Good friend Sam Amick over at USA Today Sports takes us inside the formation of a new non-NBA affiliated basketball league that is set to launch in the summer of 2016 with sixteen teams — The Champions League.
The kicker here: teams in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and Cleveland, and will feature former NBA players Keyon Dooling, Al Harrington, Rasheed Wallace and Maurice Ager, while guys like Rip Hamilton, Brandon Roy, Josh Howard will help launch the league on January 29 at a charity game in St. Louis.
“As surprising as it might sound, it comes as a surprise to most of (the players) when their career does come to an end,”chairman and CEO, Carl George told USA TODAY Sports. “What we become, then, is a transition from that point forward. And we’re thrilled to be at that place. We’re the next step in the evolution.”
Sam has the rest of the details on the league here.
My hope here for the Champions League is two fold: first, that the parties involved learned a little something from the recent Amerileague debacle and two, that this is a successful venture and business model that is sustainable for all the right reasons.
There was an attempt back in 2013 to roll out the USPA Extension Basketball League, which was set to launch to 2014, with the help of Tim Hardaway, Jalen Rose, Maurice Evans, Jay Williams and Ahmad Rashad to name a few.
For the Champions League and unlike the USPA EBL, this venture can be sustainable if built the right way: wise financial planning, decisions and follow through, the size of venues (gym vs. arena), key sponsorship which includes upstarts, former and aspiring players who truly respect the values/message of the league, and a strong social media strategy and push that puts the focus on giving back to the community and not solely as a money maker.
Best of luck to Carl George, the former NBA players and the other business/basketball minds involved in building and launching the Champions League.
You can learn more about the Champions League by visiting their official website.
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