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Post by PantherG on Apr 25, 2015 21:20:24 GMT
I had a look at the UK Basketball league tonight and I noticed they appear to have a thriving league. Looking at the team in London they play out of the Copper Box, which apparently has a capacity of 7000 plus and for tomorrows second leg play off match there are very few tickets left. I am unsure of the attendance figures over the season but I thought it was pretty impressive and they have been there for three years, playing either on a Thursday evening or a Sunday afternoon.
I also explored further to see that they have the play off final, held as one off event in the 02, I have not idea of the crowd that will descend on the 02 that weekend, but it they are expecting up to 17,000 people for that one off final.
It makes me think if the league can get a team out of Wembley up and running, sooner, rather than later, then surely that can only improve the overall game. The ticket prices for a one off final are not cheap either
Ticket Prices:
Courtside - £125 Floor A - £99 Floor B - £75
Premium - Adult £40 / Child £28 Band A - Adult £30 / Child £20 Band B - Adult £25 / Child £18 Band C - Adult £20 / £15
But people must be paying these prices. I assume the 'cheap' £20 tickets are way up in the gods. It also makes me think what good value our play off weekend is for three games.
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Post by tootootrain on Apr 26, 2015 10:58:23 GMT
...It makes me think if the league can get a team out of Wembley up and running, sooner, rather than later, then surely that can only improve the overall game... It's not quite as simple as that though. The main difference between ice hockey and basketball is accessibility, and this drives everything else that comes later. There is and always will be problems with 'accessing' ice hockey. It's an expensive sport to play (and I speak as someone who plays) both in a monetary sense but also time and there are very limited options regarding where you can do it. Basketball on the other hand can be played in a limited (one on one etc) sense near enough anywhere with a bit of hardstanding and a backboard/hoop. This means more people are getting involved with basketball 'at the ground floor', which drives interest in the professional game. The match night experience at UK basketball games is also far better than any UK ice hockey games I've ever attended. I went to uni in Leicester (De Montfort Uni), a uni who at the time hosted and sponsored the Leicester Riders. Given that students got reduced price tickets for Riders games I attended a few games and was blown away by the quality of match night presentation a team that got such comparatively small crowds (compared to the Panthers) provided. But perhaps this goes back to getting those younger people interested in and, more importantly, getting involved with the sport. At Riders the match night presentation was organised by a team who appeared to be mid to late 20s max, who runs the match night presentation at Panthers?
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 26, 2015 13:28:20 GMT
Perhaps at Leicester,they had owners who were more interested in putting on a good show for the fans than making money.
Just a thought !!!
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Post by clanfanandy500 on Apr 26, 2015 19:23:36 GMT
Game night experience difference is not better in Glasgow. More people turn up, and you get a much more exciting match night experience at Braehead Clan than at Glasgow Rocks.
Rocks do, however, seem to have some really good sponsors - and the league overall seems to have some good sponsors.
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 26, 2015 20:46:51 GMT
The experience might be good....But as a game basketball is pants,they just go one end to the other scoring baskets and rarely miss.
It's like motor racing Grand Prix these days,it's too safe,little overtaking and it's boring.
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Post by spik on Apr 27, 2015 18:43:44 GMT
Whenever I see Basletball it has few attendees as , at best, seats are limited.Never associated Basketball as a rival to us.
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 27, 2015 19:28:55 GMT
Me neither Spik. And yet if I remember correctly I think I saw a table or article showing that basketball receives reasonable funding from Sport England or similar bodies ?
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 27, 2015 19:36:09 GMT
Just found the article from Nov 2014. Basketball was to get £7 million from Sport England which has now been reduced to £1.2 million.
I would love to ask what clown allocated that money when ice hockey gets bugger all !
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on Apr 27, 2015 19:57:53 GMT
Basketball will have far higher participation than hockey, for reasons given already by Tootoo. I'm pretty sure they also allocate that money with an eye on Olympic appearances, which ain't happening for GB ice hockey any time soon, least for the men.
Weren't we having a review of the sport to try and get on that particular gravy train? What came of that?
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Post by The Flying Shirt on Apr 27, 2015 19:58:47 GMT
Basketball will have far higher participation than hockey, for reasons given already by Tootoo. I'm pretty sure they also allocate that money with an eye on Olympic appearances, which ain't happening for GB ice hockey any time soon, least for the men. Weren't we having a review of the sport to try and get on that particular gravy train? What came of that? Also basketball is played in a lot of schools.
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 27, 2015 20:22:57 GMT
It may be played more but is it watched more ? I know a lot of people,but I can't say i have ever known anybody who either plays or watches basketball.
£7 million seems an awful lot when ice hockey gets zilch.
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Post by tootootrain on Apr 27, 2015 22:58:07 GMT
It may be played more but is it watched more? Yes. Compare and contrast the UK TV coverage provided to the relevant NA leagues. NHL coverage in the UK is provided by Premier Sport, a stand alone subscription channel. The NBA on the other hand is shown on BT Sports/ESPN, on both SD and HD channels. Then look at coverage of the UK leagues. EIHL, well the less said about their dire coverage the better. Hit and miss games on Premier Sports and piecemeal Internet streaming provided by individual teams. The BBL though enjoys both regular coverage on British Eurosport as well as regular games being shown on a league-run streaming channel. You may not like basketball but it's pretty difficult to argue that it doesn't have overall wider media coverage/viewership than ice hockey. Why do you think, of the four major NA sports, only the NBA and NFL are seriously considering putting an expansion team into London? As for your glib "I know a lot of people,but I can't say i have ever known anybody who either plays or watches basketball", I could say the same about darts, but I am aware it's popular. As it is my nephew played for the Nottingham Wildcats and whilst I can take or leave basketball my wife far prefers watching it to ice hockey.
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 27, 2015 23:42:50 GMT
By watched more I meant live at the arenas,in Britain ?
I'm not being funny but I have never heard anybody I know speak at all about basketball,it just doesn't seem right to me that basketball gets funding and ice hockey doesn't at least get something.
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Post by tootootrain on Apr 28, 2015 0:12:59 GMT
...it just doesn't seem right to me that basketball gets funding and ice hockey doesn't at least get something. Once again, this is likely as a consequence of basketball's accessibility compared to ice hockey. I'd hazard a guess that every single secondary school in this country has a basketball court, even if 'only' as part of a multi-use gym. This means that potentially every single secondary school can have basketball as part of their PE lessons or, as many increasingly have, after-school basketball programs. How accessible do you think ice hockey is by comparison?
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Post by bruinspanthers on Apr 28, 2015 5:48:06 GMT
By watched more I meant live at the arenas,in Britain ? I'm not being funny but I have never heard anybody I know speak at all about basketball,it just doesn't seem right to me that basketball gets funding and ice hockey doesn't at least get something. You are also actively in the ice hockey circle so to speak, getting involved in debates on forums etc... And going to games, so naturally it's easier to assume that basketball is a less watch sport as it's not in the forefront of your mind like ice hockey
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 28, 2015 11:06:59 GMT
I take your points. But I bet if you asked 1000 people of Nottingham whether we had an ice hockey team,at least 90% of them would say yes it's the Panthers.
Ask them the same question about a basketball team and I bet 95% of them wouldn't have a clue,me included !
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Post by tootootrain on Apr 28, 2015 11:39:03 GMT
I take your points. But I bet if you asked 1000 people of Nottingham whether we had an ice hockey team,at least 90% of them would say yes it's the Panthers. Ask them the same question about a basketball team and I bet 95% of them wouldn't have a clue,me included ! It's a chalk and cheese example. The Panthers are a top tier professional (for the UK at least) ice hockey team that plays out of the city's largest venue. The Wildcats by comparison are the junior development team of the Nottingham Hoods, a team who play in the English Basketball League 3 Division (North). If you asked many of those "90%" you allude to to name more than one ice hockey team in Nottingham I'm sure many would struggle after Panthers and Lions. This is going off tangent a little though. Your gripe seems to be that GB Basketball gets funding whereas GB Ice Hockey doesn't. Can you not accept that many of the reasons given are likely to be the reason for that? I'd like to see ice hockey given funding for development but being realistic, with a limited pot of money, what is best to back? A sport that relies upon basic skills (running and throwing), uses cheap equipment and can be played all over the place, or a sport that requires the learning of a specific skill (skating), requires relatively expensive equipment and can only be played in a specialist facility with limited availibility?
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 28, 2015 12:26:53 GMT
I must check Toots to see if there are still athletes getting funding for bobsleigh or that thing where they go down an ice slope on a little skeleton tea tray.
But I seem to remember seeing there were.....perhaps since I was there most secondary schools now have Cresta ice slopes on the playing field so the kids can do that in their PE lessons !
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on Apr 28, 2015 12:45:18 GMT
The skeleton, where we've had Olympic champions in 2010 and 2014, gets good funding. The luge, where we didn't have any athletes qualify for the last Olympic games, receive nothing.
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Post by tootootrain on Apr 28, 2015 15:24:25 GMT
I must check Toots to see if there are still athletes getting funding for bobsleigh or that thing where they go down an ice slope on a little skeleton tea tray. But I seem to remember seeing there were.....perhaps since I was there most secondary schools now have Cresta ice slopes on the playing field so the kids can do that in their PE lessons ! As Yotes said. Got anything else?
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 28, 2015 17:46:51 GMT
Yeah.....sorry for sticking up for ice hockey,you obviously don't give a flying fudge about it,you would rather somebody on a tea tray got the money !
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on Apr 29, 2015 11:11:41 GMT
What people care about is neither here nor there, you're suggesting the funding is going to bizarre places and that hockey would be a better recipient, we've given reasons why the money goes where it does.
They want a return on the investment, if GB men's hockey want money, the first place to start is to stop snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The fluff about "winning" a silver medal, at the 3rd tier of the World Championships, the other month was entirely predictable, but while we fail to capitalise on chances like that we'll not get a penny, because there's no hint of success in return.
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 29, 2015 11:41:27 GMT
What you mean like at basketball Yotes,where they get £1 million plus funding and we have won lots of medals.......NOT !
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Yotes
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Post by Yotes on Apr 29, 2015 11:55:14 GMT
Yes but Basketball lost all of their funding when the men and women only managed 1 win at the 2012 Olympics (they had funding prior to that because they were qualified to the Olympics as hosts). The government then had to step in to get them the reduced level of funding from a different organisation (Sport England, as opposed to UK Sport) because the national teams wouldn't be able to operate, and they did this partly because of Basketball's participation levels among the young.
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iginla
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Post by iginla on Apr 29, 2015 12:06:35 GMT
I'm sorry Yotes but there will never be a major return on either basketball or ice hockey in the uk. Either all national teams participating at Olympic or world championship level should get funding or none of them should as far as I am concerned.
Sorry,it just makes me cross in this world of scroungers we live in,that some people get money or funding and equally deserving people don't !
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