The NBL today said the league would continue on ‘with or without teams’ next season.

The announcement followed news Townsville and Wollongong were going into voluntary administration, leaving only six confirmed teams for next season.

NBL Chairman Graeme Wade said teams were ‘often more trouble than they’re worth’ and were 'not necessarily core business of the NBL'.

“I’m not against having teams per se but they’re expensive and require a lot of work.”

“Given so few people go to the games and almost no one watches it on TV, would anyone notice if we had no actual teams?

“You could argue it would allow us to just focus on growing our brand.”

Interim CEO/General Manager of Operations Bret Mactavish said having no teams would streamline his job significantly.

“Trying to save teams from bankruptcy all the time is exhausting.”

“Not having to deal with sponsors, players, and TV stations would be a dream come true in some ways.”

“We could save a lot of money if we didn’t have to organise all these games.

“I could use that money to buy an office chair. Sitting on a milk crate all day is getting old.”

Several NBL clubs contacted said there was some merit in the NBL’s ‘team free’ model.