Titans owner expects season to be cancelled
Martin expects the earliest basketball league will return is in the fall
KITCHENER — The writing is on the wall for the 2020-21 National Basketball League of Canada season.
Kitchener-Waterloo Titans owner Leon Martin declined Wednesday to make it official but agreed that all signs point to the season being cancelled in the coming days with hopes of returning in the fall at the earliest. The league’s eight owners are scheduled to meet virtually on Monday, said Martin, with some sort of announcement expected to follow.
“I’m gonna say no, (the season) can’t happen,” said Martin.
“Everything is still locked down, the Aud is still closed and we really can’t do anything.”
The league has been silent since November, when it unveiled plans to delay the start of the season until March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That definitely won’t happen, said Martin, who figures he’d need at least three to four months to prepare for a season. That time is required to sell sponsorships and work on promotions, as well as hiring a coaching staff and signing players. Cavell Johnson, who took over as head coach in February of 2018, still resides in the area but isn’t under contract.
Pressed on whether all this adds up to a best-case scenario of a fall return, Martin said: “You’re probably correct in assuming that.”
Despite the uncertainty, Martin said he remains committed to the league and is hopeful it will be able to overcome the lengthy shutdown that started March 31 when owners voted unanimously to cancel the remainder of the 2019-20 season.
The league consists of eight franchises, including the Titans, London Lightning, Windsor Express and Sudbury Five in Ontario, and the Halifax Hurricanes, Moncton Magic, Island Storm and St. John’s Edge in the East.
Martin, a Woolwich entrepreneur, became sole owner of the Titans in the summer of 2019 when Ball Construction, the majority stakeholder for the team’s first three seasons, decided to back away. He said he remains committed to the team and the league and hopes owners use the time away to build an improved product for its return.
The Titans had a record of nine wins and 16 losses at the time of the shutdown and had averaged 1,587 spectators in 11 games at the Aud, placing them seventh in that department ahead of only the Charlottetown-based Storm at 976. The Lightning had a league-high average of 3,250 spectators per game, ahead of the Edge at 2,950 and Five at 2,387.
“I’m quite confident the league will be back. We’re working on changes to hopefully make it a better league,” said Martin. “This has given us time to reflect and talk about changes that have to happen to make it a sustainable league. It has to have a better model because too many teams are losing money. Something has to change, absolutely.”
The league lost two franchises last season when the Cape Breton Highlanders and St. John Riptide were granted a oneyear leave because of financial difficulties.