Expansion...Where should they go next.

[Evad]

OK, the season is just about ready to start and they have done a great job bringing in a new team that looks to have some staying power. I heard awhile back the league was looking to grow to 5 teams in each division. If this is the case which two cities do you think should be given the nod for next year. As of right now we have

Central Division
Laval Kebs
London Lightning
Oshawa Power
Windsor Express

Atlantic Division
Halifax Rainmen
Moncton Miracles
Saint John Mill Rats
Summerside Storm

Is there another city in Quebec that would support a team? It would be good for Laval to have a province rival.

Would St. Catharines/Niagara work or has it been burned by the "other" league too many times.

Would Sydney be willing to support a team?

I'm looking forward to the season starting. One last question. Any news about a T.V. deal? OK I'm done.

[Cashcleaner]

I'm gonna be honest, I don't think we'll see any significant expansion for a while. In the long run, it might be interesting to see teams in the West such as Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, and Calgary, etc. I think it would be financially doable if the league was divided into two separate conferences with no inter-conference play in the regular season. The fact is that the NBL and individual teams do't have a lot of money to work with at the moment, so unless we see attendance numbers go through the roof this season, expect a slow and cautious approach to expansion.

[12 Panels in the Cylinder]

...a slow and cautious approach to expansion.

It really is the best way to look at it. Make sure these current teams are healthy as healthy can be.

None of us has crystal balls for the future. Some viable cities might be needed for emergency team moves, rather than expansion; in a worst case scenario.

[Cashcleaner]

Exactly. And as much as it pains me to say it, if this season doesn't go good for Oshawa and they can't draw larger crowds at the GM Centre, I think the Power will be looking for a new home in 2014. Kingston seems like a good contender. Perhaps Ottawa as well.

[WJF]

This is a topic that gets brought up very regularly and there are a number of locations that could support a team. That being said, getting the current 8 teams in a long term stable position to succeed in their current cities is key for the league's reputation going forward. The franchise in Quebec has changes communities in only their second year in the league, other teams are on a year to year lease with their home game facility, and fan support and roster continuity need to get better.

Look at this forum for one, what is there,30 members?

Now some very good things are happening, corporate sponsors are on board, the league puts out a good product, and basketball is in a boom in Canada, so slow and steady will win this race.

Ottawa/Gatinuea
Kitchener/Waterloo
Sudbury
Hamilton
Kingston?
Sydney NS. ?

[Evad]

Yes to all the above replies. I agree with everything you guys are saying. Slow and steady does win the race. Taking it easy is a good idea. Not rushing things will give the league staying power.

BUT....You know there has to be a plan in place for future teams and how they hope to build the league. It may be one new team a year for the next few years, which would be fine, I just like to speculate on where they might be looking. There is not a single company out there that does not project future growth and where they will be in 2, 5, or 10 years. Economy plays into it I get that, and I think the NBL will factor that into their future growth.

[Cashcleaner]

Yes to all the above replies. I agree with everything you guys are saying. Slow and steady does win the race. Taking it easy is a good idea. Not rushing things will give the league staying power.

BUT....You know there has to be a plan in place for future teams and how they hope to build the league. It may be one new team a year for the next few years, which would be fine, I just like to speculate on where they might be looking. There is not a single company out there that does not project future growth and where they will be in 2, 5, or 10 years. Economy plays into it I get that, and I think the NBL will factor that into their future growth.

Well, this isn't so much what I think will happen, but rather a sort of league I'd like to see in five years or so. Like I said previously, getting teams into the west would be great, but I'm realistic enough to know that clubs probably wouldn't be able to afford the travel costs. Like I said, a compromise would be to split the league into two conferences, east and west, and have teams only play their own conference opponents in the regular
season.

So here's what I'd like to see in the future:

NBL Eastern Conference
Halifax
Laval
Summerside
Moncton
St. John
Oshawa
Windsor
London

NBL Western Conference
Winnipeg
Regina
Calgary
Edmonton
Vancouver
Victoria
Saskatoon
Lethbridge

[WJF]

[/quote]

Well, this isn't so much what I think will happen, but rather a sort of league I'd like to see in five years or so. Like I said previously, getting teams into the west would be great, but I'm realistic enough to know that clubs probably wouldn't be able to afford the travel costs. Like I said, a compromise would be to split the league into two conferences, east and west, and have teams only play their own conference opponents in the regular
season.

So here's what I'd like to see in the future:

NBL Eastern Conference
Halifax
Laval
Summerside
Moncton
St. John
Oshawa
Windsor
London

NBL Western Conference
Winnipeg
Regina
Calgary
Edmonton
Vancouver
Victoria
Saskatoon
Lethbridge[/quote]

Do yo know how far it is from Winnipeg to the BC cities, further than if you go to Toronto or Ottawa. You would still be doing a tonne of travel in the West and flying would be needed. Once you start flying does teh cost really increase if you need to go to Ontario and play a 3 game road trip and drive between London, Oshawa and Windsor?

[Evad]

Yes to all the above replies. I agree with everything you guys are saying. Slow and steady does win the race. Taking it easy is a good idea. Not rushing things will give the league staying power.

BUT....You know there has to be a plan in place for future teams and how they hope to build the league. It may be one new team a year for the next few years, which would be fine, I just like to speculate on where they might be looking. There is not a single company out there that does not project future growth and where they will be in 2, 5, or 10 years. Economy plays into it I get that, and I think the NBL will factor that into their future growth.

Well, this isn't so much what I think will happen, but rather a sort of league I'd like to see in five years or so. Like I said previously, getting teams into the west would be great, but I'm realistic enough to know that clubs probably wouldn't be able to afford the travel costs. Like I said, a compromise would be to split the league into two conferences, east and west, and have teams only play their own conference opponents in the regular
season.

So here's what I'd like to see in the future:

NBL Eastern Conference
Halifax
Laval
Summerside
Moncton
St. John
Oshawa
Windsor
London

NBL Western Conference
Winnipeg
Regina
Calgary
Edmonton
Vancouver
Victoria
Saskatoon
Lethbridge

I like your Conference setup, but I would have divisions within the Conference. Have the teams play within their division and then have some conference match up games. This would keep travel costs down. The teams with question marks are just my "could this city work" suggestions.

NBL Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division (New Brunswick,Nova Scotia and P.E.I)
Halifax
Summerside
Moncton
St. John
Sydney?
Central Division (Quebec and Ontario)
Laval
Oshawa
Windsor
London
Kitchener?
NBL Western Conference
Great Plains Division (Manitoba and Saskatchewan)
Saskatoon
Winnipeg
Regina
Brandon?
Pacific Division (Alberta and British Columbia)
Calgary
Edmonton
Vancouver
Victoria
Lethbridge

[Cashcleaner]

I like your Conference setup, but I would have divisions within the Conference. Have the teams play within their division and then have some conference match up games. This would keep travel costs down. The teams with question marks are just my "could this city work" suggestions.

NBL Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division (New Brunswick,Nova Scotia and P.E.I)
Halifax
Summerside
Moncton
St. John
Sydney?
Central Division (Quebec and Ontario)
Laval
Oshawa
Windsor
London
Kitchener?
NBL Western Conference
Great Plains Division (Manitoba and Saskatchewan)
Saskatoon
Winnipeg
Regina
Brandon?
Pacific Division (Alberta and British Columbia)
Calgary
Edmonton
Vancouver
Victoria
Lethbridge

BOOM! I think this could work.

[JJSA]

In my opinion, the league has 3 or 4 realistic markets left to expand to in Ontario; and I think you will see the Power likely relocate to one of them for the 2013/2014 season. (Either Ottawa or Kingston)

1. Ottawa
2. Kingston
3. Sudbury
4. Sault Ste. Marie

[Evad]

In my opinion, the league has 3 or 4 realistic markets left to expand to in Ontario; and I think you will see the Power likely relocate to one of them for the 2013/2014 season. (Either Ottawa or Kingston)

1. Ottawa
2. Kingston
3. Sudbury
4. Sault Ste. Marie

I like the Sault Ste. Marie suggestion. This would be the farthest team from the others, but, it would be the beginning of heading West. If a team could get established and build a strong fan base, work out the schedule so they would not be traveling to Halifax and Summerside to often, I see this as a great launching point to a nation wide league.

[stormy69]

Would love to see another team in atlantic canada, the only option is probably sydney CB. They could support a team as they draw fairly good for there junior hockey...Newfoundland is a distant option but the travel costs will most likly prevent this from ever happening.

[Cashcleaner]

The Brampton Battalion have ended their lease at the Gatorade Centre and are moving to North Bay. I wonder if the city is looking at the NBLC as a new tenant for the arena? Certainly sounds plausible to me.

[Evad]

I think Brampton is to close to Oshawa. Kingston would be better, in between Montreal and Oshawa. Going above 5 teams in each division I think would flood the market and cause lower attendance. So, I'd like to see 2 more teams next year one in each division, and then start heading West.

[Evad]

Now that Ottawa has been announced and Laval is gone, I've updated my list.

NBL Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division (New Brunswick,Nova Scotia and P.E.I)
Halifax
Summerside
Moncton
St. John
Sydney?
Central Division (Quebec and Ontario)
Montreal
Oshawa
Windsor
London
Ottawa
NBL Western Conference
Great Plains Division (Manitoba and Saskatchewan)
Saskatoon
Winnipeg
Regina
Brandon?
Pacific Division (Alberta and British Columbia)
Calgary (Crush of the ABA)
Edmonton (Energy of the IBL)
Vancouver
Victoria

[Evad]

I added Prince Albert to the Great Plains Division. The Art Hauser Center would work for NBL size wise. I didn't see seating for basketball (probably cause they haven't had a game there) but with floor seating they could get close to 4,000. what do you think?
http://www.citypa.ca/TheCity/Departments/CommunityServices/IceArenas/ArtHauserCentre/tabid/311/Default.aspx

In the Pacific Division I added Prince George. The CN Center would be perfect for NBL. Seating is close to 6,000 and depending on the fan support they have plenty of room.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CN_Centre

All of this is just for fun and I know it would be years before anything like this could happen.

NBL Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division (New Brunswick,Nova Scotia and P.E.I)
Halifax
Summerside
Moncton
St. John
Sydney?
Central Division (Quebec and Ontario)
Montreal
Oshawa
Windsor
London
Ottawa
NBL Western Conference
Great Plains Division (Manitoba and Saskatchewan)
Saskatoon
Winnipeg
Regina
Brandon
Prince Albert
Pacific Division (Alberta and British Columbia)
Calgary (Crush of the ABA)
Edmonton (Energy of the IBL)
Vancouver
Victoria
Prince George

[Bramaca]

Don't think they need to expand in the east too much. 8 teams should be about right, just have to find the right markets for each. It would be best if they moved into the west as soon as possible though. Allow the potential teams in the west to grow along with the teams in the east.

Would love to see a team in Brandon.

[Evad]

Don't think they need to expand in the east too much. 8 teams should be about right, just have to find the right markets for each. It would be best if they moved into the west as soon as possible though. Allow the potential teams in the west to grow along with the teams in the east.

Would love to see a team in Brandon.

Hey Bramaca welcome to the forums.
I agree with your above statement except for one thing. With Ottawa coming on board next year, there will be 5 teams in the central and 4 teams in the Atlantic, so there will need to be one more team to make it an even 5 and 5. Once that is set up and going well, maybe after a couple of years then make a push to head West.

If you check out the expansion forum on this site I gave a shout out for two teams in the West that would fit the footprint for the NBL, Calgary Crush and Edmonton Energy. Both teams are in other leagues, but they can make the jump to the NBL and become a "pro" team.

http://calgarycrush.com/
http://www.edmontonnrg.com/home.php

[Bramaca]

If the league has hopes of becoming sustainable its going to have to follow the same path of the CFL. I don't think the country can really support more then 16 teams nationwide. A couple of the current cities that show support currently won't be able to grow with the necesary league growth.

Although there may be 9 teams on the card for next year some of those cities will fall away if the league is to grow.

[Evad]

I think Brampton is to close to Oshawa. Kingston would be better, in between Montreal and Oshawa. Going above 5 teams in each division I think would flood the market and cause lower attendance. So, I'd like to see 2 more teams next year one in each division, and then start heading West.

Not to brag but just to point out, I called it with two more teams with 5 in each division.

[Penguin022]

I think Brampton is to close to Oshawa. Kingston would be better, in between Montreal and Oshawa. Going above 5 teams in each division I think would flood the market and cause lower attendance. So, I'd like to see 2 more teams next year one in each division, and then start heading West.

Not to brag but just to point out, I called it with two more teams with 5 in each division.

LOL! Very nice job, Evad! I don't believe this is the 1st time you'll be right...

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