Well, the end is in sight. The end of the first season of the National Basketball League of Canada. We have a few weeks left in the regular season and then two rounds of playoffs. The season will be capped off with the All Star celebrations the weekend of March 31 and April 1st in Halifax. Our detractors said at the first of the year that we wouldn’t make it this far which I guess means that year one is a success. Alex J. Walling from TSN would likely say that the fact that a game hasn’t been cancelled puts us ahead of other leagues but hopefully we aspire to more than that.
I think year one can only be judged a success if it sets the stage for year two and beyond. We have certainly had our imperfections but most have been overcome. Moncton clearly struggled on the court early in the season but a coaching change led to drastically improved product. Even with those struggles, attendance has held steady at nearly 1,500 people per game which is very impressive when you start 0-10. Oshawa has had attendance problems but a Rogers game with free tickets for the community has started a turnaround. Quebec has suffered with attendance at an unsuitable facility but will be moving to a more suitable building for some of its final games. So imperfections aside, we have made progress.
I think it would be naïve to think that there won’t be changes in the offseason. Everyone involved has learned a ton, ourselves included. There could be new owners involved as teams look to solidify their finances. The league has a slow growth model as do most of the teams. However, that requires enough capital to be patient so you could see new owners stepping into teams to provide the support they need. I think you can also see some changes in management as teams focus more on sales and marketing in their management and less on basketball. The quality of the play in the league is self-evident but success in the business side takes the skill and discipline that success in any business requires.
Is this unhealthy? Of course not. This happens in business all the time. Businesses take on new investors. They change management to find the most skilled and appropriate people. These are actually signs of growth and sustainability. So will the NBL make it? Certainly it looks like it will and the changes that we could see this offseason will be part of building for the future.
