Richmond Tigers investigate future NBL franchise in Melbourne's south-east Roy Ward
The Age
February 12, 2015Richmond Football Club has investigated fielding a team in the National Basketball League but not in its famous yellow-and-black colours.
Fairfax Media understands Richmond were working in secret with the NBL in a bid to run a second Melbourne franchise with a group of Tigers' staff building a proposal which met all the NBL's criteria except for attracting the independent money needed to fund the early seasons.
It is understood the bid to get a team up and running in the 2015-16 season has stalled after the club ran out of time and required more financial backing. Club officials are still to decide whether to continue the process for the 2016-17 or beyond.
The Tigers wanted to attract new financial backing for its NBL side.
The NBL side would not play as Richmond Tigers due to the AFL's demands to keep sole use of club identities. This also prohibited the use of the much-loved yellow and black colours.
Former South Dragons owner Mark Cowan, a passionate Richmond supporter, was working with the club and the NBL to put the Richmond-backed team into the NBL for next season with the team based in and representing south-east Melbourne but potentially playing at Hisense Arena.
The South Dragons identity was being considered as the team's name and colours due to its existing fan base and connections in south-east Melbourne, but other names were being considered.
The Tigers also reached out to NBA clubs about a possible partnership and continue to look into attracting an NBA side as a partner to the NBL team.
Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale was flying to America on Wednesday but his trip is not believed to be connected to the NBL expansion.
With Australia's profile growing in the NBA due to a record number of NBA and WNBA players, such partnerships could become more attractive.
Richmond's interest in taking up an NBL licence was based on their desire to build stronger connections in south-eastern Melbourne and its growing population.
With Richmond having a large supporter base in those suburbs, the club's plan was to set up a successful NBL franchise with independent financial support and sponsors but backed by the Tigers' commercial, marketing and media divisions.
The Tigers would then have access to many more potential members as the population in the area grows.
A Richmond spokesman said the club was not progressing with the bid but The Age understands there is nothing stopping the Tigers revisiting their plans for future seasons.
"Richmond has a very significant supporter base in Melbourne's south-east , a part of Melbourne that is also significantly invested in basketball," he said.
"As part of our engagement strategy in the region, we did make some preliminary inquiries with the NBL but it has not progressed beyond that point.
"As a club we need to continue to look for innovative ways to grow our consumer base and for that reason we felt this was an opportunity worth investigating.
"Clearly our core business is winning games of football and we continue to look for opportunities that can strengthen our business and underpin that core objective."
Basketball has long been one of the most popular sports in south-eastern Melbourne as shown by the large player bases of the Dandenong, Kilsyth, Nunawading and Knox associations along with the rapidly growing associations at Cranbourne and Pakenham.
The Richmond-backed NBL bid is not believed to be aligned with the south-east Melbourne bid which has worked for several years to make a community-controlled NBL team in that region.
The community bid is still working to win the NBL's approval and continues to make its case to the league.
The Age understands current NBL club Melbourne United's stadium deal with the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust doesn't exclude other future NBL clubs making a deal to use their stadiums.
An NBL spokeswoman said the league would not comment on NBL expansion talks.
"The NBL will not discuss the details of any confidential negotiations," she said.
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