Team Problems !

[panchess]

..running a small business development class myself, the IBL business plan and follow-up is well-done, particularly by minor-league basketball standards.

The efforts to encourage promotions, involve the community and reduce cash outlays to the minimum necessary are sage advice for many potential team owners who think they'll open the doors and make money.

[AConcernedCitizen]

1. I can't speak for other minor leagues in America, but I know that in Europe, if a player blows out his knee, he's on the next plane back to America in the vast majority of cases, with his broken knee and no more money.

In Europe, teams can cut you after one game and that's all the money you will see, so holding a US minor league to the same standard of the NBA is unrealistic.

2. The IBL probably have the best and most open business plan in minor league sports. If you read their documentation carefully, it clearly tells you that 98% of all their teams lose money. If you read that and don't understand it, they've taken care to put it on every single page of their contracts.

Building a team and a league from the ground up is very hard, but they seem to have a good idea.

It is a pay-to-play league. You pay the league $22,000 a year to be a part of it.

It should stay in very small markets, however it must be very hard to resist trying to go for the glory of big markets. Everyone likes to dream and if you don't try, you will never know.

Having said that, I have no idea how a Road Team works.

[one way]

The CBA, USBL, and NBDL all have insuarnce on their athletes. If an athlete blows out a knee, it is taken care of. I believe that that each league will not let you operate until proof of such insurance is proven. That is called responsiblity and accountability. Also in these leagues (CBA, USBL and NBDL) it was explained to me that there has to be a certified trainer and medical staff at all games. If that is true, that is a level of professionalism some of these other leagues should follow. A road team does not have a home venue and only plays when it travels. It is just that simple. Say what you want about the business plan, but what happens when a players blows out his knee and sues the team, and league, for costs. What happens then? And do not say he signed a waiver- we all know that does not mean anything.

[Douglas]

one way,


Wow. I just today, just now, returned here, and lo and behold, just today you made a post addressed specifically to me (I assume, unless there is another "douglas" running around in these forums [fora?]). I checked, and am told by the website that I "last visited" on May 13. Eerie how I do this.

Anyway, on to the challenge:

Hey douglas, where are you to answer some of these questions??

I imagine I've been avoiding them.

Also, answer this one- why is [it] not required that [the] IBL...have insurance on their players[?] So, if a player who is not working a full-time job and is playing "for the love of the game" blows out a knee playing in an IBL game, he is not covered?

I don't know. I was not aware that the IBL does not require their teams to have insurance on their players. Hey, I'm just a fan, not a businessman or sports entrepeneur or what-not.

Who pays for the expensive knee replacement?

Taxpayers? Trickled-down-upon insurees? I really don't know, but I imagine that if teams do not have insurance on their players, the players are aware of this fact, and it is then up to the players to decide whether playing is worth the risk.

And the workmen's comp?

I don't know. I've never had my own business, and have minimal experience with workmen's compensation (broke my right foot a couple of years ago while house framing, on the job).

Please do not say the teams need insurance to play in their High School gyms, because it is not the same thing.

Okay, I won't.

Also, are there medical staff at every game in case of an emergency?

I have no idea. I don't work for, or even with, the IBL, and unfortunately I've neglected to check on this matter with all the IBL teams. As far as the Elkhart Express are concerned, I would be surprised if they didn't have medical staff of some sort at every game.

[PHXfan]

Most teams do have medically staff on hand at games, but a lot of time they are not provided with equiptment (tape, scissors, wraps). I guess players need to bring their own stuff if they want to be taken care of. Now this may not be the situation for every team in the league, but I know that some teams fit this category.

[ball fan]

Bruce B. commented "It's safe to call the Raptors a "disaster.""
I've been looking at the IBL's website and it would appear that for a first year team, the Raptors are doing well. If they're a disaster why are they second with sponsorships only to Battle Creek, a third year team? Lewis County is a very conservative community and there seems to be a pattern of new businesses needing to prove themselves. As for fans not knowing where to show up, it looks like their schedule is posted on the IBL website. Bruce B. also stated "they've alienated the local media..." any thoughts on how they did that?

[Pounder]

I'm hearing that Eugene is on the brink. They may not finish the season.

Heck, my source has been too busy to tell me that the head coach and assistant GM were both let go, and the GM is coaching. That's already published. Maybe there will be something in the Register Guard pretty soon (their daily editions never come online before noon Pacific, BTW).

[Douglas]

I've been looking at the IBL's website and it would appear that for a first year team, the Raptors are doing well. If they're a disaster why are they second with sponsorships only to Battle Creek, a third year team?

Where do you find information about teams' sponsorships? It would seem to me that the Elkhart Express, averaging the highest attendance in the IBL (by far, I believe) would likely have the most sponsors and the most sponsorship dollars. I could be wrong, of course.

[Pounder]

It's also fair to mention the linked blog entry.

Of course, with respect to the halftime incident, half the problem is Portland State's layout. I'm surprised this hasn't happened to the college team given the layout of a facility that doubles as the rec center.

In any event, I submit this because it likely represents the opinions of casual fans that ALL these leagues need to survive.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlands...free.html#more

[one way]

Sums up the whole IBL expierence. I guess the writer of that blog was a "failed player" or had a vandetta against the league. No, these types of stories sum up IBL games time and time again. And to think the guy ( who has never seen an actual IBL game) says that he knows more about the IBL than most of us. Rec league