The Townsville Crocodiles have become the second Australian National Basketball League club to go into voluntary administration in less than two weeks.
The Townsville Crocs' Ben Allen on court. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Townsville Bulletin reported that the NBL club's future is in serious doubt after the board of directors at the franchise appointed an administrator on Tuesday.
It comes after the Townsville Crocodiles Basketball Club Ltd suffered significant losses in the 2013/14 financial year and follows hard on the heels of the Wollongong Hawks going into administration earlier in the month.
"This has been a truly devastating decision for the board to make," Crocodiles chairman Darren Finlay says.
"However, it does not spell the end for the Crocodiles. This is a necessary and important step in the process of rebuilding the Crocodiles for the future and provides some breathing space whilst the NBL finalises its plans for the 2015/16 season."
Previous Crocodiles owners Barrier Reef Basketball handed in their licence to the NBL in 2013.
The NBL has struggled in the past decade, losing at various stages teams from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Singapore and Gold Coast.
The NBL, whose 2014-15 season finished last Sunday, is already down to an equal all-time low of eight clubs.
And Australian legend Andrew Gaze says the NBL should be shut down and relaunched.
While there is no suggestion yet that Townsville and Wollongong won't contest the 2015-16 competition, their action will inevitably raise doubts about their participation and ongoing viability.
Prolific scorer and Melbourne Tigers and Boomers star Gaze, arguably the greatest player in NBL history, felt temporarily shutting the competition down was the way to go.
"I have never held this view at all throughout this challenging phase of the NBL, but I have reached a position where I think they are better off regrouping and shutting it down," Gaze said on Melbourne radio station SEN.
"Even if these two teams (Wollongong and Townsville) somehow find a way to get through administration, nothing is going to change significantly to turn around their plight because it is a slow burn."
"So shut it down, regroup and get the right model because the model is broken.
"Don't put Band-Aids over it... there needs to be new ideas and a new thought process on how the competition should be run."
