No australian league can survive with out the bigger teams propping up the smaller teams. Hell even the afl does it

Big difference between being broke and asking for supporters to sponsor or help out.

Isn't this what sponsorship is for?

Cairns is a country town with a fraction of the population and economy of even Adelaide, never mind Sydney or Melbourne. It also doesn't have owners who are independently filthy rich.

If you want to see a league of 4 teams, them by all means lets keep going the way we are.

The Tax raised from teams exceeding the notional cap was promised to go to assist the smaller teams, and that obviously hasn't happened.

Check out the difference in population between the cities that host NBL teams.
Sydney: 4.5 million
Melbourne: 4.3 million
Brisbane: 2.2 million
Perth: 2 million
Auckland: 1.4 million
Adelaide: 1.3 million
Wollongong: 290,000
Cairns: 150,000

Have a think about the relative sizes of those economies, and ask yourself whether or not it's fair to think that teams like the Hawks, and especially the Taipans, might struggle to find sponsorship dollars to pay for those pesky little extra expenses, like paying for two extra team members for large portions of the season.

If the league is at all serious about maintaining some level of diversity, as well as a decent volume of clubs in solid basketball cities, it damn well needs to be financially supporting its minnows.

The fact that the "luxury tax" never eventuated is a clear pointer that this is not the case, and Kestelman is only interested in making money from the league, so as he introduces more large market teams, the smaller teams will get squeezed out.

You bet your sweet ass I'm pissed off.

There is a big difference between being broke and sponsors paying for some players. That has been going on since year dot.

However, it doesn't excuse the fact the NBL was meant to be implementing a luxury tax so teams taking the piss like Melbourne & Sydney would in part help teams like Cairns carry on.

It's probably the only thing LK has gotten seriously wrong really.

Hang on

You do realise that all sponsorship goes towards costs of which the pay roll is the biggest cost for an NBL team

Not at all. Sponsorship is about sponsoring game night, players, promotions what ever. Funding salaries IMO never.

The Tax raised from teams exceeding the notional cap was promised to go to assist the smaller teams

The luxury tax and equalisation payments should NEVER have been relied on as primary income for small teams.

It would should have been treated as a bonus.

Don't blame the lack of the luxury tax payments, blame Cairns front office.

@Freethrows

"Check out the difference in population between the cities that host NBL teams.
Cairns: 150,000"

Please do not use Cairns population as an excuse, its embarassing. When Cairns applied for their NBL licence they would have had to justify their application by producing figures like :

- Projected income from Sponsors.
- Projected income from Memberships.
- Projected income from Ticket Sales.
- Other projected income.

All the above were done when the population was in that ball park.

If they are indeed struggling as suggested, then they either lied about their projections, or they are grossly incompetent.

You can't make the case either that the fans aren't going because the Taipans aren't successful, they made the playoffs after finishing second last season (ahead of Sydney and Melbourne).

"You bet your sweet ass I'm pissed off."

I hope you are pissed off at the Cairns front office, because they are responsible for this situation. Why are they not spending within their means?

I hope you are pissed off at the Cairns population, why aren't they filling the stadium in support of the Taipans?

If you want to say its because the product is shit, then thats also acceptable, but that too falls on the front office.

"Not at all. Sponsorship is about sponsoring game night, players, promotions what ever. Funding salaries IMO never."

The Taipans started running a sponsorship campaign called something like "spend the cap" years ago where sponsors would come on board directly to contribute to their player spend. This is not a new thing for them.

It was indeed mentioned when LK took over about taxing those that overspend and given to the smaller clubs and then reiterated before he changed it from a hard cap to a soft cap.

In a post earlier this year about Hobart Chargers making plans to join the league and said that they would spend $3m a year on expenses which is more than the $2m that Cairns are spending.

I'm blaming supporters for not turning up as pre LK era the club was making a profit or breaking even and the change in the cap and enforcing every club spends atleast $1m on players is also what's made the biggest difference.

Fascinated by what comes of this

Broke my A$$
Two guys have been injured and a local sponsor has chipped in to help fund a couple of extra guys.
So What!
As for LK and his mystery payments to clubs staying under the cap........Nothing but lies and should he be held accountable,that's if we are allowed to question the Golden Goose!

N. Sobey had his NBL start with Cairns, funded by a tourism business couple (who, of course, hoped he would return the favour by staying on!).
Current players have acknowledged sponsors.
Keeps the idea of Community in this (tightly audited) community-based team.

As a couple of people have pointed out, there is no funding crisis in Cairns, just an injury one. As they are about the only team to stick to their budget, there is no avenue to blow money to replace injured or poorly performing players. So when it happens individual sponsors step in. In the case of Evans Jr, the sponsors approached the Taipans after the Carrera injury to see what they could do to help out, not the other way around. If there was no additional sponsor money coming in Taipans would simply stick to their budget and run some of the development or local players to cover.

@Wilson Sting.

"As they are about the only team to stick to their budget, there is no avenue to blow money to replace injured or poorly performing players."

That is incorrect.

The Taipans fired Fuquan Edwin at the second half of last season to bring in Tony Mitchell. On the assumption that import contracts are the same, he would likely have been paid out as he exited.

Lovebroker, you're usually someone whose posts are good. You're wrong in this topic.

1. When Cairns came into the league, we had a corporate backer. When he pulled out, it lead to the club being run under a community model. Also, that was a process which started 20 years ago. A lot has changed in the Cairns economy since then.

Koberulz, the league initially promised that monies from the luxury tax would go to teams that weren't spending to the cap. March 17, 2016, I think. Perhaps they haven't distributed any money because all teams spent to the cap? We'll never know, because they never formed the review committee they promised, and certainly never released any information about club spending, let alone player salaries or perceived salaries, and the penalties/tax that were supposed to go with them.

I'm willing to bet that if Kestelman is successful at bringing three new teams into the comp, the Taipans and/or the Hawks will fold within a year.

Kestleman got complete control of the NBL on the back of jis promises to spend millions. Amongst those promises was supporting tje poorer teams, and funding a centralised shared services. I can see no evidence of money being spent on those particular promises.

Next he convinced the cashed up teams to spend big, on the basis of their taxes going to the poorer teams.
So if those taxes were paid, where has the money gone?
Back into his coffers?

The future NBL will travel no further north then Brisbane....

Under BA Cairns was the best model, under LK it's the worst

Yep, pro sports buddy....no money, no play !!

We all know the NBL want out of cairns once they get 2 more frnachises up and going. NZ then Hawks will be next on the block.

NZ bring even less commercial value to the table than Hawks and the current NZ owners see the writing on the wall!

I'm willing to bet that if Kestelman is successful at bringing three new teams into the comp, the Taipans and/or the Hawks will fold within a year.

Anon #901... John O'Brien is still in* the car business:
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiIguzknujXAhVEy7wKHa0HAjEQFggtMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cairnspost.com.au%2Fnews%2Fquestions-raised-as-new-cairns-car-dealership-slams-on-the-brakes%2Fnews-story%2Fd285a6c5a20c869553727ce3e9e307dd&usg=AOvVaw1ENKmwVp9ISiTFZMxMrYL6

His empire never recovered to what it was in the early 2000s.