In Episode 57 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with BBL Commercial Director Bob Hope, who was instrumental of the forming of the league in 1987.Hope has been involved with basketball club and league administration/commercial since the 70s, and was one of the main drivers for the clubs breaking away from the federation to form the BBL in the late 80s.Since then, he has served as the commercial director of the league twice, been the UK rights holder for basketball producer Molten Sports and founded Bob Hope TV Productions Ltd to provide live tv coverage of the sport (as well as other minority sports).Hear from Bob on:How he first got into basketball as a youngster, making the switch from gymnasticsHis early days of getting into basketball administration with the Exhall Eagles in the Warwickshire leagueFounding and coaching the club Granwood (later Team Fiat and then Birmingham Bullets) and entering the National League in 1974)The inter-county tournament that used to run at Loughborough which was predominantly made up of National League clubs representing as countiesThe early signs of tensions between clubs and the federation - England Basketball - in the late 70sWhat happened at the 1979 England Basketball AGM where the clubs - led by Bob Hope and David Last - voted out Chair Ken Charles to be replaced with Harry KeatsThe negotiations that ensued and what happened for the BBL to be formed 8 years later with the clubs effectively breaking awayRaising money and sponsorship for the 1980 and 1984 Olympic qualifying GB teamsThe formation of Basketball Marketing Ltd set up by England Basketball which Bob Hope became the Director of Sales andMarketing for as he retired from coachingHow they could move over the sponsorship and TV contracts from Basketball Marketing Ltd to the BBL when the clubs broke away, with Hope joining the league in charge of commercialAll the secretive meetings clubs were having as breaking away to form the BBL became a realityThe differences between raising sponsorship in the early days of the BBL to nowForming Bob Hope TV Productions Ltd in 1988 to produce live basketball TV coverage for the likes of Channel 4, the BBC, ITV2 and SkyHow he became the UK-rights holder for Molten SportsRe-joining the BBL in 2016 as Commercial Director after having been retired for 1 monthDiscovering the monetary value of the betting rights of the BBL - with over €16million (accidentally stated as €60million in the interview - 16million is the correct figure!) being betted on the league each year How Premier League football is the biggest barrier to getting the BBL back on TVThe issues the league is having with Keemotion and it not being up to broadcast standard at the momentHow close the league is to signing a major commercial dealThe importance of social media and digital for the BBL's growth and future sponsorship dealsHow COVID-19 has impacted the league and what it could mean for the futureThe growth of the league and aim to get to 16 franchisesAnd much, much more! The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide, meanwhile it is also on Spotify here, Overcast, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.You can support Hoopsfix’s work in helping to grow British basketball on Patreon.

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