Future uncertain
Cape Breton Highlanders ‘desperate for support’ in order to continue professional basketball in Sydney
SYDNEY — Cape Breton’s only professional sports team is in jeopardy of folding without an influx of investors.
Cape Breton Highlanders team president and general manager Tyrone Levingston told the Cape Breton Post this week he couldn’t provide a definite “yes or no” answer when asked if the club would return to the National Basketball League of Canada for the 2019-20 season.
“We’re desperate for support,” said Levingston. “If we don’t get the proper support that we need, I don’t see the Highlanders being back next season.”
The Highlanders organization was formed in 2015 under the leadership of Levingston as well as local business owners, however, the club didn’t begin play in the league until the 2016-17 season.
Like many new organizations, the Highlanders struggled their first two seasons — posting a 15-25 record in their inaugural year, before finishing the 2017-18 season with a 12-27 record.
The team improved last season, finishing the year with a 19-21 record, while making franchise history for most wins in a single season and clinching their firstever playoff spot, something many believed would be positives for the club heading into the off-season.
The Sydney-based team was eliminated from the NBL Canada playoffs by the Halifax Hurricanes in five games in mid-April.
“I’ve worked as hard as I possibly can, I’ve done everything I possible can but at the end of the day, like any business, without support you can’t survive,” said Levingston.
“We’ve been surviving as long as we can on basically a shoestring budget, but any organization or any company that wants to take a step forward, you need financial support and financial backing and right now it’s a desperate situation for us.”
NBL Canada deputy commissioner Audley Stephenson confirmed in an email with the Post Thursday that when expansion teams enter the league they have to commit for three years. This past season was the Highlanders third season.
Cape Breton’s investors to date consist of a group of 10 including Martin Chernin, Parker Rudderham, Sean Burke, Dr. Paul Pluta, Jodi Brown, Curtis and Martin Karrel, Kirk MacRae, Membertou First Nation and Levingston.
Levingston said to run a team for one season can cost upwards of $500,000, however his club hasn’t had that luxury.
“Financial backing gives you the opportunity to do bigger and better things and that’s what we’re all about,” said Levingston.
“Like I said since day one, we wanted to come here and give Cape Breton a team to be proud of and in order to do those things it costs, and we want to continue to grow our fans and we need the support in order to do that.”
Levingston confirmed the Highlanders franchise is currently running on a budget of around $300,000, which includes salaries for the players and coaches.
Levingston said a team isn’t restricted to only local investment, although from his experience, the most successful teams have strong local support.
“To keep this thing alive, I’m looking under every rock and turning every stone I possibly can,” he said. “I have a ton of work to do this off-season — I’m very hopeful — but we need the support and right now we can’t do anything without support.”
Despite an improvement on the hardwood, the Highlanders have seen a decrease in attendance figures over the past three seasons.
In 2016-17, the Highlanders averaged 1,475 fans per game and 29,490 overall. Meanwhile, in 2017-18, Cape Breton’s average dropped to 1,375 fans per game
for a total of 27,078.
Last season, the Cape Breton squad, led by head coach Bernardo Fitz-Gonzalez, finished seventh in the 10-team league for attendance, averaging 1,238 fans per game and 24,762 overall. Those numbers do not include the two playoff games at Centre 200 in Sydney.
“Our attendance wasn’t the best, but towards the end of the season it started to grow as we started to enter into the playoff hunt,” said Levingston.
“We know we could have been better and maybe we could have done a better job marketing and promoting to get the word out, but it was still a very hard and tough year for us.”
Stephenson told the Post the league has used the benchmark number of 1,500 fans per game when it comes to the break-even mark.
The Highlanders aren’t the only local team to see a decrease in attendance during the 2018-19 season.
The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles also saw their numbers drop during their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season, averaging 2,396 fans over 34 home games for an overall total of 81,465 — that’s a loss of 5,644 fans overall from 2017-18. The team did see strong numbers in both the first and second rounds of the playoffs.
“We’ve been trying everything you can possibly imagine under the sun to try and grow our foundation and our fan base, and it’s been slowly progressing,” said Levingston.
NBL Canada is expected to open its 2019-20 regular season in November. Levingston did not provide a timeline as to when the Highlanders will decide on their future in Cape Breton.
Screaming Eagles majority owner Irwin Simon is part of the ownership group of the St. John’s Edge NBL team in Newfoundland.
In recent months, speculation has tied Simon to purchasing the Highlanders franchise and having two sports teams in one location in Sydney, however, Levingston quickly denied those rumours.
For now, the Highlanders will continue to look for investors with the hope of having a team next season.
“I want the fans to know as an organization we appreciate everything, regardless of what happens whether we’re here or not, it was a great ride,” said Levingston.
“I’m very thankful and I’m very privileged and blessed to have the experience of being here — Cape Breton is like home now — I definitely don’t want to see the team go and I’m going to do everything in my power to fight, but we need the support.”
Anyone interested in becoming an investor or sponsor for the team is asked to contact Levingston by email at tyrone@highlandersbasketball.ca.