NBL: Inside story of secret negotiations to resurrect Gold Coast team
The godfather of Gold Coast basketball has backed the talks to bring the city back into the NBL, revealing how it would succeed compared to previous years.
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THE godfather of Gold Coast basketball has backed the talks to bring the city back into the NBL.
David Claxton, known to many as “Mr Basketball” was the coach of the Gold Coast Rollers team in the 1990s and later helped found the Gold Coast Blaze in 2007 with the Tomlinson family.
He said he was delighted by early talks - revealed by the Bulletin this week - between billionaire competition boss Larry Kestelman, Mayor Tom Tate and a consortium led by entertainment boss Billy Cross.
“I wish them all the best in terms of getting an NBL licence again because there is a growing market for it here on the Gold Coast and is the biggest regional market for basketball,” he said.
“The league is in a good position, Larry Kestelman has done a great job in many ways and the standard of competition is terrific.
“The Blaze was doing well in its last season and the NBL now in the past three years has really seen strong quality, in terms of the salaries to attract the right people being much more than it was in our day.
“Looking back at the Blaze, the Tomlinson family do not get as much credit as they should in terms of what they put behind that franchise during the difficult times of the global financial crisis.
Mr Kestelman visited the Gold Coast last week and met at a Broadbeach cafe with Mr Cross and other consortium members. Mr Tate and Mr Kestelman talked in Sydney last weekend.
The NBL is looking at locations for expansion teams on the back of expressions of interest for new franchise licences.
Canberra, another city to have previously held an NBL licence, and the Gold Coast are leading the field of prospective new teams.
At least two franchises are expected to enter the competition between 2024 and 2025.
A source with knowledge of the inner workings of the NBL told the Bulletin it costs an estimated $8m to $10m to run a team annually.
Mr Tate on Tuesday said a new NBL side on the Gold Coast would be well-supported.
Inside story: Secret negotiations to resurrect Coast NBL team
SECRET negotiations are being held to bring the Gold Coast back into the NBL, with league bosses meeting both Mayor Tom Tate and at least one consortium.
More than a decade after exiting the competition, the city is at the centre of expansion plans on the back of a surging revival of interest in grassroots basketball.
Mr Tate on Friday night held a courtside meeting at the NBL finals in Sydney with billionaire competition boss Larry Kestelman about the prospect of relaunching a basketball franchise on the Gold Coast.
The Mayor and Mr Kestelman discussed the matter while watching the Sydney Kings defeat the New Zealand Breakers 91-68 at Qudos Bank Arena.
“I have had preliminary discussions with Larry about bringing the NBL to the Gold Coast,” Mr Tate said on Monday.
“The number of grassroots players coming through deserve a national team on the Gold Coast. And that’s why I believe it would be well-supported.
“We have a fair way to go, but I welcome their interest in our city and hope we can continue our dialogue.”
It came after Mr Kestelman visited the Gold Coast last week and met at a Broadbeach cafe with a consortium led by entertainment boss Billy Cross.
Mr Cross declined to comment when approached by the Bulletin on Monday but said there was strong interest in basketball on the Gold Coast.
“There is plenty of support for basketball here and just last year the Gold Coast Rollers won the NBL 1 north championship for the first time in more than 30 years,” he said.
The NBL is currently looking at locations for expansion teams on the back of expressions of interest for new franchise licences.
Canberra, another city to have previously held an NBL licence, and the Gold Coast are leading the field of prospective new teams.
At least two franchises are expected to enter the competition between 2024 and 2025.
“I’m completely blown away at the interest,” Mr Kestelman told News Corp in February.
“It’s just great to be in a place where there is such demand and excitement about the NBL.
“A reasonable lead-in time is a year-and-a-half to build a team from the ground up, build the back office and the on-court performance, without rushing it.
“I don’t want more teams for the sake of having more teams if they’re going to be struggling.
“We need to make sure there is support from fans, from business, from government to ensure it is commercially viable and it actually grows the game and the NBL.”
Mr Kestelman’s comments about safeguards around support are valid. A source with knowledge of the inner workings of the NBL told the Bulletin it costs an estimated $8m to $10m to run a team annually.
The Gold Coast has previously been home to two failed NBL franchises.
The Gold Coast Cougars, later renamed the Gold Coast Rollers, entered the competition in 1990 but financially struggled through its six years and never placed higher than eighth.
The Rollers, along with the Hobart Devils and Geelong Supercats, had their licences pulled in 1996.
A new team, the Gold Coast Blaze, which was bankrolled by a consortium that included Mr Tate, played in the NBL between 2007 and 2012 with great success, making three finals appearances.
Mr Tate previously told the Bulletin he was supportive of a new team which would be able to avoid the issues facing previous teams.
“Historically, when we were a much smaller city, we did bite off more than we could chew,” he said in August 2022.
“A huge financial challenge was the cost of setting up the flooring and venue hire at Gold Coast Convention Centre (where the Blaze played their home games).
“It made it so prohibitive that even if we had 2000 people in the stands, we could still not break even, and therefore it wasn’t sustainable.”
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