In Conversation with Bob Turner, Singapore Slingers & ASEAN Basketball League

Running a sports league in Singapore is a challenging enterprise, given the market being small and also difficulty in bringing in the audience and sponsorship for the matches. Bob Turner started his career as a basketball player, moved on to become a coach and then expanded the Australian National Basketball League to Asia. In the process, he set up the Singapore Slingers team with considerable amount of success as a private enterprise and got them to compete in the Australian League for 3 years. Now together with Tony Fernandes from AirAsia, he pioneered the Asean Basketball League that started this year with the games telecast on ESPN. While watching an exciting Asean basketball league match recently, we sat down with Bob who tells us of his excitement in running a basketball team as a sports enterprise and the challenges ahead to maintain a basketball league for ASEAN.

BL: Hi Bob, thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to do this interview. What did you do before setting up Singapore Slingers and the Asean Basketball League?
Bob Turner: I graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1976. As Captain of the Basketball team I did not want to stop playing before I set about on my ambition to coach professionally. I took the opportunity to take up a playing opportunity in Australia that was to last for two years but extended to over 30 years. I was heavily involved in the building of three professional teams in the Australian National basketball League as coach and marketer of the teams. In the year 2000 this led to ownership and with a number of Sydney business identities we bought the team I coached for seven years, the Sydney Kings. After three years I then set out to help expand the NBL with a team in Singapore.

BL:vWhat inspired you to set up the Singapore Slingers team and subsequently the Asean Basketball League?
Bob Turner: The Singapore Slingers were a double win for both the Australian NBL and the country of Singapore. The NBL was looking to expansion in Asia and Singapore was looking for sports entertainment products that could place the country in line with most major cities around the world in having a professional sports team. After two years the Australian League was proving to have a lack of relevance in Singapore. In conjunction with the Slingers Chairman, Tony Fernandes, we collectively set out to develop a more relevant competition that would provide the Slingers and the ASEAN countries a League to call their own. Our Chairman noted that Australia had a catchment of 22 million while ASEAN catered to not only a market of 600 million but a significant increase in relevance. Singapore was very similar to other ASEAN countries in that basketball was a major participant sport but had little competition and future for players and coaches.

BL: Can you briefly tell us about Asean Basketball League? How often are the matches played and how do people who are interested can come and watch the league games?
Bob Turner: The ASEAN Basketball League, ABL, is the first professional sports competition for the ASEAN block of countries. It commenced on the 10th of October, 2009, with six teams from six countries. The ABL will play three full rounds on a home and away basis with the top two teams qualifying for a best of three semi-finals and a best of five grand final series. Basketball throughout the region is very strong but the youth of those countries have not had a career path to follow. In Singapore, for instance, basketball is the number one team sport in schools and community centres but while strong at the youth level there was no real opportunity to further their playing career past school age. The ABL will provide that opportunity for players, coaches and administrators while also providing all participating countries a professional team the countries can follow on a weekly basis. Games have been televised ‘Live’ on ESPN and in only the first two weeks of the competition all countries are seeing a sharp rise in interest and understanding of the teams that represent their cities/countries.

BL: During the league games, we notice that there are interesting entertainment focused specifically for a Sunday family outing. Is that inspired by the sports league in the US? Do you have to localize that approach in Asia?
Bob Turner: The promotion of all ABL home games is based on providing a full entertainment package in line with the NBA experience. Being an indoor game the excitement and enthusiasm is captured and enhanced with music, dance girls, mascots and entertainment. The Slingers have provided this entertainment package with local talent who have relished in the opportunity created. An ABL is much more than two teams playing for competition points. It is a total entertainment experience. The sport of basketball is also proven worldwide to be enjoyed by the entire family. It is a very female friendly sport with Slingers surveys pointing to a 47% attendance by females and a 60% audience of males and females from the ages of 16 to 39.

BL: How does the Singapore Slingers utilise both mainstream and social media to market the games?
Bob Turner: Being the first professional sports team for Singapore to play in a weekly international competition, the experience is a new one for the general media. The ABL has not only increased the relevance of the Slingers in playing ‘Historic’ rivals on a weekly basis but the rules of the team make-up has 8 of the 12 man roster coming from Singapore. The general media is quickly understanding this new development for the Slingers and have started to editorially cover the team as most professional teams enjoy around the world. When the Slingers were playing with a majority of Australians in their roster while playing in the Australian League, the organisation turned to ‘New Media’ opportunities to promote the team given the lack of general media coverage. Singapore has an extremely high percentage of the youth market with access to the Internet and through blogging, Facebook, constant contact, website and a dedicated internet team started to make headway in spreading the Slingers word. We have maintained our ‘New Media’ strategy which is now being combined with editorial coverage in the mainstream media.

BL: While we see that the S-League (for football) is struggling to keep up an audience and yet, we see the Basketball League can sustain itself very well with the sponsorship, publicity and the audience. What are the key factors that attribute to your success?
Bob Turner: We have barely scratched the surface when it comes to sponsorship, publicity and attendance. The ABL as stated before has provided vital ingredients that will only enhance the Slingers product. During my days with the Sydney Kings we averaged 9,000 people per game over an eight year period in a stadium that held 10,500. We also had over 150 corporate partners that that utilised their association with the team and players to give their company a point of difference. The Kings were one of 15 professional sports team in that market and competed for every sponsor, fan and media article. As the only professional team to play in a weekly International competition and playing in a marquee venue like the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the Slingers will quickly multiply the number of companies who can see the benefit and opportunity to unite with the team. The first two home games of the Slingers has enjoyed ‘Live’ coverage by ESPN and the next three games are scheduled to have the same coverage. The corporate community is quickly realising the signage opportunities and affordable packages that can enjoy coverage throughout Asia. The Slingers also use their full time roster to give back to the community with daily school visits and promotions. With a target of 150 school promotions over the year, the Slingers are a unique marketing tool for the youth of Singapore.