Ditch dollars for sense: Why Canberra must be next

• Canberra last had an NBL team in 2003 with the Cannons
• More than 18,000 fans attended the NBL Blitz at Canberra's AIS Arena
• Five ways to take the NBL Blitz to the next level

Ditch the glitter strip and eye-catching beaches for the nation's capital.

With the race to become the NBL's 11th team believed to be between the Gold Coast and Canberra, that's what the league must do if they're serious about bucking the trend of history and giving the fans what they want as far as expansion goes.

Canberra hoops fans voted with their feet at the NBL Blitz last weekend with more than 18,000 people packing the stands at AIS Arena for arguably the most successful pre-season tournament in the event's history. Ironically, only rivalled by Tasmania in 2021 before the last expansion team – the Tasmania JackJumpers – entered the league.

Not only did they vote with their feet, with three of the five days a sell out, but also with their voice. The Canberra faithful created an atmosphere you just don't see in pre-season games. You could tell they have been starved of NBL basketball. They weren't just there for a social event, they were there because they wanted to see some of the world's best talents take the court in their own backyard.

Well, they may have just put themselves and their city in the box seat to have an NBL team in their own backyard for the first time since 2003.

Compare Canberra's Blitz performance compared to the Gold Coast's last year and it's night and day. While the 2024 event was well attended, you just didn't get the sense locals were desperate for an NBL return for the first time since the Gold Coast Blaze folded in 2012. While fans further south fought through low temperatures, some terrible weather and even a Canberra Raiders NRL game on the Saturday where the team received their first minor premiership in more than three decades to still fill the AIS Arena.

But that's only the start of the reasons why Canberra should be next.

Another one is history. As already mentioned, both cities have already had NBL teams in the past. Gold Coast had two, with the Rollers in the league from 1990-1996 while the Blaze ran from 2007-2012 but the Canberra Cannons lasted a lot longer. As one of the foundation teams of the league in 1979, the Cannons featured in the country's elite competition for 25 seasons and won three championships in 1983, 1984 and 1988.

During that time they've also had some of the absolute legends of the NBL don the white, red and black of the Cannons including 'The General' Phil Smyth, who was named Grand Final MVP in 1988, Robert Rose and also the man the Blitz MVP is named after in Ray Borner. That's not to say the Gold Coast didn't, especially the second time around with the Blaze with the likes of Adam Gibson, a young Chris Goulding and also Mark Worthington suiting up.

But the message is Canberra was able to support a team, given it was a completely different professional sports climate than it is today, for more than two decades before falling over compared to stints of six and five years from the Gold Coast-based teams.

I think you can also look outside the realm of basketball for this point as well. Which brings me to point another point in the ability to support professional sports teams in your respective city.

Two of Canberra's teams have not only survived but thrived.

Starting with this year's NRL Minor Premiers in Canberra Raiders. The Green Machine are one of Australian rugby league's most iconic teams despite some rough years in the past two decades. Stretching back to the late 1980s and early 1990s where the Raiders, featuring immortal Mal Meninga and other historic rugby league figures, won three premierships in six seasons. Fast forward to today and Canberra are known for their no-nonsense and tough approach under Ricky Stuart, emulating the local community they represent. Other than the politicians who call Canberra home that is. They have one of the best followings in the NRL, typified by the 'Viking Clap' which proves intimidating for visiting teams at GIO Stadium, which is also at the AIS precinct.

But you also don't have to look further than the basketball team that already calls Canberra home - the WNBL's most successful team, the University of Canberra Capitals. Founded in 1989, the Capitals have nine WNBL Championship trophies in their cabinet, all won since the year 2000. They have clearly been one of the most supported teams in Australia's longest running professional women's sporting competition and there's no reason that can't transfer to the NBL, as the Blitz showed.

The Gold Coast's history with professional sport is sketchy, at best. We've already mentioned how the city's NBL teams have come and gone, but their history in leagues such as the NRL, or what Australia's top tier rugby league competition has been called pre-NRL, as well as the AFL has been a struggle.

Gold Coast's rugby league team had three brand changes in 10 years between 1988-1998 before folding. They first played under the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants, then the Seagulls, briefly as the Gladiators and finally as the Chargers before their time came to an end with three wooden spoons to their name. They then returned as the Titans in 2007 and had some early success but have made the finals just twice in the past 14 seasons.

Same with the Gold Coast Suns in the AFL. Now, they are on the rise, but they came into the competition in 2011 and have only qualified for their first finals series in 2025.

But more than on-court or on-field success, or lack thereof, these Gold Coast teams have struggled to capture the imagination of the people they represent. I don't think that would be the case in Canberra, if an NBL team can follow the recipe the Raiders and Capitals have used.

Lastly, let's take a look the venue. Ideally, you would want a larger stadium than the AIS Arena which has a capacity of 4,200 people, which NBL CEO David Stevenson made clear before the Blitz.

“AIS Arena is great and will work well with the Blitz, but it’s not big enough to house a permanent NBL team,” Stevenson told CODE Sports..

“The 8000-seat stadium plan the government is exploring is appealing for us. We want to make sure that we don’t have people locked out from day one of a potential new club."

However they do need to address the fact it took two hours to get an ambulance to Adelaide 36ers big man Ben Griscti, who remained under a fallen backboard with what has now been diagnosed as a serious neck injury… Oh and the fact that it happened in the first place.

An ACT government spokesperson said it’s new facility was not anticipated to be open until after 2030. While Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said expressions of interest for a private investor to partner with council and build and operate a new 12,000-seat arena would open later this month. But construction for that project was also not scheduled to be complete until 2030.

The ACT spokesman said the refurbished AIS Arena would be suitable as a start up for an NBL team, and I agree. You would sell out every game, it has a great atmosphere when full and even the lightning - which brightens up the court and is darker on the stands - enhances the experience. I know the Gold Coast has several venues you could host an NBL franchise at, but unless the new site is built, none give the fan experience that the AIS Arena does.

Speaking to several NBL legends across the Blitz tournament, I constantly heard comments about the AIS Arena saying "this arena used to go off back in the day" and "the atmosphere here was incredible". Says it all, doesn't it?

Tying all those points together, there's only one thing which could give the Gold Coast the upper hand. Money. Being the sixth most populated city in Australia, there's plenty of corporate support and financial backing. But will the community get behind it?

History says no while in Canberra, I think it's the opposite, which is why I believe the NBL needs to fight off the temptation of big dollars for sense and bring a team back to the nation's capital first.