The IBL is built to last: The IBL employs a unique scheduling technique whereby your team will play teams from all over the nation but your team is guaranteed a maximum of one flight. This 'one flight guarantee' and other such IBL efficiencies result in the year to year operating budgets of IBL teams being relatively affordable compared to other professional basketball leagues. IBL teams can survive and then thrive as opposed to being a 'flash in the pan'. In 2005 all 17 teams finished the season; In 2006 all 24 teams finished the season with 249 out of 249 games occurring without cancellation.

The IBL game is built to entertain: Any league can achieve good attendance in the short term, but to keep attendance, the game, at it's core, has to be entertaining and not drag on unnecessarily. Two unique rules speed up the IBL game- 1) a limit of timeouts to one per quarter and 2) a quick inbounds of the ball from referees. These two rules keep families with children coming back, game after game as the entire contest is entertaining and the game is over in about 2 hours. For information about owning a team that plays in the IBL, contact the IBL at (866) IBL-GAME and/or email- info@iblhoopsonline.com

Getting ownership documents from the IBL: It will cost you $125 and some level of proof of who you are to get the two league ownership documents emailed to you. ‘Proof of who you are’- can be a link to your biography at work, a resume with some links to your work and/or tax returns- something showing us clearly who you are. Before you pay for the documents, it is important to understand that the IBL is only taking teams for $65,000 (minimum) moving forward- that is their entry just to join, be ‘in’ the IBL; details on what it means to be ‘in’ and what you get- those details are found in the ownership documents. Call (ph) 503-720-5116 to give your credit card #, expiration date, address and zip code (and 3-digit code) and the IBL will run the card for $125. You will then be emailed the two main documents. One document describes running a minor league basketball team (detailed operations manual, best practices type manual that walks you through each step from the idea of ownership to the jump ball at your first home game) and the other document is- the rules & regulations and legal stuff- involved in joining the IBL as a team. Both documents are sensitive, confidential and valuable to you even if you do not join the IBL (you can learn how to run a team and/or you can be ‘run off’ from this tough industry saving you years of headaches if this were not a good fit for you and your community); there will be no refund of the $125. You are not allowed to forward or reproduce the documents (PDF’s) that you will get from the IBL; in fact, you must email a note saying that you will not email or reproduce any of these materials and that these materials are for your use only in learning how to run a minor league basketball team. When you call that number (ph) 503-720-5116, feel free to leave your call back information on Eric Bailey’s voicemail (Eric Bailey is the ownership coordinator). Eric Bailey will be the one to walk new owners through the entire process.

Understand that this industry is tough; in fact, to own a minor league basketball team with any chance of success, you will need ALL of the 11 ingredients listed here. Some of these 11 things- the IBL does for you, some things are dependant on the market and the venue while a few of the items are dependant on your own personal abilities:A single flight guarantee- your team only has one flight and all other games are drivable (IBL does this for you)

• A good sounding league name- with a national or international feel (IBL does this for you)


• Teams that show up every time- this is a huge issue in most minor leagues but not with the IBL (IBL does this for you)


• Teams that wear professional looking uniforms- triple-layer- tackle twill, professional looking (IBL does this for you)


• A fast and fun game- that starts & finishes within two hours (IBL does this for you)


• An extremely efficient tournament- an optional tournament after the regular season with only one tournament spot and if you happen to advance out of the tournament to the championship game, the flights are paid for by the IBL (IBL does this for you)


• A receptive market- a community and local media that is excited to have your team in their town


• An exciting venue- playing in a venue with the ‘it factor’; a place where people are happy to go on their night out (bucket seats and beer)


• A reasonable lease with that venue- you really need to be in the $0 to $2,500 range for this to really pencil out


• Your own ability with regard to promotions & sales- your ability to promote attendance, sell tickets, ability to reach the media


• Your own ability to be efficient- your ability to control spending- your ability take advantage of the efficiencies, your ability to form partnerships, recruit volunteers and work trades suggested by the IBL in order to keep your costs down (all the while, still producing a professional product)

• Consult with accountant and attorney— if your estimate of expenses compared against revenues show you making money (or show you losing an amount you feel comfortable with) and this venture fits into your time tolerance and risk tolerance, consult with your accountant & attorney; make sure that your accountant and attorney review both of the league documents (how to run a minor league basketball team document and the legal agreement between team and the IBL document).


• Fax in two years worth of tax returns- fax to 888-700-1181 so the IBL can get to know who you are and what you do. The IBL will analyze potential owners based on whether or not we feel that you can afford to own/run a minor league team in a healthy manner; we are fairly certain that 100 out of the last 100 teams that have started a minor league team (over the last 3 years) have lost money (in all sorts of different minor leagues with all sorts of different amounts) so the IBL does not want to let you in unless this is going to be a healthy venture for you.


• Email or fax in your permission that the IBL run a criminal background check on you- send that to info@iblhoopsonline.com or fax to 888-700-1181


• Pass a 60-point phone test (with Eric Bailey) showing that you have indeed read the two documents thoroughly


• Pay the IBL the new team fee of $65,000 and the yearly dues amount and then schedule an official date, time and location for your news conference/ kickoff event.