Saturday, June 14, 2008

It Is Time To Move Forward

Stick a fork in 'em!

This week has seen the Sydney Kings have to hand their license back to the NBL and the Brisbane Bullets still without a keen buyer; it might be time for the NBL to step in and make some bold decisions.

If you are a life long fan of either of these franchises you are holding your breath for a “White Knight” to appear at your doorstep before the magical June 30th deadline.

This all sounds good in theory but this is having an adverse effect on the rest of the league as we wait for both franchises to be pulled from their life support. Time is a ticking here people as we wait.

National sponsorship and television deals have been put on hold until these issues are fully resolved. If I’m Hummer (NBL major sponsor) or Fox Sports (the only way to see NBL live on TV) there is no doubt I would want to know what direction the NBL is heading in before my company signed a new sponsorship agreement.

This is where I feel the NBL must draw a line in the sand so the league can move on and prepare for the upcoming season.

If the NBL was to come out and say we are going with two less teams for this upcoming season, at least the rest of the league could move forward.

I’m not doubting there would be some initial disappointment with the lose of these two storied franchises but why should the rest of the league hang in limbo waiting for a miracle to happen?

Once this June 30th deadline ticks around the NBL has two and a half months before the tip off of the 2008/09 season. I just cannot see how this is enough time for the NBL to have all the above mentioned things in place for the start of the season.

Although I’m hearing that Hummer wishes to remain on board as the major sponsor, a deal of this magnitude is not going to happen over night. I’ll take an educated guess and say Hummer’s monetary involvement will hinge on a television deal as well.

So, to nut out a deal that will see both Hummer and Fox Sports happy and back on board with basketball the NBL needs to allow itself a solid window of time to get these deals over the line.

I my opinion the longer the other eleven franchises of the NBL have to sit around and wait on the fate of the Kings and the Bullets the harder it will be for the NBL to the start the season with any type of impact on the sporting calendar.

The Kings and the Bullets have known their fate for sometime now. It is time for the NBL to take them off their life support so the rest of the league can breath easier.

My weekly article can be found in the Townsville Bulletin every Saturday.
Former Kings coach Bob Turner has his say on the matter.
Nathan Jawai interview after Utah Jazz workout!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

without the Sydney Kings, the nbl wont survive.

Anonymous said...

whats the point of the NBL pulling the life support of the kings and bullets. without these two teams the league will struggle to ren-new its fox deal, get free to air coverage, or find a major sponsor. These two teams are integral to the survival and ongoing success of the league. Let the other 11 teams do what they have to do to get ready for the season. Pulling the life support from two of the leagues longest running franchises isn't the key to success of the league.