New Florida team

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MJHankel
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New Florida team

Post by MJHankel » Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:26 am

Winning Ways International Announces IBL Pro Basketball Franchise
The Winning Ways International Basketball Club, headed by CEO Barry Mestel, will begin play in April 2012, as the Orlando Venom. The team participated in the 2011 IBL season as a branding team, which participates in a limited number of games during the league's season. Team owner, Barry Mestel, proudly announced the team's inclusion in the full season saying, "2012 is going to be a phenomenal year for this new IBL team,"
Orlando Venom
The IBL is signing additional high quality East Coast franchises that will surround the Orlando Venom with international competition. Commissioner Sharleen Graf weighed in noting, "We're incredibly excited to have the Orlando Venom on board as a full season team.
This all just leaves me asking,why? :confused: The IBL seemed to be regionalizing and now they grab a team in Florida? I can't see how this is good for either side.

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Post by Shootmaster_44 » Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:36 pm

This is simply a rebranding I think. Before the redesign of the site, the IBL had a branding team called the Florida Winning Ways. Since the Orlando Venom are owned by the Winning Ways International Basketball Club, I'd assume that this is largely just a renaming of the team.

I'm going to wonder how the IBL intends to pull it off the one flight per team rule with a team in Florida. Looking at their site, they also have the Jersey G-Force, which will be in the same boat. Then again, the IBL always seems to add teams closer to the start of the season.

I wonder if the rumoured Saskatoon and Calgary franchises will actually get going? Looking at the ABA's Calgary Crush Twitter feed it looks like they want to play Edmonton in some form or other. So perhaps the Calgary Crush from the ABA will be making the jump to the IBL for the spring/summer.

I certainly hope that the IBL can straighten itself out for this season. I don't think this league has tons of teams with deep pockets, so if they are forced to fly out to Jersey and Florida that could kill their travel budget. The playoffs could basically be the Washington/Oregon teams since none of the teams outside of an easy driving distance could actually head to the playoffs.

The fact the playoffs are optional is the one thing that has driven me nuts about this league. I get the point behind doing that, but to me as an Energy fan, it irks me that the team takes my money and plays very well and then decides they can't afford to go win a championship. Yes I enjoy watching basketball and yes the odd exhibition game is fun, but for me to invest going to multiple games per year just to see an exhibition is not worth my money. It does seem as if the Energy have sorted out their financial issues so that is less of a worry for me now.

But I'm thinking I am one of a very, very few IBL fans that drives 4 hours round trip and spends $80 in gas plus tickets etc. to attend an IBL game. It would be nice if there was someone here in Lloydminster who saw how well the Energy's game was attended last June (a packed gym, so I'm thinking 400 or so and that seems to be great attendance for the IBL) and would invest in a team for the city. I'd be the first in line for season tickets if that happened.

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Post by MJHankel » Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:09 pm

I knew that Florida was a branding team last year. I am just surprised with the league restructuring that that they kept them. Also, I am just as surprised that they took on Jersey especially with the 'loss' of Albany to the IBA. I thought that the IBL was in agreement with the founding of the IBA as it was beneficial for regionalizing. So, why Jersey? It seems like Jersey should go to the IBA, ACPBL, or (gasp) PBL. The Florida team seems better suited for the new FBA or CBL.

On a side note the 'new' IBL seems promising. I am liking the new IBA too I just wish they would do a better job with their websites.

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Post by Shootmaster_44 » Tue Jan 24, 2012 10:47 pm

[quote=""MJHankel""]I knew that Florida was a branding team last year. I am just surprised with the league restructuring that that they kept them. Also, I am just as surprised that they took on Jersey especially with the 'loss' of Albany to the IBA. I thought that the IBL was in agreement with the founding of the IBA as it was beneficial for regionalizing. So, why Jersey? It seems like Jersey should go to the IBA, ACPBL, or (gasp) PBL. The Florida team seems better suited for the new FBA or CBL.

On a side note the 'new' IBL seems promising. I am liking the new IBA too I just wish they would do a better job with their websites.[/quote]

The problem with the "new" IBL is that for the majority of teams it is setting things up great regionally. However, for an Edmonton fan like me, the regionalization that was rumoured for last season hasn't happened. There was talk of IBL teams in both Calgary and Saskatoon, which would help the bottom line out for the Energy.

What I wonder about Jersey and Florida is are they replacing the USA and Great Lakes All-Stars? What I mean is are the teams strictly travel teams and that way they can be called whatever they want. In that case, the IBL could have a team "based" in Peru and still have them play strictly on the road.

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Post by nksports » Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:44 am

[quote=""Shootmaster_44""]There was talk of IBL teams in both Calgary and Saskatoon, which would help the bottom line out for the Energy.[/quote]

How about (and just wondering out loud here) Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay for a Western Division NBL? (if I were lord god of such an operation, or if I were to win the $120 million in this week's powerball, I'd play a home and home with each of the eastern teams and play the rest in division to cut down costs).

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Post by Shootmaster_44 » Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:38 pm

That would definitely be a good idea. But I don't believe that the NBL is looking out West just yet. I had asked Andre Livingstone about that and he said that is future plans, but they want to solidify the teams out East first.

Plus I think as we saw with the IBA/CBA experiment in Saskatoon 10 years ago, winter basketball doesn't sell. The IBL would do better I think, just for the simply fact it is played in the spring/summer.

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