BBL GAMBLES ON SALARY CAP REMOVAL

The British Basketball League has ditched its salary cap ahead of the new season.

Great news for the bigger clubs, especially London Lions who no longer must figure out how to field a competitive team in the EuroCup in addition to squeezing a BBL roster beneath domestic constraints.

Potentially less so for smaller teams who will lose their shot at competitive parity.

And, of course, removing the Team Payments Cap raises the prospect of rogue spending beyond one’s means – a dangerous trait witnessed in the BBL twenty years ago but not absent even when a cap has been imposed in recent times.

Last year, it stood at £250,000 with an exemption for the top two salaried British players. At that time, BBL director and Sheffield Sharks owner Yuri Matischen claiming: “If people are looking and questioning it and thinking ‘that’s not a lot of money’ – at the moment that’s where the game is. Would we like to pay more? Yes. But we’ve been boom and bust.”

Now, there is a £7 million investment from Lions’ American owners 777 Partners. Little of that cash, however, goes into the pockets of the teams.

A statement from the league said that “homegrown and British talent is fundamental to the league’s growth and removing the Teams Payment Cap will increase opportunities for homegrown talent to make their mark in the BBL as opposed to moving further afield. This decision also highlights the league’s commitment to providing the most entertaining product for its most important stakeholders, the fans.”

British Basketball League chairman, Rodney Walker, said: “The league is pleased to be able to make this important change and we believe it highlights the continued growth of the BBL both domestically and on the European stage. We want to be able to continue to attract some of the most skilled and entertaining players to our league and we feel this is a significant step for the continued momentum we have built in the last twelve months.

“It is essential the league continues to grow and put on the best possible spectacle for the fans who come out each week. Finally we believe that if the BBL can nurture the very best British talent we can continue to achieve great success on and off the court in the years ahead.”

The decision, the league said, was “overwhelmingly backed” by clubs and taken with pushing for European success.

Leicester Riders will enter the Basketball Champions League qualifiers once again – handed a first round tie against Romania’s Voluntari and then a possible second rounder against Turkey’s potent Borsa, Negotiate those, and the last hurdle to a berth in the competition proper would be a final against Fribourg, Skopje or Chemnitz. Lose, and it is a drop into the group stages of FIBA Europe Cup.

Lions confirmed the signing of GB forward Ovie Soko on Friday to boost their European hopes with international team-mate Tarik Phillip also understood to be joining the Londoners, who were drawn in Pool B of the group stages of EuroCup.

London Lions get a tough EuroCup draw pic.twitter.com/gKDlNxBMx9

— Mark Woods (@markbritball) July 8, 2022

 

However the EuroCup confirmed its own Financial Stability & Fair Play Regulations (FSFPR) that will apply this season and add some stipulations to the British entrant’s approach.

• Minimum participation budget of 2.5 million euros.
• Limitation of expenses allocated to player salaries to 65% of the total expenses of the club.
• Limitation of shareholder contributions to a maximum of 65% of the total expenses of the club.
• An aggregate financial deficit limited to 10% of a club’s average budget in a three-year period.

GROUP A	GROUP B
JOVENTUT BADALONA	HAPOEL TEL AVIV
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA LJUBLJANA	GRAN CANARIA
UMANA REYER VENICE	BUDUCNOST VOLI PODGORICA
FRUTTI EXTRA BURSASPOR	DOLOMITI ENERGIA TRENTO
LIETKABELIS PANEVEZYS	TURK TELEKOM ANKARA
MINCIDELICE JL BOURG EN BRESSE	PROMITHEAS PATRAS
RATIOPHARM ULM	PARIS BASKETBALL
GERMANI BRESCIA	HAMBURG TOWERS
U-BT CLUJ-NAPOCA	SLASK WROCLAW
PROMETEY SLOBOZHANSKE	LONDON LIONS

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