The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL) Thread

[Taeolas]

Yeah, Grant Harvey would probably work fine, at least for a starting up team. I believe it's already used for other sports, like the Roller Derby team too.

Ultimately, the problem is finding a few big Wallets in the city to sponser/back the team. Unlike Moncton or SJ, we don't really have anyone high profile enough to come forward and bring it in.

[CodiacCanuck]

I think Grant-Harvey is being used for St. Thomas University and Fredericton High hockey teams.
Maybe after a couple years playing there and building a fan base, Aitken Centre may be more accommodating.
You are correct though, nothing happens without owners who are willing to step up.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Pro basketball league expects to approve St. John's bid next week, commissioner says

Despite mixed signals from St. John's city council, hoop dreams are not dead for two groups trying to bring professional basketball to Mile One Centre.

David Magley, commissioner of the National Basketball League of Canada, expects to approve an offer from one of the groups by early next week.

The deal would include an agreement between the ownership group and St. John's Sports and Entertainment for the use of Mile One Centre. The arena is operated by SJSE, which is funded by the City of St. John's.

"We're really close," Magley said. "These are two top elite ownership groups we would take in any market."

It will come down to which owner can secure a deal for Mile One Centre first, he said.

...

http://http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada...ohns-1.4185733

See you next season

[MonctonRad]

Good stuff!

So, the Atlantic Division next year will include:
- Saint John
- Moncton
- Charlottetown
- Halifax
- Sydney
- St. John's

That's a good selection of cities, and with the resolution of ownership problems in Moncton, I dare say that the NBL Atlantic Division will be in a much stabler situation than at any time previously in league history.

The main issue will be travel costs (to and from NL). Right now, the interconnectivity of play between the NBL Atlantic and Central Divisions is quite limited (single home & home games each season), just to minimize travel costs and i believe the teams only go on one extended road trip per season into the opposite division.

The schedule is 40 games, so that means 28 games against divisional rivals (14 of which are on the road). With five opponents in the Atlantic Division, this means 2-3 road games in St. John's. I wonder how they will handle this? Certainly there will be (at least) back to back away games to minimize costs, but I wonder if they will arrange it so that the entire "away" season's series will be played consecutively in Newfoundland? That's hard to imagine because an extended away series like that has it's own costs (like hotels).

I wonder if the league will come up with some sort of a system to compensate travel to NL? If I recall, the Fog Devils of the QMJHL had to partially fund travel costs for visiting teams, and this was partially responsible for sinking the franchise.......

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Good stuff!

So, the Atlantic Division next year will include:
- Saint John
- Moncton
- Charlottetown
- Halifax
- Sydney
- St. John's

That's a good selection of cities, and with the resolution of ownership problems in Moncton, I dare say that the NBL Atlantic Division will be in a much stabler situation than at any time previously in league history.

The main issue will be travel costs (to and from NL). Right now, the interconnectivity of play between the NBL Atlantic and Central Divisions is quite limited (single home & home games each season), just to minimize travel costs and i believe the teams only go on one extended road trip per season into the opposite division.

The schedule is 40 games, so that means 34 games against divisional rivals (17 of which are on the road). With five opponents in the Atlantic Division, this means 3-4 road games in St. John's. I wonder how they will handle this? Certainly there will be (at least) back to back away games to minimize costs, but I wonder if they will arrange it so that the entire "away" season's series will be played consecutively in Newfoundland? That's hard to imagine because an extended away series like that has it's own costs (like hotels).

I wonder if the league will come up with some sort of a system to compensate travel to NL? If I recall, the Fog Devils of the QMJHL had to partially fund travel costs for visiting teams, and this was partially responsible for sinking the franchise.......

One of the many reasons why the Fog Devils were doomed, yeah.

Travel costs will always be the biggest burden on any team playing here. How do current NBL teams travel? Bus or plane? I imagine travel from Saint John to Sydney isn't that fun, Saint John to St. John's is only slightly more annoying (if by plane that is).

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

One of the many reasons why the Fog Devils were doomed, yeah.

Travel costs will always be the biggest burden on any team playing here. How do current NBL teams travel? Bus or plane? I imagine travel from Saint John to Sydney isn't that fun, Saint John to St. John's is only slightly more annoying (if by plane that is).

Bus within the Maritimes. They fly to Upper Canada I believe, but no more than two trips per year (unless in the NBL finals).

[CodiacCanuck]

I would absolutely love to see a team in St. John's.
The one constant issue has been, and always will be, travel costs. I think putting the extra burden of subsidizing other teams' travel would be a death blow to any NBL team trying to survive on The Rock.

[Marty_Mcfly]

I guess we'll see the details of the deal sometime next week and get to see how they're going to try and get this to work.

[PEI highway guy]

A travel Subsidy for Newfoundland teams has been attempted before with limited success. If you do not have one, teams may be reluctant to approve the franchise. If you provide one the finances of a team take a big hit. It definitely puts any team in Newfoundland at a disadvantage.

[Marty_Mcfly]

I should preface that travel subsidies were never the nail in the coffin issue with the AHL hockey teams playing out of St. John's, however distance from parent teams were the ultimate killer. Things will be different with the NBL though, as I highly doubt they'll be playing to a sold out arena every night so the issue of distance and travel subsidies will be more noticeable, especially with lowered income at the gate. Only time will tell; eventually I suspect a QMJHL team will be the main tenant of the arena, which will take some of the pressure off the basketball team to provide maximum income to the sports authority

[CodiacCanuck]

In a perfect world, Mile One should have both an NBL team and a QMJHL team. St. John's is a beautiful city, full of friendly and enthusiastic sports fans.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by CodiacCanuck

In a perfect world, Mile One should have both an NBL team and a QMJHL team. St. John's is a beautiful city, full of friendly and enthusiastic sports fans.

This seems to be the ideal paradigm.

Halifax, Sydney, Moncton, Saint John and Charlottetown all have both NBL & QMJHL teams. St. John's should too.

I would go so far as to say that the "bifecta" of NBL & QMJHL franchises is what confers "major league" status to Atlantic Canadian cities.

C'mon Freddy, get off your ass and join the fun!!!

[PEI highway guy]

Unfortunately UNB appears to rule the roost in Freddy sports wise at least. Not even a MJHL team. For a city that size you would think there would be more (non-university) teams. Charlottetown is smaller and they have both.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This seems to be the ideal paradigm.

Halifax, Sydney, Moncton, Saint John and Charlottetown all have both NBL & QMJHL teams. St. John's should too.

I would go so far as to say that the "bifecta" of NBL & QMJHL franchises is what confers "major league" status to Atlantic Canadian cities.

C'mon Freddy, get off your ass and join the fun!!!

Is the NBLC really that visible out there? That's cool if it is. I think virtually no one here would have ever heard of it.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

Is the NBLC really that visible out there? That's cool if it is. I think virtually no one here would have ever heard of it.

It has a certain level of visibility, yes - The teams in the NBL Atlantic Division generally draw 1,500-3,000 spectators per game. This is less than the QMJHL (3,000-10,000 depending on the team), but still respectable and the game day experience is good.

All the teams have mascots and dancers as well as music, and the quality of play is surprisingly good. This shouldn't really be surprising though. When you think of it, there are only about 300 players in the NBA, and probably a similar number in the development league. This means that players in the NBL can easily be in the top 1000 basketball players in the world. There are some ex-pros in the league (even people with NBA experience) and a lot of players hoping to get noticed and get their "big break" so they can advance onwards.

The NBL receives it's share of coverage in the local media (especially when the home team is winning), and being "small town Canada" here in the east, the NBL and the QMJHL are the biggest shows in town. They don't have to compete with major pro leagues for attention (like they do in southern Ontario)........

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It has a certain level of visibility, yes - The teams in the NBL Atlantic Division generally draw 1,500-3,000 spectators per game. This is less than the QMJHL (3,000-10,000 depending on the team), but still respectable and the game day experience is good.

All the teams have mascots and dancers as well as music, and the quality of play is surprisingly good. This is not surprising. There are only about 300 players in the NBA, and probably a similar number in the development league. This means that players in the NBL can easily be in the top 1000 basketball players in the world. There are some ex-pros in the league (even people with NBA experience) and a lot of players hoping to get noticed and get their "big break" so they can advance onwards.

The NBL receives it's share of coverage in the local media (especially when the home team is winning), and being small town Canada, the NBL and the QMJHL are the biggest shows in town. They don't have to compete with major pro leagues for attention (like they do in southern Ontario)........

That's awesome. I'm sure the play is quite good and I'd love for the league to keep growing. I was just wondering if those that went to games were the only ones paying attention, but it sounds like the teams and the league at least have general name recognition within their cities.

[MonctonRad]

New team logo for the Moncton Magic:



Note the wand.......

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

New team logo for the Moncton Magic:



Note the wand.......

Who wants to bet someone will see that and try and say the city is promoting smoking...

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

Who wants to bet someone will see that and try and say the city is promoting smoking...

It's already started... LOL
I was downtown Yesterday, and people where indeed saying that it is cigarette/smoking promotion. But its the same people who claim everything is promotion to smoking.

[David_99]

Originally Posted by Scarface

It's already started... LOL
I was downtown Yesterday, and people where indeed saying that it is cigarette/smoking promotion. But its the same people who claim everything is promotion to smoking.