My IBL Report: The Team
What is great about the IBL is that the season starts at the end of March or early April. Many leagues around the world are coming to an end at this time. The CBA and ABA are ending here in the States, and the NBDL is finishing up as well. That means all these players are part of the available player pool. On top of this many leagues overseas are finishing up as well. The right IBL team could go overseas and recruit players like Ivan Krolo from Croatia (pictured above). Krolo (7′1) average 18.8 ppg and 10.4 rebounds in the Croatian League this season. Born in 1983 (24 years of age) he is a young player entering into his prime that would be a great center for a top IBL team. He could use the IBL to land a big payday with a team in Spain, France, or Germany. Krolo also may try and get an NBDL contract or NBA workout as well.
Getting players to travel from overseas would require a strong IBL team with a decent budget. Some of these non-profit IBL teams only end up recruiting from their general area, because then they can pay the players less (because they are already home for the summer). If you want the best players from around the world the team will have to pay fair and find these players a place to stay.
In the IBL location matters. You would think a team in the Chicago area would have more fans at a game than say Elkhart Indiana. If you think this you are wrong. Elkhart supports their IBL team far better than Chicago does. That is why picking the right community makes so much sense. Reykavik, Iceland was suggested because their city supports an entire winter league of basketball, and the IBL wants to expand to the UK. Ensenada, Mexico was suggested because of their close location to other IBL teams. It is also much more likely that the Ensenada media would cover the IBL a lot closer than the closest American city (San Diego). Media coverage directly correlates to ticket sales and sponsorships. Ensenada and Reykavik are both markets that would be more likely to give an IBL team television and radio game coverage. There are also several markets in the United States that would make pretty good IBL venues. Population is important, but the amount of entertainment options in the city and community commitment matter much more.
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