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Post by LTfan on Jan 18, 2024 16:38:47 GMT
But hypothetically, in a BBL-only world, they could use that marketing budget for the Thursday/Friday/Sunday games instead. So the only loss would be the 'away' fans, which I appreciate can deliver a few hundred tickets - last night's game was being promoted by various Spanish community organisations, and I'm expecting the Turk contingency to be in full force next week. But does that cover the cost of having a EuroCup level squad? My point is that in a BBL-only world the running costs would be significantly less, but the attendance really wouldn't be that different. The real reason for being in EuroCup, in my opinion, is to attract bigger sponsorship - something that I really haven't seen much evidence of. So I'm left wondering if the whole EuroCup is really worth it financially. Just my opinion, happy for others to disagree. And I should say I do really enjoy going to/watching the games. As for 'The Pride', I had wondered what had happened to them. They did make a reappearance at a game I was at back in maybe October or November I think. But they certainly don't have the be presence/enthusiasm of last season, which is a shame. The aim is Euroleague, and to get there they need to probably win the Eurocup. Lions in just the BBL isn’t attractive to big investors. if London can get Euroleague basketball, it will be huge for the whole of British Basketball. People saying the salary cap needs to come back are so backwards. It’s so restrictive. We wouldn’t see any talent in the BBL. The Eurocup is just the next step to Euroleague. Dont forget they started in Europecup and then moved onto Eurocup. Every Eurocup game this season has seen lots of fans for the away team. Mainly because London is such a diverse City. The potential is huge. I’m confident the Copper Box would sell out every game if London got into the Euroleague. I don't necessarily disagree with any of that... playing in Europe - be it EuroCup or Euroleague, is about attracting big name sponsors. It has to be, because I think for the average person attending a game right now they really don't care whether London are playing a european team or a british team, they're just there to watch a basketball game on a night out. But what concerns me is that playing in the EuroCup hasn't really attracted any big name sponsors, so what's to say playing in Euroleague would. |
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Post by cosbyrider on Jan 18, 2024 16:46:30 GMT
But hypothetically, in a BBL-only world, they could use that marketing budget for the Thursday/Friday/Sunday games instead. So the only loss would be the 'away' fans, which I appreciate can deliver a few hundred tickets - last night's game was being promoted by various Spanish community organisations, and I'm expecting the Turk contingency to be in full force next week. But does that cover the cost of having a EuroCup level squad? My point is that in a BBL-only world the running costs would be significantly less, but the attendance really wouldn't be that different. The real reason for being in EuroCup, in my opinion, is to attract bigger sponsorship - something that I really haven't seen much evidence of. So I'm left wondering if the whole EuroCup is really worth it financially. Just my opinion, happy for others to disagree. And I should say I do really enjoy going to/watching the games. As for 'The Pride', I had wondered what had happened to them. They did make a reappearance at a game I was at back in maybe October or November I think. But they certainly don't have the be presence/enthusiasm of last season, which is a shame. The aim is Euroleague, and to get there they need to probably win the Eurocup. Lions in just the BBL isn’t attractive to big investors. if London can get Euroleague basketball, it will be huge for the whole of British Basketball. People saying the salary cap needs to come back are so backwards. It’s so restrictive. We wouldn’t see any talent in the BBL. The Eurocup is just the next step to Euroleague. Dont forget they started in Europecup and then moved onto Eurocup. Every Eurocup game this season has seen lots of fans for the away team. Mainly because London is such a diverse City. The potential is huge. I’m confident the Copper Box would sell out every game if London got into the Euroleague. We’ve had our run ins. But I’m genuinely interested to see how London’s inclusion into the EuroLeague benefits British basketball. I’m all ears on the benefits - welcome to hear why people think that would be the case |
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Post by dexter on Jan 18, 2024 17:48:34 GMT
I don't really know where London Lions go from here. I don't think a BBL only Lions team would be much of a draw in London. And to be a professional athlete in London you really need to be fairly well paid. We can respect people who choose to dedicate years of their life to a sport that pays them peanuts but that isn't going to inspire the youth. London Lions needs to be playing elite level basketball with Britain's best ballers. And to do that they need to be in EuroCup or BCL because the rest of the BBL can't compete. London can beat them in third gear. Last night's game was exciting because Lions had to dig deep.
Euroleague might be a step too far. Euroleague averages 10k fans. Euroleague budgets are huge. It's more of a step up than Lions have already made. Lions's players are the right level for this league. Last night I thought Gabe Olaseni and Josh Sharma were outstanding against some very strong opposition. Luke Nelson was good too, and of course Matt Morgan. I don't know how much of an impact they would be able to make in Euroleague. But who knows, never say never. I know Dubai are getting involved in Euroleague. Maybe it's going to be expanded and London might get added. Maybe a sheikh will buy them.
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Post by docker on Jan 18, 2024 20:21:50 GMT
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Post by LTfan on Jan 19, 2024 12:59:42 GMT
It's an interesting article, and I don't think it comes as any surprise London want to play in the Euroleague (and Euroleague want London, when the time is right), but I'd love to know why they think playing in the Euroleague will do anything but put them in even more debt. Don't get me wrong, I'd love London (or any British team) to play in Euroleague, but if London's last few years of playing in Europe has shown anything it's that it comes at a great cost with (so far) little return. But as I've said before, I suppose it only takes one big sponsorship to change that overnight. Until then, it feels like an expensive waiting game... |
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Post by LTfan on Jan 20, 2024 19:48:13 GMT
Apparently over 2,000 tickets have already been sold to Istanbul fans alone for Wednesday’s game! The atmosphere is going to epic!
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Post by docker on Jan 23, 2024 13:23:47 GMT
Apparently over 2,000 tickets have already been sold to Istanbul fans alone for Wednesday’s game! The atmosphere is going to epic! It's sold out now. Going to be a noisy night! |
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Post by LTfan on Jan 23, 2024 13:41:09 GMT
Apparently over 2,000 tickets have already been sold to Istanbul fans alone for Wednesday’s game! The atmosphere is going to epic! It's sold out now. Going to be a noisy night! Really looking forward to it! London still have a lot to play for with 3 games to go... it's still possible to finish 2nd in the group and get a pass to the quarter finals, but failing that they'll want to secure home court advantage for the first round of the play-offs by finishing 3rd or 4th - which isn't guaranteed yet. |
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Post by mansfieldmike on Jan 24, 2024 19:26:50 GMT
Jonah Mathews at the Copper Box tonight for Besiktas.
Tel Aviv losing, lets go Lions
Tel Aviv lost.
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Post by cosbyrider on Jan 24, 2024 23:12:16 GMT
Excellent win
Hapoel still got to play Badalona and Besiktas as well
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Post by baldeagle on Jan 24, 2024 23:29:25 GMT
Brilliant result for London. 3/3 wins for the BBL teams in Europe this week!
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Post by baldereagle on Jan 25, 2024 8:37:30 GMT
As my fellow bald colleague says, a great week for BBL teams in Europe. It’s only a matter of time before the Saudi sports wash tsunami hits European basketball though, and I suspect they’ll go for Euroleague first.
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Post by dexter on Jan 25, 2024 9:03:21 GMT
As my fellow bald colleague says, a great week for BBL teams in Europe. It’s only a matter of time before the Saudi sports wash tsunami hits European basketball though, and I suspect they’ll go for Euroleague first. UAE already has its sights set on Euroleague. They want to host final 4 and have their own Dubai based team as early as next season. |
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Post by LTfan on Jan 25, 2024 9:41:35 GMT
A great game to witness, and other results last night mean a 2nd place finish is still possible. But being realistic, it looks like a 3rd or 4th place finish is now almost certain – so homecourt advantage for the first round of the play-offs.
As for the game night itself, it was really quite something to experience. The Turkish supporters were as passionate as you’ll see in any sport. I think I’m understanding the pull of these European games more and more now. I noticed Turkish fans in attendance last night varied from Besiktas fans who had travelled from Turkey, Besiktas fans who had travelled from other locations (I saw a Belgium supports club banner), fans of other random Turkish teams, and just the general Turkish community from London and around UK. Officially there was 2,000 away supporters, but in realistically there were a lot more.
Apparently the attendance was 6,088 last night, which is impressive. Even more so given it was a Wednesday night. I think it’s probably some sort of legal requirement, but there was quite a heavy policy presence both inside and outside the arena to deal with the crowd, which I’m really not used to at a British basketball game!
Like I said, really quite impressive.
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jt
Sixth Man
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Post by jt on Jan 25, 2024 11:52:04 GMT
A great game to witness, and other results last night mean a 2nd place finish is still possible. But being realistic, it looks like a 3rd or 4th place finish is now almost certain – so homecourt advantage for the first round of the play-offs. As for the game night itself, it was really quite something to experience. The Turkish supporters were as passionate as you’ll see in any sport. I think I’m understanding the pull of these European games more and more now. I noticed Turkish fans in attendance last night varied from Besiktas fans who had travelled from Turkey, Besiktas fans who had travelled from other locations (I saw a Belgium supports club banner), fans of other random Turkish teams, and just the general Turkish community from London and around UK. Officially there was 2,000 away supporters, but in realistically there were a lot more. Apparently the attendance was 6,088 last night, which is impressive. Even more so given it was a Wednesday night. I think it’s probably some sort of legal requirement, but there was quite a heavy policy presence both inside and outside the arena to deal with the crowd, which I’m really not used to at a British basketball game! Like I said, really quite impressive. A really quality game all round. Besiktas even have a supporters club building (for the Football club) in Stoke Newington! |
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Post by LTfan on Jan 25, 2024 12:47:17 GMT
A great game to witness, and other results last night mean a 2nd place finish is still possible. But being realistic, it looks like a 3rd or 4th place finish is now almost certain – so homecourt advantage for the first round of the play-offs. As for the game night itself, it was really quite something to experience. The Turkish supporters were as passionate as you’ll see in any sport. I think I’m understanding the pull of these European games more and more now. I noticed Turkish fans in attendance last night varied from Besiktas fans who had travelled from Turkey, Besiktas fans who had travelled from other locations (I saw a Belgium supports club banner), fans of other random Turkish teams, and just the general Turkish community from London and around UK. Officially there was 2,000 away supporters, but in realistically there were a lot more. Apparently the attendance was 6,088 last night, which is impressive. Even more so given it was a Wednesday night. I think it’s probably some sort of legal requirement, but there was quite a heavy policy presence both inside and outside the arena to deal with the crowd, which I’m really not used to at a British basketball game! Like I said, really quite impressive. A really quality game all round. Besiktas even have a supporters club building (for the Football club) in Stoke Newington!I did notice quite a few fans wearing Besiktas football shirts, so presumably football fans with just an associated interest in basketball. As I said before, their support with quite eclectic. |
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jt
Sixth Man
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Post by jt on Jan 30, 2024 10:00:02 GMT
Important game for Lions today with Badalona playing Tel Aviv in Spain. A Tel Aviv loss means Lions can move up to 2nd tomorrow with a win.
Badalona have won their last 4, I'm feeling hopeful!
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Post by eillo23 on Jan 30, 2024 11:21:17 GMT
Important game for Lions today with Badalona playing Tel Aviv in Spain. A Tel Aviv loss means Lions can move up to 2nd tomorrow with a win. Badalona have won their last 4, I'm feeling hopeful! Badalona were on a 7 game win streak in Eurocup, but then lost to Paris last week. They are a very different team to what they were at the start of the season and have made some great signings. They will want to be avoided in the playoffs. London just need to win all their remaining games. They can do no more than that. Apart from the big loss away in Paris, London’s losses have all been close, which is impressive. The loss at home to Hamburg is their only really slip up. From watching them at the weekend in the Trophy, compared to watching them in the games in Europe this season, the performances really have been chalk and cheese. The saying of playing better opposition makes you play better yourself is definitely true with this London squad. |
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Post by notoriousbigz on Jan 30, 2024 13:25:39 GMT
Important game for Lions today with Badalona playing Tel Aviv in Spain. A Tel Aviv loss means Lions can move up to 2nd tomorrow with a win. Badalona have won their last 4, I'm feeling hopeful! Badalona were on a 7 game win streak in Eurocup, but then lost to Paris last week. They are a very different team to what they were at the start of the season and have made some great signings. They will want to be avoided in the playoffs. London just need to win all their remaining games. They can do no more than that. Apart from the big loss away in Paris, London’s losses have all been close, which is impressive. The loss at home to Hamburg is their only really slip up. From watching them at the weekend in the Trophy, compared to watching them in the games in Europe this season, the performances really have been chalk and cheese. The saying of playing better opposition makes you play better yourself is definitely true with this London squad. Take absolutely nothing away from Phx this past weekend, but I think finding the levels of motivation to play domestically when they're having some unbelievable battles in Europe may be hard to come by for Lions. |
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Post by eillo23 on Jan 30, 2024 15:07:18 GMT
Badalona were on a 7 game win streak in Eurocup, but then lost to Paris last week. They are a very different team to what they were at the start of the season and have made some great signings. They will want to be avoided in the playoffs. London just need to win all their remaining games. They can do no more than that. Apart from the big loss away in Paris, London’s losses have all been close, which is impressive. The loss at home to Hamburg is their only really slip up. From watching them at the weekend in the Trophy, compared to watching them in the games in Europe this season, the performances really have been chalk and cheese. The saying of playing better opposition makes you play better yourself is definitely true with this London squad. Take absolutely nothing away from Phx this past weekend, but I think finding the levels of motivation to play domestically when they're having some unbelievable battles in Europe may be hard to come by for Lions. Exactly this. You see it in all professional sports. And like you said, nothing against Cheshire. They have played some great basketball this season. |
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