http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/1244469.html
NBL founders await deposit cheques
By BRIAN FREEMAN Sports Reporter
Sat, May 21 - 4:54 AM
The founders of the fledgling National Basketball League of Canada are waiting for the first deposit cheques to begin rolling in from five markets contemplating entry in the upstart circuit.
Organizers of prospective franchises in Moncton and four Ontario centres — Oshawa, London, Kingston and Barrie — were to have their deposits for an undisclosed amount postmarked and in the mail Friday in order to continue the process of applying for membership in the league.
"Everybody was aware of the deadline and we didn’t get a call from anyone saying that they were not going to be sending (the cheque) off," said Halifax Rainmen owner Andre Levingston, who doesn’t expect any of the refundable deposits to arrive before the middle of next week due to the Victoria Day holiday.
The Rainmen, Saint John Mill Rats and Quebec Kebs joined forces to hatch the NBL Canada after abandoning the Premier Basketball League last month. They led a mass exodus of teams at the conclusion of the PBL’s championship series that was dogged by accusations of biased officiating.
Levingston is the new league’s interim president and chief operating officer while Ian McCarthy, the Mill Rats president and general manager, is its interim chief operating officer.
Prospective teams are still working on venue leasing arrangements that would have to be secured before they’d be granted acceptance into the league. Full franchise fees are due June 15, the deadline to apply to be a part of the NBL’s inaugural campaign, which will run from late October to March.
The lineup of teams for the season will be announced on June 30, said Levingston, who added that negotiations are ongoing with other markets as well.
Teams would likely have a salary cap comparable to or perhaps higher than the $150,000 maximum that was in place in the PBL last season, he said, noting the cap would be among the items on the agenda for an owners meeting scheduled for July 1.
They’d also discuss roster size, a Canadian content rule requiring a certain number of homegrown players, and the length of the schedule, which almost certainly will exceed the 20 regular-season contests Halifax played in the PBL.
"We like the number 30," the Rainmen owner said. "We’ll have a discussion. It could be a few more games but we don’t really see it in anything less than 30 games."
Levingston and McCarthy will likely remain the chief caretakers of the new league until the first slate of teams is announced but will eventually give way to a full-time commissioner and a director of league operations.
"There’s a lot of legwork that needed to be fulfilled out of the gate which he and I have been doing," Levingston said.
"Once we feel comfortable with passing the torch to someone that we all feel is comfortable with leading us in the right direction, we will step out of our roles. I don’t see it happening before June 30 because there’s just too much to be done."
(
bfreeman@herald.ca)