thunderguy Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 It may interest you Canadian soccer aficionados to learn that there is a new summer professional indoor basketball league in Ontario. It’s the same idea as the CPSL but they call it Ontario instead of pretending it’s Canadian. The two gentlemen that started the league went out and raised $250,000 cash on top of yearly advertising and sponsorship deals. That money is before the franchise fee! So far attendance is in the 800 to 1000 range which is pretty good when you consider that up to now basketball in Canada has been a winter sport and does not have nearly the grass roots support that soccer has. The premise is that each team can sign only 6 out-of-country players and play 3 at any one time. There are presently 2 ex NBA guys playing. The rest of each team is made up of Canadian college and university players that can’t accept money...quality players with no payroll impact (until they graduate). They run free agent camps in Canada and attend the USA basketball free agent camps. They are clearly working their butts off to make it work and so far it looks good. Maybe the CPSL could take a business-plan lesson from these guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 Summer basketball doesn't work in this country. The NBL proved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh1 Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 Basketball, may be the only game that's a harder sell than soccer , at the pro level , in this country. Unless it's in that city , that isn't in the west or the east . That I promised myself I wouldn't have uncontrollable urges to bash any-more . NBL , WBL , GBL , Grizzlies , are there more failed B-ball leagues I missed [)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 quote:Originally posted by argh1 Basketball, may be the only game that's a harder sell than soccer explain....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderguy Posted June 3, 2004 Author Share Posted June 3, 2004 "Basketball as a harder sell than soccer" is not my quote but my take on it is contextual... basketball is typically a winter sport in Cananda. In that season it experiences good response at the professional level in Toronto only (Vancouver lost their franchise). The difficulty with the pro basketball league I mentioned is the attempt to run it in the summer. Most of the venues that the sport can afford to be in are non air conditioned gyms. Who wants to be stuck inside on a warm summer evening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metro Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 quote:Originally posted by thunderguy "Basketball as a harder sell than soccer" is not my quote but my take on it is contextual... basketball is typically a winter sport in Cananda. In that season it experiences good response at the professional level in Toronto only (Vancouver lost their franchise). The difficulty with the pro basketball league I mentioned is the attempt to run it in the summer. Most of the venues that the sport can afford to be in are non air conditioned gyms. Who wants to be stuck inside on a warm summer evening? To be fair, I wouldn't say Vancouver lost the Grizzlies solely due to fan disinterest. There are other factors involved and Vancouver sports fans decided that they wouldn't accept the BS the NBA was shovelling them. But I would agree with the statement that grassroots basketball may be a tougher sell than soccer, especially if the basketball season is run through the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh1 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 quote:Originally posted by CanadianSoccerFan explain....... I meant at the pro level . CIS has a strong following . Outside of the Grizzlies moving , and that may have been more of a league/ ownership decision . At one time there have been minor pro teams in Halifax (Windjammers ), Saskatoon (Storm ) ,Winnipeg (Thunder),Vancouver (Nighthawks),Hamilton (Skyhawks),& Calgary (88's) all in the WBL. I also remember somewhere a few CBA teams in Canada Winnipeg Cyclones maybe ? But I'm sure there were others . All , I meant was in soccer we still have 5 pro teams . I wish the new league well . Is this a re-birth of the CNBL that has been long talked about ? A summer league to boot , I believe will be a harder sell. As our out of doors time in this country is so short . It just seems to me outside of CIS basketball and the T-O Barneys as a spectator sport ,basketball has a long way to come . Truthfully , I wish we could sustain Canadian pro leagues similar to the CFL ( don't forget the length of time it's been around )in a few sports .Since I believe only a couple to three Canadian cities can compete with major U.S. franchises ( then there's hockey ). So we may be more like Wales , with a couple of teams in a U.S. based leagues , but national leagues being considered minor leagues.In most sports But as we say opinions are like arses , we all have one . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderguy Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 My original interest is in the fact that a regional (Ontario) pro basketball league can put up to 1000 bums in seats indoors in the summer and for example the Thunder pro soccer team gets 100. As perhaps a fairer comparison the London basketball team apparently had 400 at their season opener. I'll bet CPSL London won't hit that number. If basketball is a harder sell what is the CPSL doing wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh1 Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 quote:Originally posted by thunderguy My original interest is in the fact that a regional (Ontario) pro basketball league can put up to 1000 bums in seats indoors in the summer and for example the Thunder pro soccer team gets 100. As perhaps a fairer comparison the London basketball team apparently had 400 at their season opener. I'll bet CPSL London won't hit that number. If basketball is a harder sell what is the CPSL doing wrong? Compare , again in two years . OPBA still has a novelty sell factor. CPSL has proven staying power . No matter what we think of the league . 10-12 TEAMS ain't bad consistently for a quasi-pro provincal soccer league. All CPSL needs is the CSA to act like a EURO (oops) FA and tell CPSL "our way or the hi-way " There goes that opinion head again . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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