Hurricanes owner looking to grow league
Lever named NBL of Canada’s chairman of board of governors
Halifax Hurricanes majority owner Mark Lever has been named the chairman of the board of governors of the National Basketball League.
Lever takes the helm from London Lightning owner Vito Frijia, who stepped down as league president after three years.
Lever is the head of SaltWire Network, publisher of The Chronicle Herald and 34 other publications, including the Journal Pioneer and The Guardian.
“Our league would simply not have survived without Vito Frijia. Personally, I hope to work closely with the entire board to build on the foundation that Vito has provided all of us. Thanks to him we can now take this league from surviving to thriving,” Lever said in a news release.
“My priority will be to build consensus amongst the board on a best practices approach to govern our league and provide our professional staff the direction and resources required to operate a professional sports league. Sales and marketing, a search for a commissioner and tightening our rules are the areas of immediate concern.”
The league also announced that its salary cap will increase from $170,000 to $180,000 for the upcoming season, which begins in mid-November.
NBL teams announced their protected lists which increased from six to seven players this season. Teams have until Aug. 15 to sign their protected players. After that date an unsigned player can receive contract offers from other teams.