We have a lot of fans of Manager games like the Euroleague Fantasy Challenge or the ACB Supermanager. But now this all comes to reality. A Bulgarian basketball team tries to copy the concept of myfootballclub that has been realized in England. So if you want to become a manager of a professional basketball team, you should continue reading this.
So what is this about. We have a Bulgarian basketball team that wants to play starting from next season under the direction of 10.000 basketball fans that vote in a democratic way of the team structure, coaching and so on. I talked to the initiators of this project to get a few more information.
The team will play in the Bulgarian Basketball Championship, either A2 or A1, depending on several factors. This will be decided in September when the Bulgarian Basketball Federation usually decides to have a qualification round for all men’s teams which would like to enter the A1 league.
So, if our project is successful (we need at least 10000 supporters
registered), our goal is that in the next 3 years we qualify in the
top 3 places in the Bulgarian league, so that we can earn a place to
play in one of the European leagues.Up to know, we have almost 900 registered members from all over the world – mainly from Bulgaria, USA, France, Lithuania, Australia and several other countries and we hope to have at least 10000 members by begining of May. If we do, the project will start in July with an open training camp (tryouts) which will take place in the capital of Bulgaria – Sofia. All members will be able to watch the training camp on-line and will be able to vote for the players they like the most. After the voting takes place, the management of the club will start negotiations with each of the TOP 25 players, according to the votes of the members, and will sign the best possible players according to the fan’s wishes and the club’s budget.
As to the coach, initially he will be selected by the Board of
Directors, and after the first half of the season the fans will have
the opportunity to vote on-line whether he should be replaced or not.
So for me these figures don’t look very promising so far. 900 members of 10,000 is a bit short to arrive there in May. Especially if you know that the website is already active since last September. If you register, it is for free, you only have to buy your "share" in the club when the project really turns alive. I also wanted to know how the people behind the project came up with the idea and what is their background.
In the past 2 years, TV reality shows became very popular in Bulgaria. Most of them allowed the audience to vote via SMS and decide the outcome of the shows. In a way, this was our inspiration – to make an Internet reality sports game, where our members would be able to manage our real basketball club PBC Start.
So far we have 3 official partners – www.sportniobuvki.com, which is a store for basketball shoes, accessories and apparel; a mobile operator called Vivatel, and Bulgaria’s most popular basketball site-www.bulgarianbasket.com
The people behind the project are also the owners of PBS Start. PBC Start was established in the end of 1997 and it is the first basketball club registered as a corporation in Bulgaria. In other words, it was the first professional club. The president and CEO of the club is Mr. Rumen Mitov, a former race-car driver in Bulgaria’s national team. In addition to the basketball club, the company also owns a motorcycling club in Bulgaria.
The other two people behind this project are his sons Zoran Mitov and Valentin Mitov. Both are former basketball players of PBC Start. Zoran is now the marketing manager and Valentin is the financial director of the club.
I have registered and hope that the project will succeed. I will keep you updated here of course. To register yourself or find more information: http://www.nashiaotbor.com/eng/
