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Living in denial
TweetTHE NBL finally made a statement yesterday after Townsville Crocodiles announced their decision to go into voluntary administration and, unsurprisingly, completely missed the point.
Even though the League knew in advance of the Crocs' decision - and my info is even then Townsville just wanted some kind of direction from the NBL but could get none - it once again could offer nothing tangible for the club to use.
To go forward, sign sponsors, players, start spruiking season tickets etcetera, the Crocodiles clearly needed to have answers to fairly straightforward questions.
Such as the very basic: "how many teams will the League have?" for example.
Instead, the NBL released a statement on its website which quoted NBL Chairman Graeme Wade.
“Our priority is the long-term viability of clubs. We know that clubs operating in regional areas can be successful, but they have to be able to operate independently," he said.
“Similar to the move for the Wollongong Hawks, it is an opportunity for the local community and businesses to rally together and demonstrate their passion for their team."
Is he kidding here?
Wollongong required its community to rally, for sure. (And the word is that it has been.)
But Townsville had sponsors and its community lining up to go forward into 2015-16 already. What it required was to be able to tell them what they were going forward into, information the NBL could not - or would not - provide.
How can anyone expect investors to jump aboard something so shaky its management cannot even confirm its competition's composition?
Wade then even drew a smiley face on the situation with the following.
“In recent years the League has worked closely with the Cairns Taipans and they have capitalised through strong management and community engagement on financial support from the NBL," he said.
“The Taipans have just finished one of their most successful seasons ever, with their finals tickets selling-out in a matter of minutes and they are not the only club to have achieved this feat."
Cairns has, no question, turned its program around. It is, right now, the No.1 NBL club in Australia and, from all accounts, the only one to again boast a small profit.
But drawing such a comparision is a long bow right now, given all the Crocs needed to avoid voluntary administration was clear direction from the NBL.
We are now in the two-week period ahead of free agents being up for grabs.
Will we have a League? Is six teams even worth worrying about?
Will we get it back to the existing eight?
Will the NBL ever come clean on why the Brisbane Bullets' return is off the table?
That's the problem right now.
The League. Not its clubs.
LATER TODAY: The $7million solution the NBL rejected.
Online
