MILLION POUND DROP FOR BBL?

A proposal has been drawn up to inject funds worth £1 million into the British Basketball League which its backers claim could be a “game changer” for the sport.

Glasgow Rocks co-owner David Low, who had a central role in leveraging the finances to underwrite Fergus McCann’s takeover of Celtic Football Club in 1994, will submit plans to the BBL board to sell a 28 per cent stake in the domestic top flight to external investors in a move mirroring the recent third-party buy-in between rugby union’s English Premiership and equity firm CVC Capital Partners.

The overall framework would also see the 12 existing clubs – whose individual shares in the league would be reduced to six per cent from 8.33 per cent – add £60,000 of their own funds to create a seven-figure boost to the BBL’s finances which Low believes would allow domestic basketball to strengthen its management and transform the way it markets itself to television audiences and sponsors.

“The BBL is a professional league with an amateur board,” he declared. “Professional is defined by paid players and amateur by unpaid directors. To have a future as a professional league, we have to have professional management and we have to have money. Having a professional management team buy its way in would be a way to kick-start the process.

“At Glasgow Rocks, we’ve had conversations with several parties who are interested in investing in men’s professional basketball in the UK. The BBL and its competitions have not had a lead sponsor for many years and that is not acceptable.”

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The BBL currently operates under an exclusive ten-year operating licence that was renewed by the British Basketball Federation in 2017. Low, who has also asked for an independent review of league operations, admits any investment would require that contract to be extended to 25 years – offering long-term security to both financiers and the cluster of clubs, including the Rocks, who are currently exploring ways to build their own arenas, a trend seen as vital to put the sport on a sure footing.

“That license is an exclusive deal so anyone coming in has to deal with the BBL and its clubs,” he said. “And the purpose of this proposal is to start that process.”

The move comes at a time when the British federation is in a state of flux with its remaining staff due to be made redundant on Thursday as administration of the sport and Great Britain teams formally passes to an informal structure overseen jointly by the governing bodies of England, Scotland and Wales.