National Basketball League - KW Titans

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Upstart hoops league eyes Waterloo Region
Jan 17, 2015 |  Christine Rivet | The Record | LINK

WATERLOO REGION — Is semi-professional basketball coming to an arena near you?

Waterloo Region is high on the list of possible destinations for former Toronto Raptors head coach Butch Carter, who is leading the charge for a new winter-time league.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Vikings are one of six Ontario-based cornerstone franchises Carter said he needs for his proposed Canadian Basketball League.

"I've always wanted to bring the league to Kitchener-Waterloo," said Carter, noting this area is a highly regarded basketball hotbed and already features at least two suitable arenas, the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium and the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, along with additional practice facilities.

Carter, who coached the NBA's Raptors to their first playoff appearance in the 1999-2000 season, said his upstart league could be on target for a November launch.

He said he has no intention of wiping out the rival National Basketball League of Canada and a merger with Canada's existing semi-pro hoops league is his preferred option.

While successful in places like London, Ont., the NBL has struggled to attract fans in many other markets.

Carter, a former Indiana University Hoosier with a marketing degree from the university and a former pro with the Los Angeles Lakers, has prepared an exhaustive 111-page business plan for his league and said he already has secured a long-term television deal with Hamilton broadcaster CHCH.

The proposed league could feature a community-owned franchise in Waterloo Region, much like the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, Carter said.

The CBL's teams would play a 36-game schedule mostly on weekends. Their 12-player rosters would consist of six Canadians per team. The loop's teams would also have a league-imposed spending cap of between $350,000 and $500,000 each.

The league's other five founding teams would ideally be located in places like Brampton, Durham Region, Hamilton, York Region and Ottawa-Gatineau, he said.

Once established, the league could expand into national markets such as Montreal, Vancouver-Victoria, Edmonton and Calgary, he said.

"I'm way down the path on this," added Carter, who said he has already met with city representatives in Kitchener.

"But as much as I've done, there's probably that much more to do," said Carter, who confessed this league has become his "obsession."

"No American in Canada can say they are more committed to the game of basketball than me," the Toronto-based Carter said, adding his wife is from Markham and he has close friends in Waterloo Region.

"This is my last hurrah at age 56,"said Carter, who launched a business career in car dealerships and with a designer and distributor of electronic controllers for automobiles following his NBA run.

Greg Francis, head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Waterloo and an assistant coach with Canada's senior national men's team, said he thinks Carter could be on to something big.

"Butch is a pretty serious guy, a very interesting man. He really knows the business aspect of basketball," said Francis.

"At the very least, the way the club system has exploded here, I think there's some untapped potential for more basketball to happen in K-W.

"Can the area support a pro league? Only the Butch Carters of the world would know that."

Carter plans to unveil details of his plan before a local audience at the Kitchener Sports Association dinner Tuesday night.

Other semi-pro leagues have eyed Waterloo-Region in the past. The Canadian Lacrosse League, or CLax, along with the NBL have been sniffing around the Aud and the Waterloo Rec Complex for years looking for investors.