Buckets of Cash
/Basketball isn't just for fun. It is a worldwide business. Europe makes lots of money off of it, which is why many players prefer to play there rather than North America. A lot of my friends that play basketball either aspire to play basketball in Europe or have already moved to play there.
When I went to a few games this past year, the announcers always made time between plays to give a shout out to community sponsors. These sponsors also help with the give-aways that are held during half-time. Businesses in the community help pay for the use of the indoor court, the cleaning and set-up and advertisement. In turn, the players go to fundraisers or events that these businesses have and fans get a chance to meet them. They also do speeches or presentations at schools in the community. It is a business.
If more people simply bought tickets and went to games, the business would grow in Canada and more jobs would be created. There would be more revenue. People from not just America but around the world could travel here to watch our games and support our athletes. In the National Basketball League (NBL) of Canada, the Ottawa Skyhawks were eliminated this year from the league because the team couldn’t pay to stay in it. They didn’t have enough supporters or people coming to their games so now the players have to go elsewhere. I was incredibly sad when I found this put because there is no other professional basketball league in Ottawa and I was really looking forward to going to the games this season.
Things like this shouldn’t happen. I’ve been to games where all the seats were full and the fans were screaming with excitement and I’ve been to games where hardly fifty people were in the audience. I was almost embarrassed to be in the audience. I feel the reason for situations like this is just that people simply don’t know the opportunity exists. So if it’s one thing I ask of you, pick up a basketball, or some night that you don’t have plans, go to a Canadian basketball game. You will see the fun and passion the players have and it will make you want them to achieve their dreams. This is what happened to me the first game I went to and this is why I made this blog to share my love with other people.
Tanya Shukalova is a 22 year old, Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. She aspires to be a sports journalist or to work for the government. She would like to write for a basketball team in the NBA and is also interested in photographing the games.
Websites I follow: Canada Basketball | NBL Canada | Toronto Raptors
