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Originally Posted by MonctonRad
The future of the league remains a little shaky however, ownership issues continue for the Moncton Miracles despite the fact the team has the second highest attendance in the league. Ontario franchises tend to appear and disappear with distressing regularity, with only Windsor and London being stable.
I hope the league survives. Secondary markets in the country deserve access to professional basketball too, and the quality of the play is actually quite good. With mascots and dancers, the game day experience can be quite festive.
What will really make a difference is expansion into western Canada. I know the league is looking into this as a possibility. Travel costs are the big issue I believe.
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Basketball is a growing sport nationally but it's still really only a big deal in the Maritimes and southern Ontario. For the NBL to prosper the sport needs to grow substantially in Quebec and western Canada. When that happens the NBA will likely scoop the biggest markets for themselves like Montreal and Vancouver. The NBL will take the rest.
It's such a shame that there's no metro of 2 million+ in the Maritimes. If that existed the NBA would surely have set up there first instead of Toronto. Sadly the Maritimes will never have an NBA team of their own. No city is close to big enough.