Just about any other city/town in Australia would have a better chance at getting an NBL team

Next 3 should be

Canberra
Wellington
Newcastle

Sounds like a gee up. There has been no serious push here for a team to be returned to the GC.

If the face of the news piece was a local card dealer, that tells you all you need to know really.

Not again surely. Flogging a dead horse again, like Canberra and Newie.

I'm up in the Gold Coast now and a lot of the locals up here love basketball. Heaps of juniors play basketball here.

Plus noticed there’s a few Victorians moving up here with the nice weather. Coast should have a team, it’s really nice here. Would be keen seeing my team Melbourne play here, hope it happens.

I like Gold Coast Blaze more then Rollers. Blue, orange and white were better colours.

How many times do you want the GC to have a team and continue to fail. Tried and failed so many times.

How many times had teams from Tasmania been tried and failed?

Yes, Tassie is a very different market from the Gold Coast, but two poor attempts at a team under previous league management aren't a reason to ignore new proposals that have good ownership structure without giving proper consideration to how they could succeed in the current model.

BY all means tell us what the new proposals are and ownership structure. I think the GC is just another wishlist team. Like Newcastle and a lesser extent Canberra.
IF LK gets government money (like Tassie) any new team will be admitted in a flash. Let's see id Tassie is around once their $2mill. funding disappears.

Reading comprehension fail there. That bids have failed previously under different management isn't a reason not to consider any new bids. Assess them on their merits in the current environment.

I like Gold Coast Blaze more then Rollers. Blue, orange and white were better colours.

"That bids have failed previously under different management isn't a reason not to consider any new bids. Assess them on their merits in the current environment."
By all means tell us who they are and what they are proposing. The OP said "The face of the push was a local GC card dealer (I'm guessing he has a shop)."

That's got to get everyone's interest now!!

By all means tell us who what are?

"How many times do you want the GC to have a team and continue to fail. Tried and failed so many times."

How many teams have failed in Melbourne?

Dunno, but there appears to be ZERO interest in a 3rd Melbourne team. Once again if LK can find some Government dollars in a deal I am sure there will be.

Don't gold coast clubs generally fail in all sporting leagues, not just basketball?

I should add the Blaze *had* the potential to succeed.

I was a season member for a couple seasons. Good venue. Good location, great to go and get a feed or do some shopping before/after. Most games were generally well attended to an extent

Downfall was that the club was run extremely poorly like a backyard business, fault there lays with the owners (Tomlinsons?).

Owen Tomlinson and family.

Nice people with money but at the same time naive.

Hiring Joyce, after the way he exited Wollongong, was a head scratcher. Said coach then signing up a washed up mate in Heal showed how weak the organisational structure was to be hoodwinked like that. Also overpaid for Wortho.

GC just seems to be a funky market, feels like GC is flat out trying to get AFL Suns up and running, I'd be waiting to see how that plays out and focusing on other markets...

Gold Coast are no chance of coming back soon.

Tassie just completely sold out season tickets so I would say there doing ok . Tasmania is completely different place to when the devils were around

2023 refurb of Ais arena means that most likely the next team is Canberra cannons entering in 24/25.
Maybe even 23/24 season if they get a move on...

How many season tickets are sold by Tassie and what's the capacity of the arena?

It’s impressive and great that they’ve sold out, but I
imagine being smaller, they’d need to make sure the stadium is pretty close to sold out every game anyway to stay viable?

5000-5500 seats

Tasmanian stadium only fills up to 4,865 seats when they versed Melbourne United.

MyState Bank Arena is just not big enough for one state without footy, rugby and soccer. If they keep selling memberships like today they really need to move to a bigger stadium like AEC or JCA.

Wonder how much it would cost to knock down the main wall and finish the 4th side, make it a full arena. Would end up being around 6000 + seat, similar to the hawks arena.

It would be 6,000 roughly, but behind that wall is a racetrack. The arena was built in the wrong spot. They should of built it away from the racetrack, plus they have heaps of space where the carpark is. It's a weird design with all the space they have.

The racetrack is at a distance away from the MBA. No conflict what so ever.
The have a carpark because it's a multi purpose arena. No direct public transport to the site.

There's a small slither of land between the stadium and the fence with the racecourse, about 15m at the shortest point. That area is used as access to bring in floors, staging etc for various users, so they would need to find a solution to that if they wanted to expand in that direction.

I'd say $20 mill for the fourth side to be expanded.
$35 mill for the new multi sport facility near by

If the rear side was going to be done, I am sure it would have been done at the time. They just spent $60mill there a year ago. Ain't happening in the foreseeable future.

Could someone please unlock this Gold Coast license story.

https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=GCWEB_MRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goldcoastbulletin.com.au%2Fsport%2Fgold-coast-city-powerbrokers-preparing-to-pitch-for-an-nbl-licence-by-2024%2Fnews-story%2F248c54ddf4a494de8352e9da75279560&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium

Thanks.

MAYOR Tom Tate has added his voice to calls for a Gold Coast team in the NBL, but admitted that past attempts to do so were premature.

Gold Coast have twice fielded a team in the top league - once as the "Rollers" (formerly “Cougars”) between 1990 – 1996, and again as the “Blaze” between 2007 – 2012, which Mr Tate helped bankroll.

Both teams folded due to financial difficulties, spurred by low attendance, poor on-court performances and, in the latter case, the global financial crisis.

“Historically, when we were a much smaller city, we did bite off more than we could chew,” Mr Tate told The Bulletin.

“A huge financial challenge was the cost of setting up the flooring and venue hire at Gold Coast Convention Centre (where the Blaze played their home games).

“It made it so prohibitive that even if we had 2000 people in the stands, we could still not break even, and therefore it wasn't sustainable.“

However, the Mayor said hosting games at the council-owned Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre at Carrara was an option that would help with the overhead costs of fielding a team.

“I'm sure future owners could arrange a competitive rate at Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre,” he said.

Despite previous setbacks to a Rollers franchise, Mr Tate said he believed there was an opportunity to push for a Gold Coast team again due to local population growth and a sharp uptick in basketball participation rates, with the city now boasting around 6600 players.

“At a grassroots level, we have some of the highest junior participation in ... basketball, so the enthusiasm is there,” he said.

The Mayor’s comments come as calls for readmission of the Rollers to the top tier of Australian basketball grow louder, following the teams consistently strong performances in the NBL1 this year.

The squad is now preparing for a blockbuster home semi-final against Northside Wizards on Saturday night, following their thrilling two-point victory over Logan Thunder in last week’s quarterfinal.

Rollers’ head of marketing and promotions Billy Cross confirmed he was working on a pitch to the NBL to present by 2024.

“We’re in the best position now as the city grows, and with the Olympic Games coming up … we can really attack this now and get that NBL team over the line,” Mr Cross said.

“The city’s ready for it – given what’s happening with population growth, we’re in the right stage to really pitch for this.”


Despite the bullish predictions of Mayor Tate and the ambitions of Cross, Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and former Gold Coast Blaze coach Dave Claxton cautioned that the obstacles preventing the permanent team in the past couldn’t be discounted.

“The population’s always been growing in the area, and despite that, it’s hard to ignore the support the Titans and Suns have had to have from the NRL and AFL,” he said.

Claxton urged authorities not to be seduced by the success of the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers, following their sensation 2021/22 debut season in the NBL.

“That was year one – the first question investors will have is ‘how long are you going to be around?’”

Claxton said high fan engagement, strong corporate support and an airtight venue agreement to “put a show on” would be crucial for a third Rollers act on the big stage.

“People need to have money to spend, corporations need to be doing well so they can provide adequate backing and the game nights need to be attractive to families with kids.”

Mr Tate agreed, noting that a new Rollers franchise would need “corporate boxes sold for three years in advance”, alongside a co-ownership set-up.

“I don’t think a one-owner model is sustainable and it would be better for syndication to start a reformed Rollers franchise,” he said.

“That way, they can attract more corporate support and manage a few years of negative cash flow before finding success.”

Rollers’ players Devon Sullivan and Jaze Morris. Picture Glenn Hampson
Rollers’ players Devon Sullivan and Jaze Morris. Picture Glenn Hampson
Despite the challenges involved, Cross said he was confident the Rollers’ dream could become a reality once again and pointed to regional teams Cairns Taipans and Illawarra Hawks as proof.


‘We don’t need them’: Coast star’s call to arms against vile trolls
“Teams like Cairnes and Illawarra show why you don’t just have to be a big city to compete,” he said

“The Gold Coast is moving from a regional to a powerful city … we’ve got a great AFL and NRL team, so it’s time to have a great NBL team. ”

Thanks Anon, interesting article. I have noticed that the population has grown. The only issue is that can another Gold Coast team afford it?

I really liked the past Gold Coast Blaze team with Chris Goulding and James Harvey. They better do survey for the team name and see what the Community want, Blaze or Rollers?

I would prefer Blaze because if you look at the Cairns Taipans their NBL1 team are the Cairns Marlins. Similar teams just different names to not confuse nbl/nbl1. Blaze made nbl finals and the Rollers nbl team never qualified. Blaze were close making the grand final in their last season. Surely Blaze gets the tick of approval from the nbl. NBL never seem to go with the past nbl team names which is annoying.

Anon

I didn't know Mayor Tom Tate was a former owner. Questions have been raised over overseas travel by Councillors and senior staff. Including travel to European destinations including Birmingham this year.

Tate really does like the idea of major sporting events.

I recently saw an anti-Tate bumper sticker (but it was south of the border with a NSW plate). It’s not often local government reps generate much interest either way in Australia.

For me, the biggest issue would be sponsorship/ownership, as has been the case with NRL, AFL, NBL and soccer teams in the past. The largest employer on the Gold Coast is the Council, then daylight. How are they supposed to get corporate sponsorship? The AFL subsidises the Suns with big dollars. The Titans NRL supporters are heavily outnumbered by visiting supporters at most games (it’s worse on the shuttle buses). The soccer team relied on a billionaire only concerned with himself and his business interests, who wouldn’t even open up all the seating.

Let's not forget baseball's Daikyo Dolphins, the Gold Coast's first professional team. Even the Japanese couldn't make it work.

has this Gold Coast idea come out of no where? Bit like Auckland Huskies this one? Doesn't have the NBL or LK stamp of approval Im guessing

NBL just covered the story on their website.

Link: https://nbl.com.au/news/golden-expansion-bid

Gold Coast sport and leisure centre, 5,000-5,300 capacity
Roof pretty low to put a screen up.

The Gold Coast has always struggled with crowds and yet professional teams always pop up there. That is because it has less to do with crowd numbers than it does with sponsorship dollars and expanding the league's commercial footprint.

Gold Coast gets crowds for basketball if you look at Blaze's last season attendances they averaged roughly 3,000 at the GCCEC.

The main issue with Gold Coast is sponsorship dollars and expanding the club’s commercial brand. People in the Gold Coast just don’t spent much money which is the truth. Population has great grown with a few people from the south moving up, but not sure if they have sponsorship money. People don’t realise how much money goes into one club.

Silly question I know but would the league see this as another regional team like Cairns, Illawarra, Darwin or Geelong?

Mid market like Tasmania, Canberra

Or like another capital city type team?

I mean Gold Coast is in many ways our Las Vegas and you could imagine ex NBA player led consortium could buy into it simply because it has a shimmer to it that other places don't (it even has Gold in its name).

I feel like so many on hoops.com.au want a second NZ team ahead of all else but I've never felt that the league has wanted or seriously considered that option

Nice crowd watching Gold Coast v rip city in nbl1.

Patterson looking larger than ever. lol.

Why is he still in Australia

Playing basketball

"Silly question I know but would the league see this as another regional team like Cairns, Illawarra, Darwin or Geelong?"

What if they do and what if they don't? I see no point in the question TBH. Regional team? Hobart is a capital city. If LK can get Government money, the GC will get a licence yesterday. The same applies to Canberra as well. Darwin is clearly on LK's sights and that's why the Blitz is there next season. Funny that Hobart had the Blitz and next season they were in. Coincidence? I think not.
Once the JJ's $2mill a season for 5 seasons (Gov't subsidy) is gone I suspect the JJ's will be as well.

If the JJs maintain the prominence they currently have in Tasmania, that sponsorship is likely to grow.

There is absolutely zero chance Darwin get an NBL team next season if ever

If there is land to buy, redevelop and then sell at a higher price in Darwin then you very well could see an NBL team as the centerpiece of that business plan for LK. I see no reason an NBL team couldn't work there with the right support and government backing. They're not sending the Blitz up there to 'f0ck spiders'.

Yes, exactly ME, plus all stadiums don't have to be large, 4500 to 6000 is ideal.

ME said. "If there is land to buy, redevelop and then sell at a higher price in Darwin then you very well could see an NBL team as the centerpiece of that business plan for LK"
No individual is going to do that. LK will only ever expand if someone brings him a "gift". Government money. Canberra will be in a position to do that for sure.