The IBL has experienced leadership: about Mikal Duilio
Mikal Duilio has operated sports leagues and events for cities, non-profit associations and as a private business for over 20 years. As a teenager—in 1985—Duilio was featured on a CBS news station as he had founded and directed the Indianola (Iowa) Jamball League—a league that ran until 1992. In 1992, Duilio obtained a masters degree in Public Administration from Iowa State University and moved to Portland Oregon where he founded PortlandBasketball.Com, now in its sixteenth year. PortlandBasketball.Com is the world’s largest adult basketball league running roughly 6,000 basketball games per year—important to you as a potential owner is that in each of the fifteen years of operation—PortlandBasketball.Com was profitable. Mikal Duilio also founded PugetSoundBasketball.Com in the Seattle area—which sold in April of 2005; PugetSoundBasketball.Com is Washington’s largest basketball league doing roughly 4,500 basketball games per year. IBL founder Mikal Duilio had a desire to make basketball more athletic & fun; Mikal Duilio’s venture from amateur basketball to professional basketball was born out of a passionate belief that basketball was meant to be athletic and fun for players and spectators alike. Duilio’s vision is that every game, not just most games, is fun to watch; his ideal was the 1980’s Lakers and in particular Magic Johnson. Mikal Duilio vehemently believes that the creator of basketball—Dr. James Naismith would not approve of a basketball game lasting over two hours—the game was originally created as an athletic event but when it is stretched and pulled and stopped as often as today’s game is—the life can be sucked right out of the game. IBL Founder & Commissioner Mikal Duilio—“lengthy breaks in play keep players from getting hot; basketball should be an athletic game that ebbs and flows rather than slowly moves along in unnatural stops and starts.” Two rules were tested and approved—in eleven exhibition games between Seattle and Portland starting in November of 2003; the two rules were and are the following: 1) the basketball being immediately inbounded and 2) teams are only allowed one timeout per 12-minute quarter. The inaugural IBL season tipped off on April 7th, 2005; the result of that first season was that IBL teams averaged 127 points per game and the game occurred in just under two hours. The second season for the IBL was completed in July of 2006 and after 249 games, that season also had a scoring average of 127 points per game; every IBL game was fun, not just a few select games. That being said (about fun games), a basketball team has to make financial sense for an owner, so the IBL created the ‘one flight guarantee’ to reduce costs: Extremely expensive travel costs drive other minor league teams out of business within a year or two; however, a local league with no travel—would not be intriguing- so the question was—how do you have an ‘intriguing nationwide league’ but without breaking the backs of the owners? This question was answered with the IBL ‘one flight guarantee’. The IBL recruits teams in geographical clusters (a ‘cluster’ is defined as 3 teams within driving distance) with the result of these clusters being a schedule with tremendous variety—opponents from all over the nation (and world)—but with owners only having to fly one time per year. The IBL ‘one flight guarantee’—is a promise that IBL teams will have a schedule of six local drivable games and as well—one flight (to play four games in four days); this reduces travel to an affordable level for owners. The IBL formula of fast paced games for fans and an affordable flight schedule for owners has been the same for all five years of play since April of 2005. The IBL heads into its sixth year of play in April of 2010.
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