wbf spotted a similar article with a bit more info at The Age.

The man suggested to have put the deal together is one of basketball's leading entrepreneurs, former coach Bob Turner, who drove Canberra Cannons to the forefront in the 1980s and helped Mike Wrublewski make Sydney Kings a money-maker in their early years.

Asked yesterday if he was involved in setting up a Singapore team, Turner, who is working in Melbourne on the Commonwealth Games, said: "I wouldn't think so."

He said any comment should come from NBL commissioner Rick Burton, whose response was that he would not want to pre-empt a press conference called for tomorrow by Hunter chairman John O'Brien to "shed a bit more light" on the dying club's position.

New Zealand Breakers paid opponents' travel costs for the first three seasons as part of their licence deal, so a new team offshore would have a similar commitment. Transferring the licence from Hunter would involve a fee, but would cost significantly less than buying a new licence.

O'Brien could not be contacted yesterday but his conference tomorrow could show that he will retain an involvement in an overseas club. He is believed to have been responsible for covering a big part of the Hunter's $900,000 loss this season.

And for those not interested in playing name games, I'd be interested in comments on this opinion from 'Earnie Shavers' on OzHoops:

What do you think are the Pro's and Con's of this thing? My mail is that this was incredibly hastily organised, and from here to competing next season sounds like a whole lot more of hasty organisation. The NBL has been trumpeting Asia as its future and saviour for some time now. I think my nerves are all related to the fact that this is their shot, and in typical NBL-style they may be doing it half arsed. Not only that but they have invited 'Asia' into the league in a way that is similar to opening your house for inspection, but not even bothering to do 5 minutes of cleaning. Taking on the Leagues biggest expansion, yet their house in Australia is no where even close to being in order.

Merlions?

Hard not to find some sense in Shavers' piece...

Asia is being pitched like FTA was years back, that it can take the sport to the next level. FTA ended in tears.

With the 'cleaning', it seems that currently, the 36ers are in administration, the Kings are struggling, the Hawks are in financial trouble, Hunter is going to gone and who knows how long some other clubs can keep underwriting '$ losing seasons'?

I mean, is NZ an unqualified success? I think they will need deep pockets for some time to come.

Can anyone put some numbers on the dollar or marketing return to be generated from Singapore other than perhaps feeling good?

Or is it that Singapore entering will provide some cash to prop up some of the other clubs?

Private ownership covers a myriad of ills, but it hardly makes for stability. History also proves that it doesn't sustain growth either.

I has been hastily put together but I think it will be a good thing. In fact, I would like to see half the teams from Asia and half from Australia (plus NZ). Call it the Asian Basketball League (ABL). All of the Australian teams that are balancing on a knifes edge (financially) to go and make way for privately owned teams (one per country through out Asia).

I can see plenty of sponsorship coming from the deal, through TV and other commercial sources. The injection of funds will allow the league to increase the salary cap and therefore attract better players from around the world. Crowds to increase due to the better product on offer. New players from Asia will attract more interest again. Perhaps we can get back to the halcyon days of full houses each game.

New team will be expected to cover costs of other teams travel.

And Singapore Airlines has been hinted as a major sponsor.

For the National Basketball League to grow financially in an already stable market as well as for the game to grow on a domestically level a shift into Asia should be seen as a very good move. The NBL should act upon this as soon as possible and even as soon as season 2006/07. The NBL should consider proposing a deal to the current owners to vote and offer a licence to any interested consortiums from China and Malaysia. This will allow fresh sponsorship opportunities with organizations looking to develop new market shares in Australia. Australia has signed international trade treaties with Singapore as well as China and Malaysia in the last 4 or 5 years so developing a relationship with interested companies who would be looking at increasing a market share in Australia with there own product would be a good start.

The AFL major naming right sponsor is Toyota who could quite easily look at expanding into basketball in to increase their market share in Australia, if they could promote their product in Asia as well as Australia with an Asian feel about it may start to become a lot more appealing to them. Toyota sponsors the Houston Rockets home court simply because Yao Ming is a superstar and they know billions of people will see there brand. The NBL would gain broadcasting support from a cable network in Asia (possibly ESPN International) and potentially that telecast could be seen my millions and millions of people throughout Asia and leading to new sponsors and business partners jumping on board.

China has 1,306,313,812 Billion people with an GDP (purchasing power parity) of $8.158 Trillion; after the success of NBA superstar Yao Ming basketball is one of the largest growing participation sports in that country, the NBL should be pro active and look at expanding into Beijing or Shanghai, the Australian population has approximately 7% Asian (7% of 20,000,000 = 1 400 000 people living in this country) currently an untapped market.

The Asian region holds enormous economic grow for sponsorship and long-term financial security that the Australian market simply cannot substantiate any more.

If the Hunter Pirates somehow announces tomorrow that they have found a new sponsor and are going to continue to trade as a NBL club, in my option the NBL owners should hold a vote and expand the league in Asia. Invite the Singapore consortium to have a 13th licence as well as a 14th side from China. For the NBL to not consider expanding into Asia is simply stupid and selfish for the sport in Australia to grow. Saying that rules and regulation have to put in place to allow young and up and coming Australian juniors an opportunity to play the sport at the highest level. However the way the NBL is going it could quite easily be like the Australian baseball league and no longer around in any form.

Joe M

Lots of logic and lots of practical contradictions in your post

By any measure it would be a brave and expensive exercise to take a sport that can barely sustain itself in this market and implant it in huge albeit still developing but unbelievably complex markets with little or no capital base to work from.

The marketing costs alone to get enough traction would be mind boggling?

Wouldn't it easier to establish an Asian team playing out of Australia and seek to finance one without carrying the financial burden of a whole League?

Otherwise, its just hard to see how the numbers can work positively for the NBL and the current owners?

The recruitment of players and selling of the club to there own supporter should be left to the left to the owners of each club and that is how they would base there season ticket sales or marketing direction on. The Sixers, Tiger or what ever current NBL club should market there own club to there own target audience and the NBL should market the league as a whole and head in one strategic direction. The NBA does it, AFL, NRL, Super 14 rugby, cricket and the A-league soccer all have one direction they want the league or competition to head in and who they are looking for as a consumer. From this consumer I see they have no strategic direction to secure the NBL future just appears to be going in 4 or 5 smaller different direction and trying to hit the target with one.

Sure expanding into Asia (especially China) will cost money but that's why the NBL would have the new side do their own marketing and advertising. They would know their market and target audience, pricing structure for tickets and best placers to advertise and promote a product. Moving into Asia is going to be a huge gamble, the consumers may not warm to the product or be willing to go to a game but if it does and they do it correctly it will take the NBL from being the 5th or 6th national sport in Australia to potentially equal with the AFL.

If the NBL had a strategic direction (I don't doubt they don't, but it not evident to the average supporter) and in this strategic direction they included every NBL side future in mind, the mission and vision of the league could handle any expansion. The new side could be included into the marketing of this competition.

South East Singapore Saints?
Singapore Rollers and then move the licence to the G.C.

Joe M

An issue must be that marketing a club in that region would not nor could not always be consistent with the best interests of marketing the sport?

I think you are delusional about the ambition for the NBL being to be equal to the status of the AFL, one sport is ingrained into the culture, one a relatively recent addition.

It will never ever achieve the level of cultural integration that football boasts/has achieved.

The common direction in all those sports has been achieved by revolution or insurgence. 11 owners agreeing to i direction is a near impossibility.

I would simply hope that the sport can achieve some commercial and political respect as an organisation and a sport that has its act together, not the disparate financial rabble it can often appear to be?

I do think Asia remains a dream that serves to distract from the reality of our own position in this market. No corporate sales of value equals small business. Not enough fans equals small market and limited return. No media coverage equals less corporate support equals second tier sport.

Asia...a brave new world or another fools gold?

I guess the fear is that if this doesn't work, what hope will fans then cling to?

I guess thats the point...hope outweighing practical considerations

It isn't a matter of the fans clinging to something, the NBL must provide this direction. However, the NBL is a step further away from the fans than in sports like the AFL, so getting anything like this thing up seems so much harder and unlikely.

Soccer could not go forward until it stopped. It took Government intervention. It still has a long way to go but has established competitions to link into e.g. Asian Cup. We have nothing like that, we are looking to grow our own business.

Look at AVESCO and the races, how long has it taken them with ALL their money to get a toehold into Asia?

Ultimately, for Joe M, what is the NBL's plan to consolidate the sport? It isn't all that obvious, it still smells like survival?

Anwyay, perhaps they think a moving target is harder to hit?

What does the NBL do to manage the individual markets in which 'it' operates? Answer is not very much.

The above issue has been discussed a number of times in this space, but really, why would one owner subsidise another owner? Never going to happen.

Just can't see private ownership being the answer to the sports growth ambitions, money and owners contributions will always constrain the discussion.