SOMETHING rather interesting is happening to Australian basketball – actually scratch that. Something rather big is happening.
The opening weeks of NBL27 have provided another reminder of just how far the competition has come, with more than 104,000 supporters pouring through the gates in the early rounds, attendance up 14 per cent and free-to-air audiences jumping 96 per cent.
The Brisbane Bullets and Cairns Taipans remain the State’s only two NBL representatives despite Queensland’s growing population, the massive distance separating those two bases and a booming basketball scene that includes one particularly fascinating hoops belt stretching across the south-east corner.
Start at the Gold Coast, head north through Logan, and into Redlands and Bayside.
Basketball courts are everywhere and, more importantly, so is the talent.
The Gold Coast has long been a basketball nursery, Logan boasts an enormous basketball community and one of the strongest programs in the country, the Redlands and the Spartans of Carina continues to produce elite talent through its own thriving basketball system, while the rapidly growing corridor linking these communities provides an increasingly compelling catchment for professional sport.
Then there is the infrastructure.
Logan is preparing for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games with brand-new, state-of-the-art sporting facilities set to further transform the region’s sporting landscape.
When you combine that investment with the population growth occurring through Logan, Ipswich and the wider south-east and western corridors, the ingredients for something bigger are increasingly difficult to overlook.
Now that should make basketball people sit up – and suddenly a third Queensland NBL team does not sound quite so fanciful.
The Gold Coast has already travelled down the NBL road in various forms, most recently through the Blaze, which disappeared in 2012.
But 2012 Australian basketball and 2026 Australian basketball are very different beasts.
A successful expansion franchise needs serious ownership, corporate support, the right venue, long-term financial backing and, importantly, supporters.
If Australian basketball continues on its current trajectory, the NBL will inevitably keep looking at where its next opportunities might be.
When it does, perhaps it should take a drive starting on the Gold Coast, head through Logan, and look around the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Just don’t forget to bring a basketball.
