Former basketball player Jamar Johnson is on a mission to give adult recreational basketball players purpose and a chance to add value to communities and businesses with a new league concept.
LIGHTNING RELEASES — Tempe, AZ January 29th, 2015 – What do the founders of FedEx, Amazon, and Uber Car Service all have in common? They were all told that their business concepts would never work and yet they have all spawned a new segment within their respective industries that some would say they now command. In a few short years we could be adding a professional basketball league business called the Community Basketball Leagues (CBL) to the list.
According to a recent survey done by a major sports and fitness association, basketball was said to be the number one participation sport by amateurs and 4.2 million of the 30 million players in the United States play in adult men and women recreational basketball leagues. This was the data that made Chief CBL Commissioner, Jamar Johnson seize the moment.
“Seven years ago when I started the league no one thought that our national league concept would work,” said Johnson. Investors that he approached thought it was too early-stage and too risky as an unproven concept. It was the classic egg and the chicken scenario, says Johnson. At the time Johnson thought he needed investment so he could prove that the market was strong and viable. It became so frustrating that he abandoned the need for investors and sought out to fund the business himself.
Early in the venture Johnson was able to successfully win the hearts of a few sponsors that allowed him to make some significant headway toward scaling the business with teams nationally. For years, recreational leagues did not have to do much for its players except provide a ball, a couple of unlicensed game officials, and maybe throw in a league champs t-shirt. Not anymore, says Johnson. The CBL leverages NBA-like media technologies and prizes to enhance the experience and provide a professional feel for its players, fans, and sponsors alike.
This year the league went to a free team sign-up because they want more teams in or near the cities where they already have existing teams so teams can play up to thirty games. On January 5th, 2015 the CBL launched its annual registration campaign and within two weeks the league was tracking around 20,000 players nationwide.
“It is exciting to see every year how the word about the CBL is spreading throughout the country, but due to the fact that we still don’t have investors or big brand name national sponsors, we are left needing help financially so we can support as many teams as possible and improve our overall operational infrastructure, which will allow for the league to run properly,” said Johnson.
To meet the league’s financial demand for all the teams around the country the CBL devised a ticket credit program where individuals or businesses can purchase a ticket credit package for a CBL Team Location on their recently created GoFundMe page at http://ift.tt/1vadAUk . The goal is to sell 20,000 ticket credits that will help to pay for team uniforms, travel, and the league’s mentoring program.
For more information about the CBL visit http://ift.tt/1vadAUk.
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