Can we please delete this thread

What makes it a "failed experiment"?

Is that you Linday Gaze or Warrick Giddey?

Let it go

is it that time already? I didn't think we were due for a Tigers post till mid July?

Had the United brass put as much money into the Tigers before the rebranding they would have accomplished the same exact thing.

It's little wonder that when you pump seven times as much money into marketing that you're that much more successful.

Victoria Titans

They've always mentioned they'd like another Melb and NZ team soon, so Tigers could be on the cards if United decide to relinquish the rights to the name.

Could be the big marketing rivalry the NBL needs for the Melbourne Market to go to the next level in Melb..

Melbourne (Goulding) vs Sydney (Lisch and Newley) would be the promoters dream though.

Watch for Melb, Syd and Perth to splurge on big names again.

United have been successful and is sustainable I dare say if Melbourne got another team it would be placed in Geelong or North Victoria. If you are trying to expand the league it would make no sense to divide the city of Melbourne.

If and when the NBL decide to introduce another Melbourne club, I'm sure it will be a regional Melbourne team, not a rehash of an old inner city team. They will want to complement the fan base of United, not detract from it.

The next Victorian team is much more likely to be a South Eastern suburban team, based somewhere like Dandenong, maybe even Nunawading. I haven't lived in Melbourne for over twenty years (thank whatever deity you choose to worship/obey/laugh or point sticks at), so I don't know what sort of infrastructure is available out there. Is there someone in the know on this forum who may be able to help?

I suppose the team could come from the western suburbs, too. There's a lot more growth out that way, these days.

Did I mention Nunawading? I always thought that Spectres would be a good name for a team from there..... ;D

Everything Midrange said.

Plus it's quite obvious the Utd rebrand has been a complete success for basketball participation in Melbourne

While the NBL made some headway last season, basketball's popularity is not yet on par with AFL, NRL, cricket or whatever they call the soccer league now, A-league? The two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne would 'struggle' if their market has to be shared with a second team.

Mainstream media won't give us a free pass, but we need to force them to give us equal coverage with the above-mentioned rival codes. The only way is to keep doing what we're doing now, improve it incrementally by tweaking the punters' experience, be it game-day experience or viewing experience through social media and better streaming.

Coupled with a strong push at the grass root level and better connection with the NBA to piggy back on its global popularity, its a tough but definitely achievable goal. Once we are regularly covered by MSM, a second team in the larger cities should be viable.

I don't really know the makeup of Victoria in terms of population, geography and basketball participation/support.

However, the NBL is getting to the point where a team needs to attract a certain level of talent requiring a certain level of expenditure.

This means a team probably needs to have a decent size market to attract sponsor dollar and crowd sizes of 6-10,000 and a stadium that can cater for that.

Given those things - is a regional team necessarily a better idea than a second Melbourne side? While it may detract from United's fan base in a sense, it might end up penetrating the Melbourne market better, make it more relevant and with things like a Melbourne derby, garner greater interest in the big city market.

I do think there probably needs to be a way for the fans to "know who to support" ie, Melbourne Tigers & everyone else, or "north melbourne" "south/ or rest of melbourne" kind of mentality.

That's not what "inanimate object" means.

"36ers" is one of the harder names to promote given it's not an animal or some other traditional sounding sports name.

With that said, it does have a clear connection to Adelaide that locals can identify with, as does the Lightning with 1836 & William Light.

I guess we look to the 76ers and how they promote themselves

Dandenong is regional?

The expansion of the NBL has done the rounds a few times, while this thread is specifically about the tigers I guess it is an obvious progression to divert to that conversation.

I think the Tigers as an NBL team is a dead duck, it was and will always be too limited to realise its potential to attract the size of support needed, that's why they went the United pathway.

That said, I have always advocated another team in Victoria to create real rivalry once again, like the Tigers and Dragons had for a fleeting moment.

Lots of things have changed and continue to change, so any expansion will need to be the right one for the times, whether or not a regional team can come in first is a hard one, but we could see a regional team some day.

Bendigo would be the obvious choice, they already have a WNBL team and are building a 4,000 seat stadium next to their already awesome multi-court venue, which has meals, TAB and pokies, a bar, TV's and everything you need to succeed in bringing in people.

Geelong isn't ready, no other regional area is anywhere near what Bendigo already has and will have in the future. Bendigo's location is also central, only an hour from Melbourne and easy to get to!

The second Melbourne team needs to be financially supported like United have been and where they are based or how they are represented must be carefully thought through, because if that is stuffed up it would send the whole competition back two years, IMHO...

Bendigo is the best option

and just WHY can you not have two Melbourne based teams...every other sport does, why not NBL, WNBL has three Vic teams, two Melbourne based as you dont class Dandenong as regional any more than you would Melbourne Boomers. The more teams the better for any league that has so few to begin with.
That is the problem with national league basketball its just way to small in its thinking.

The problem isnt adding teams. Its keeping them from folding. The NBL is extremely cautious about expansion because of the risk of losing new clubs after only a couple of years. But with only 8 teams, and the league in good shape at the moment, it needs to be done.

The NBL is in a difficult position because all major cities are represented with a team. So the options are: bring in a second team in Melbourne, Sydney or even Perth - and risk upsetting or dividing the existing club by breaking up part of its fan base. Or, expand in a regional area where sponsorship, suitable venues and viability amongst other things become a problem.

Unfortunately the NBL cant have 10 Melbourne or Sydney teams. It can probably have 2 in Melbourne but still needs at least one more club somewhere (probably asia) to really make an impact with expansion.

anon - have you not been paying attention to the NBL the last few seasons? It's not like there are 20,000 fans turning up to games that teams can afford to lose part of their fan base (except Perth, which would be a curious case of what would happen if there was ever a 2nd Perth team, but can't see Nick letting that happen) so any comment saying that more teams the better will no doubt be met with appropriate ridicule...

I don't understand all these weird suggestions?
A 2nd Melbourne team has to be play in the same stadiums as United. So starting them out in some hokey regional venue is pointless.

I don't understand all these weird suggestions?
A 2nd Melbourne team has to be play in the same stadiums as United. So starting them out in some hokey regional venue is pointless.

@Pizza Hut, I agree with the concept of playing two Melbourne NBL franchises out of the same venue in central Melbourne, with about a 10,000 seat capacity it makes sense.

Where has a hokey regional venue been suggested?

Bendigo is regional, but you obviously have not been there lately and have no idea of the infrastructure and facility they are building mate!

We definitely need more teams, we are losing too much talent to AFL and other sports but before I'd add another Melbourne team I'd add an all Tasmania team that plays in Hobart, Launceston and Davenport, it will need sponsorship but with all regions identifying as it being their team then local businesses should want to jump on board.

If they can find an owner with very deep pockets or even make it some type of members owned club then I think it could work

"Where has a hokey regional venue been suggested?

Bendigo"

Answered your question