The world of basketball in the UK is continually moving and evolving- recently the speed of that movement and evolution has increased exponentially. The BBL and WBBL have never been bigger and have never had as much attention as they currently do. Both leagues share one subject that is never far away from the top of the talking points within hoops circles: the London Lions and their ever bigger jumps in progress on and off the court. Now this isn't exactly affecting the GB teams and the crossroads that the international teams now find themselves on, but can GB learn from the Lions' blueprint?
The Lions are being fuelled by the money and know-how of Miami based company 777. This is probably not an option for GB in a world where FIBA rightly imposes strict rules on international teams, but that isn't to say that GB can't follow that path and find other means of financing and increasing the growth and interest in the GB teams amongst the sports fans of the UK. Chris Grant was named the new CEO of the British Basketball Federation towards the end of last year and recently broke his silence by appearing on the Hoopsfix podcast, to speak about his first few months at the helm of GB basketball, what has been done in the short term and what the plans are for the long term for the sport and the GB teams. Chris spoke about the recent men's games held in Newcastle and that looking around the arena, you could see a cross sections of people from all walks of life and backgrounds, and that any potential commercial partners in the UK would find a unique opportunity to show themselves off to that audience, similar to the Lions and their now slick commercial operations and their partnerships with a host of companies. Chris also rightly pointed out that during those men's games, he noticed that Belgium were seen sporting jerseys with "lotto" emblazed on the front. A quick Google search will show that this isn't the first sponsor for the Belgians, with the phone company Orange also sponsoring the team in the past. Meanwhile, GB take to the courts in jerseys that are great but sponsorless, which is a huge funding opportunity missed and one that should be top of the list of things to fix i
n the short term. Chris Grant did go onto say in the podcast that the funding structure from UK Sports had changed this year, with them receiving a larger upfront sum of money that would be used for this summer's Womens Eurobasket finals and the support that the team needs to be the best it can be, but he did acknowledge that more funding and commercial activity was needed to happen to gain bigger funding so that players, coaching, facilities, youth development and community projects could all be given the chance to grow and the knock on effects that they will have for the future.
Basketball is one of very few sports that has far reaching cultural significance away from the court. Similar to that of football, it is often referenced in music, teams crests and cloths are often widely recognisable as a brand and has strong links to art among other things. The Lions are tapping into all of these and trying to bring new fans to the Copperbox on a game day in an attempt to plant the beginnings of vibrant and wide reaching brand, team and community. Recently, this has taken a new turn with the Lions announcing that high-end Clothing label Beautiful Struggles has designed what will ultimately be an iconic varsity Lions jacket. This sent social media in British basketball circles into a meltdown that has not been seen since the latest bout of Patriots infighting. Ultimately this is the sort of publicity that team GB could only dream of currently. It is currently impossible to buy any merchandise that sports the team GB Logo or a jersey with the name of your favourite GB player on, yet the lions have a raft of merchandise on offer for fans of the club or simply fans of Lions players such a Holly Winterburn or Luke Nelson. This is another huge opportunity missed for GB with this summer's Eurobasket finals around the corner and fans wanting to show their support, similar to that of the Rugby and Football teams of the various home nations. The formula to creating success in the sporting world is simple; you have to create that feeling of emotional attachment when it comes to the clubs you choose to support. This is something that GB can't offer as ultimately you can't choose which nation you are born in, but GB can capture the imaginations of the next generation by simply offering young and new fans the opportunity to have something with their GB Icons on or simply the GB logo on.
The outreach that clubs and companies of all kinds and sizes have via social media is huge. The recent news that the GB men's team won't be entering the Olympics Qualification Campaign wasn't announced via the BBF official accounts but via Hoopsfix, whilst London would have had multiple messages coming out during that day. Of course there is far more news surrounding the Lions who have dedicated staff for media than the GB teams, but this opportunity would have given the BBF more exposure and given out the right messages that they are taking these things seriously. The videos surrounding the training before the Men's game against Belgium was a huge step forward and now this gives the impression of one step back again.
The Lions are in the fortunate position of playing every week and have that ability to bring in talent from all around the world to fill their roster. GB can't do that, but as the women's team has shown we possess some great talent in this country and the next generation can only be just as good if not better, but they will need to be supported by The British Basketball Federation. This can only happen if the building blocks are put in place and the funding is found. Success will bring in more exposure and that exposure will ultimately bring in more fans, as the Lions are proving with their sell-out games in the Euro cup. Chris Grant revealed that the target set for the the Olympics in 2031 was to see a GB team on the medals podium. Anyone who is a fan of Basketball in the UK should want that to happen, but 2031 is a long way off and in the short to medium term for the game here in the UK, should be what we focus on- not only Chris Grant and his new members of Staff at the BBF but everyone involved in the game, including us the fans. After all, what we all want to see is Basketball be the best it can be here in the UK.
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