New basketball league seeks Inland NW owners

Mikal Duilio knows minor league basketball leagues almost always fail, but he thinks he knows why.

And he thinks his ideas could fly in Spokane and/or Coeur d’Alene.

Duilio, founder of the fledgling International Basketball League, is wrapping up a 29-day tour of roughly 40 cities in hopes of forming a 16-team league that would open for business in April.

Duilio’s travels have taken him to California, the Midwest and on Thursday he presented his plan in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. He said he has 13 commitments – two of those are franchises that Duilio plans on selling – ranging from checks in hand to prospective owners saying, “Hold the team for me, this makes sense, give me a few days to talk to my people.”

Duilio listed commitments from Akron, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; Waterloo, Iowa; Quad Cities, Iowa; Peoria, Ill.; Youngstown, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Visalia, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; Salem, Ore; Vancouver, Wash.; and Bend, Ore. He’s also making his pitch in the Tri-Cities, Tacoma, Bellingham, Bremerton, and possibly Everett. He hopes to take the league international by the second season.

Duilio, 35, thinks the IBL can survive financially because of “cluster scheduling” where three or four franchises are within driving distance of each other to limit expenses. Teams would play 20 games – 16 at home or within driving distance and one four-game, four-day road trip by plane.

“There’s never been a basketball league, as I’ve studied it for about 20 years, that has had full advantage of cluster scheduling and still has a national feel,” said Duilio, who has operated a league in Portland the last 12 years.

Minor league teams typically fail due to high venue costs, high players salaries and high travel expenses, Duilio said. IBL teams would probably play in “medium-sized” venues such as high school or community college gyms to trim costs. The league minimum for player pay is low ($30 per home game and $400 minimum for four-game travel trips) because the IBL wouldn’t be their primary source of income. Regional players would likely make up the majority of each team’s roster.

Teams would need to average about 800 fans per home game at a ticket cost of $7 to turn a small first-year profit, Duilio projected. Cost to own a team is $45,000, including $20,000 by Dec. 31. Duilio estimates operating expenses for one season at $85,000 per team.

The IBL has several rules changes designed to quicken the pace and eliminate dead time. Teams would have one timeout per quarter and there would be an immediate inbound rule to speed up play. There would be a 22-second shot clock.

Duilio said test games resulted in fast-paced, high-scoring affairs that concluded in 90 minutes. He expects most teams to be guard-heavy to keep up with the swift tempo.

“I believe it’s going to be revolutionary,” Duilio said, “and anyone who watches it will think it’s fun and exciting.”