The name of the first professional basketball team… Will it lead to a ‘9 team system’?

Disaster Sports Crisis Day One… KBL ‘team management 10’ Crisis

Disqualification of member companies that did not pay KBL salaries, loan and assistance for emergency living expenses Special draft of players in case of not being able to find a company to acquire along with Busan

The ‘Day One Sporting Event’ that made players, fans, and the basketball world cry was a disaster. Attention is focused on whether professional basketball will be able to maintain a 10-team system in the 2023-24 season, or whether it will become a 9-team system for the first time after its establishment.

According to basketball world on the 18th, KBL is looking for a company that will take over all 18 former Day One players along with Busan City, who have strongly expressed their intention to attract a football team- men’s professional basketball.

On the 16th, the board of directors and the general meeting of KBL decided to expel Day One, who had delayed paying the membership fee due to financial difficulties and had not paid the team’s salary for several months. This is the first time KBL has expelled a member company since the launch of professional basketball in 1997. As a result, it became unclear whether the 10-club system would be maintained in the 2023-24 season. Professional basketball began with an eight-team system, but from the 1997-98 season, it became a 10-team system.

KBL has put a lot of effort into maintaining the 10 club system. Before the 2012-13 season, when Incheon Etland (now Korea Daegu Gas Corporation) was in danger of disappearing due to financial difficulties of the parent company, the club helped to operate by providing 2 billion won, the players’ salary for one. term.

In addition, when E-Land decided to cease operation of the club at the end of the 2020-21 season, it was decided that Korea Gas Corporation was the acquisition company through an open competitive bidding method.

It’s different this time. This is because it is deemed that the fundamental problem for restoring the integrity of the alliance cannot be solved in the same way as in the past. In addition, the situation is that, in the worst case, the system of nine clubs will be tolerated so that players who are almost out of contract with Day One will not be further harmed.

In announcing Day One’s expulsion, KBL emphasized, “We will take appropriate measures according to the situation, such as choosing a new sponsor or acquisition company, and implementing a special draft.”

In addition, after June 1st, KBL will pay the salaries of the players first, and considering the situation of the players who are struggling, they decided to lend an emergency living fund. We are also supporting the resumption of training in consultation with Goyang Gymnasium, the home stadium of Day One.

If a company based in Busan succeeds in finding a company to acquire within the next month and establishes a basketball team, the 10-club system will be maintained in the 2023-24 season. However, if not, KBL plans to hold a special draft for 18 players around the 21st of next month.

The special draft is held by nominating two people for each club with equal probability, and exceptions to the salary cap (upper limit on the total annual salary) and registration quota restrictions apply for the 2023-24 season only. In this case, professional basketball will be played with a nine-team system from the 2023-24 season.

Reporter Hong Ji-min