Pro hoops league looks to expand into quartet of N.B. markets

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Less than a year after the demise of another foray into professional men’s basketball in New Brunswick, an established league with divisions in Canada and the United States is looking to connect on another shot in the province.

Earlier this week, an official from The Basketball League was in the province to meet with interested parties looking to re-establish pro hoops in as many as four N.B. locations – Saint John, Moncton, Bathurst and St. Stephen – as part of an overall Atlantic Canadian expansion.

David Magley, president of the 38-team loop with four divisions in the United States, says TBL promises a lower-cost approach that makes success more attainable and is looking to tip off the Atlantic expansion in time for the 2025 schedule that starts next March.

“We think we have hit on something that makes a lot of sense,” he said following a meeting in Moncton with interested parties.

Magley served as the commissioner of the National Basketball League of Canada and says he saw a strong interest for pro hoops in the Atlantic region, especially encouraged by initial interest as a result of his tour this week through the Maritimes.

The NBL of Canada featured teams in the region, including Saint John and Moncton.

“The barrier to entry isn’t very high,” Magley said. “The cost to operate is contained, the travel won’t be too much, we are looking at the right venues so the costs of the venues are not too much and we play at a time when most of the hockey season is over.”

He says TBL is home to a large number of smaller market teams and that play in this region will be limited to inside the division, with a few exceptions, and that the Atlantic winners would have an opportunity to compete for the IBL overall championship.

“Most of our markets look like the Maritimes … markets that are not that big that fell in love with pro basketball if it is done the right way,” he said.

He is gauging interest and expects an announcement in the summer, which will allow franchises to ramp up for the opening tips in March, 2025.

The loop would feature as many local players as possible but would be open to players and coaches from across North America.

The other markets in the region Magee is interested in pursuing are Charlottetown, P.E.I., as well as Nova Scotia options in Cape Breton, Halifax, Dartmouth, and Truro.

Atlantic Canada teams would compete in a division with teams from Maine and Bangor is on the potential expansion list, Magee says. For the first year, Magee is aiming for five teams in an Atlantic Division.

“When I left (the NBL of Canada), I started my own league, the TBL, and it was done a bit differently, with an eye on profitability,” he said. “We have 38 teams in North America, and with kind of a footprint in place, we have learned a lot about how to be profitable and actually make a living.”

The league is seeking local ownership for each of its franchises, not league owned as was the case with the Eastern Canadian Basketball League, which failed to complete its inaugural season.

That loop included teams in Bathurst, Saint John and Moncton.

“Not in the least,” Magley said when asked if he was worried about the impact of the ECBL and skepticism that may exist for pro men’s basketball in the province.

“I have been in the business of running the NBL of Canada, so I have a lot of relationships and credibility. That was their first year and this is our seventh. We have grown from 18 teams to 38 teams and we have proven concepts . . . People who got burnt by the league, we will talk with them to see what we can do to make them comfortable. We are very aware of what happened.”

The March to early June format is in line with the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association, a strictly amateur league that features many of the region’s top women’s players and has enjoyed a great deal of success in its two years of existence.

That loop has New Brunswick based franchises in Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton and is expanding into Miramichi for 2024.

The IBL is also affiliated with the Basketball Super League, which houses six Canadian teams – four in Ontario, one in Quebec and another in Newfoundland and Labrador. And there would be some cross over to feature a small number of games against these Super League entries.

“We want to make these profitable and sustainable so that people don’t fall in love with something that is gone in a month or six weeks,” Magley said.