lol the actual NBL will NEVER go under.
Really?
I wouldn't be so confident if I were you.
Sydney Kings - best team in the league - apparently on the brink of going out of business and being booted out of the league altogether!
Wollongong Hawks - Were barely able to continue into this season given financial problems, and their future must be in huge doubt. Huge doubt.
West Sydney Razorbacks - Again, barely made it into this season. Pathetic support and a pathetic record add up to not very much at all. Won't be around for much longer given all the financial problems they have.
Singapore Slingers - A joke. Hopeless team with no prospects. Does anyone in Sydney even know they exist?
Brisbane Bullets - Owned by ABC Childcare Boss Eddy Groves! Spells Trouble. Will soon be up for sale as Eddy tries to raise some cash to stave off bankruptcy - but who'd want to buy them? Rising Interest Rates, Rising Inflation, the invasion of SE Queensland by other sporting codes - how many new teams between the introduction of the Titans and all these new teams for Sunshine Coast/Ipswich etc. that we've been hearing about? Someone will buy them, no doubt, but would doubt how committed they'd be if things started to turn pear-shaped.
New Zealand Breakers - History shows that NZ teams don't last. Will hang around on life-support for awhile, but if a couple of other teams fall over, they'll not be long for the NBL.
South Dragons - There must be question marks over the future of this team. Essentially a vanity play, the death of John Ilhan has removed a major plank of their corporate and financial backing. In any coming downturn in the economy, I doubt they'll be viable.
Who does that leave?
Adelaide 36ers, Perth Wildcats, Melbourne Tigers, Cairns & Townsville.
Not sure about those 5 teams, but if the other teams start falling over as they well could over the next 3-5 years - and don't forget rising oil prices which factors into the huge travel bills all these teams have - they won't have a National competition to play in anyway!
Basically, by 2012 I doubt the NBL will still be around. Basketball will have retreated to the state level with the regional leagues.
The NBL's 30th Birthday is coming up - but I haven't heard a peep about it. That tells me that those involved don't see a rosy future for the sport and are occupied with trying to fix the myriad of problems they face at present.
Really, the NBL is sleepwalking into oblivion rather quickly. Being sponsored by Hummer says it all. Who? How many cars do they sell in Australia anyway? Wouldn't be many.