Take two: BSL back, looking to build on Year 1

More teams, more games, more transparency. The Basketball Super League (BSL) is excited about its second season, which will start earlier and feature more games than the first.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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The Basketball Super League (BSL) will return better – and perhaps bigger – than ever, league officials announced following the Team Market Owners meetings in Las Vegas in July.

Here’s a starting five (and a bonus sixth man) of things you need to know about the 2024-25 BSL season:

RIGHT ON SCHEDULE | The BSL Original Six – London Lightning, KW Titans, Sudbury Five, Windsor Express, Newfoundland Rogues, and Montreal Tundra – will return for the league’s second season which runs Nov. 15 through March 31, with each team playing a balanced schedule of 32 games (16 home, 16 away). Playoffs follow in April.

Official schedules will be released Sept. 1.

The season schedule has shifted up several months from last season’s Boxing Day start, largely, to address the challenges of playing in junior hockey arenas.

“The first few years, you just adjust accordingly to find the right schedule rhythm,” said David Magley, BSL President.

“When you walk into most of these buildings, the hockey team is the primary tenant. They pay the most money by a factor of three or four. They have their own locker rooms there full time. Their strength and conditioning rooms are there. Their offices are there. That’s the power they wield; we respect that.”

With large sections of the calendar reserved for anticipated hockey playoff games in the spring, BSL teams were forced to plan for weekday games (mainly Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays), all tough sells for crowds. This change should address those challenges.

“This makes for much easier scheduling of our playoffs as they (junior hockey leagues) will have a clear idea of their playoff schedules at the same time,” Magley said, noting he would love to see more than schedule alignment between the two sports.

In Sudbury, for example, The Five and Wolves (both owned by SW Sports & Entertainment) have partnered on numerous community initiatives.

“We see in Sudbury how it works really well together,” he continued. “That would be an ultimate desire for us, to be able to partner with our hockey teams better than we do.”

THEIR CUP RUNETH OVER | The 2024-25 BSL season will also feature a North American Cup series, pitting BSL and TBL teams against each other. Picture it somewhat like the NBA’s in-season tournament – only with a team nicknamed the Patroons involved.

“We wanted a way for fans to be able to enjoy BSL-TBL matchups, get to watch different teams, different players, different matchups. It’s exciting to watch people from other markets come in and play your team,” Magley said. “But we also needed to find a way that didn’t give one BSL team an advantage over another just by having more TBL games on their schedule.”

Additionally, Cup contests offer BSL teams a chance to add more home games (and revenue) to the schedule. London, KW, Sudbury, and Windsor could see their schedules hit 40 games this year, while Newfoundland and Montreal may play 46 or 48.

The Cup games, however, will not count toward the BSL regular season standings.

KEEP ON GROWING | Although not finalized, league expansion remains on the table, with several new markets identified, including three or four TBL markets looking for promotion, as well as two new Canadian markets.

“Moving the season earlier, we won’t get the depth of expansion we’d like to, but I believe there’ll be a couple more teams that we have before the deadline,” Magley said, noting that the league was founded with the idea of continual growth, looking to add teams every season.

“The NBL Canada had four when it ended. We started with six. Hopefully, we will have eight going into the season. That could lead to 10 or 12 the following year. That’s a nice momentum,” Magley continued.

The league’s 2024-25 team lineup will be finalized by Aug. 15.

(Photo: Barry Field Photography).

STARS AND STRIPES | The BSL league is addressing some of the officiating complaints that plagued the league.

“Our referees were satisfied with the way they were managed. They got daily email updates on points of emphasis and plays, in particular, that were adjudicated – right or wrong,” Magley said. “What we realized, however, is we did not communicate that to the coaches and the teams. This season, we’re going to give them access to the same information our referees get so everyone is on the same page. I don’t think we did a good job of that last year.”

Next season, Ronnie Nunn, VP of Basketball Operations for BSL, will provide teams with a daily video review highlighting key points of officiating emphasis. Additionally, Nunn will conduct regular calls with coaches to address concerns.

In London, that’s good news for a team that led the league in technical fouls. The Bolts were also the only team that saw a coach and/or player suspended; head coach Doug Plumb and guards Chris Jones and Jeremiah Mordi all served one-game suspensions – the latter two in the playoffs.

The team complained – both on and off the court – about being targeted all season.

“That felt like the case,” Plumb said in a June interview. “I won’t get into that, though.”

Additionally, the league will host its inaugural referee training school during the annual BSL Draft Combine Weekend (Oct. 19-20). Magley hopes the event draws new talent into the league.

“We’re doing a lot of things to make it enticing for our refs – to get them excited about the league, to know that they’re appreciated, and to know they’ll be treated the right way.”

WALK THE LINE | You’re going to know who was naughty and who was nice, as the league plans to be more transparent when it comes to discipline.

“As a league, and this was more me than anything, we didn’t do a good job there,” Magley said.

In the final two NBL Canada seasons, Magley saw a league playing out disciplinary issue after disciplinary issue in public. Seeking a better image for the BSL, he opted to keep disciplinary action quiet, without public acknowledgement of any kind. This led to confusion by coaches and players, as well as fans and announcers, who saw players disappear without explanation.

“The problem was that without full transparency, you ended up with people filling in their own narratives that some people are treated one way, and others are not treated as fairly. We kept going around and around and around,” Magley said.

To bridge the gap, the league will issue weekly reports to teams, press, and fans detailing items like the number of technical fouls called (and what for), suspensions, fines, and discipline.

“By being a little bit more transparent, we should clear up a lot of confusion, plus it also might be a deterrent,” Magley said.

He continued, “As we continue to improve our officiating, we have to continue to improve the behaviour of our players, our coaches, and everyone else so that our fans recognize that we’re all part of this. That’s what we're really trying to build.”

CLEARER PICTURE | Maybe we can forget the spinning wheel of death – the league plans to look at improving a live stream which was plagued with technical difficulties and quality issues (including an entertaining French-only broadcast from Montreal early in the season.) League owners may also look to hire a full-time commissioner in the near future. Magley serves as president of both the BSL and TBL.