A start-up basketball league, hoping to compete with the NCAA, announces TV deal

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/04/22/professional-collegiate-league-tv-david-west/

A start-up men’s basketball league, with plans to pay college students and compete with the NCAA, has inked a media rights deal, setting the stage for its debut this year.
The Professional Collegiate League reached a pact with Next Level, a network owned by a former Obama administration official, that will air its games on both TV and streaming platforms.

Ricky Volante, a Cleveland-based attorney and the CEO of the start-up league, said he has already had conversations with between 100 and 150 top high school recruits and college players about joining what will be in an eight-team league. With a media deal in place, Volante said he expects to begin announcing rosters and coaches, paving the way for the PCL’s first season to begin in August or September.

“In the conversations we’ve had, players and coaches wanted to know how they will be seen, how the games will be distributed, so now we can move on to the next stage of this, announcing the teams,” he said.

XFL comparisons anybody

 

[KeithE4]

Let 'em get a basketball. Kids with NBA potential but aren't cut out for college can play in Europe or Asia. Or at the University of Kentucky.

 

[QED]

If people can gamble on it I suppose it could succed. The game will ____ and the officiating will be awful though. Who watches this ____ . The 3-pt shot and tossing away the rule book has ruined the game. It could hurt the NCAA though although not the very top schools who seem impervious.

 

[Mikey Radio]

So this new league plans to compete against the NCAA. Meanwhile, another discussion thread was posted within the past days, highlighting the fact that the ratings for the NCAA finals are down:

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/ncaa-finals-ratings-down.735143/

 

[Mediafrog+]

The 3-pt shot and tossing away the rule book has ruined the game.

The three point shot isn't going anywhere; just like the shot clock it is too much a part of the game these days. And it is an exciting weapon for turning a game around in a short amount of time.

50 years ago I enjoyed watching the old ABA on TV much more than the NBA because the ABA had the three point shot. It added an interesting structure and dynamic to the flow of the game that the older league lacked.

I recall pre-shot clock college basketball. A team would build a lead in the first half, then play nothing but keepaway in the second half. It was awful, unwatchable garbage.

It could hurt the NCAA though although not the very top schools who seem impervious.

If the NCAA is hurt by upstart leagues, that is the NCAA's problem. I am tired of hearing multi-millionaire NCAA executives wearing $5,000 business suits telling us "it's all about amateurism."

 

[Don CT]

If people can gamble on it I suppose it could succed. The game will ____ and the officiating will be awful though. Who watches this ____ . The 3-pt shot and tossing away the rule book has ruined the game. It could hurt the NCAA though although not the very top schools who seem impervious.

The 3 pt shot didn't ruin the game. Lack of defense ruined the game.