have wealthy private owners (im guessing) and tickets to a netball game aren't expensive surely?

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that the Firebirds and other national league netball teams are propped up by all the little girls and old ladies playing netball every weekend. Their fees, in part, end up funding the national league teams in each state. Along with sponsorship etc of course. It's only semi-professional too.