Take a look at the 10 most populous cities in the UK, and you'll find that only 3 have a team competing in the BBL this season (and 2 of them are disputable). Glasgow Rocks and Sheffield Sharks (respectively numbers 3 and 7 on the list) are the certainly good examples, while Liverpool-based Mersey Tigers have found themselves in grave financial difficulties early in the season and might not even be able to field a team this year, despite being the reigning BBL champions.
The other seven go unrepresented, and they are pretty big names. Cardiff, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, and yes, even London. And the league includes teams from Durham, Milton Keynes, Chester and Worcester.
The main issue appears to be sustainability. All the London franchises went bust a few years back, they have been joined by the Manchester Giants (once one of the league's biggest success stories) and two separate Birmingham teams.
So why can't the UK's biggest cities sustain basketball franchises? There are an awful lot of basketball fans in London, so surely filling a venue seating perhaps 2,000 people shouldn't be that difficult. But time and time again the BBL has proved that it is.
If the BBL is to succeed and prosper it needs more high profile events. I remember, as a Brighton Bears fan, a particularly sickening event in the BBL in which the Bears produced probably the media event of the decade for the league by signing Dennis Rodman for a few games.
Rodman played for the Bears and the rules were slightly contravened. Bears won a match against Guildford, and the win was subsequently over-turned and the Bears were fined. Utterly short-sighted by the BBL, punishing a team for helping basketball gain popularity nationwide.
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