Basketball Australia boss Larry Sengstock is confident Australia's largest city is ready to give the embattled sport another chance after announcing the inclusion of a Sydney-based NBL team for next season.
Speaking at BA headquarters in Sydney on Thursday, Sengstock confirmed the 2010/11 competition will be expanded to nine teams, with the season to run from October to March.
The existing eight teams - Adelaide 36ers, Cairns Taipans, Gold Coast Blaze, Melbourne Tigers, New Zealand Breakers, Perth Wildcats, Townsville Crocodiles and Wollongong Hawks - will all return after satisfying the strict criteria set down by the governing body.
But Sengstock says the return of a Sydney team is a major step forward for the code.
"Certainly we've been very conscious of the fact that we haven't had a team in the major market or the largest population base in Australia in Sydney, and we've made no bones about that and we haven't hidden from the fact that we wanted to get a team here and we've been working very hard on that," he said.
"Right across the board it's just going to give us the ability to increase our profile across the country. There's no doubting the fact that this is the biggest market, it's a very strong basketball market, it has had great success over many years with the Kings."
"It is a strong basketball city and I think we've got the ability to build on that now. What we've done this year is to get the faith and the support back for basketball in the country and now I think it's the right time to step back into the market in Sydney."
Although Sengstock refused to be drawn on details of the new franchise, Sportal can confirm the new consortium will operate under the Sydney Kings banner and play all home games out of the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
"We want to give the group a bit more time to make their own announcements," he said when pressed on specifics.
"All we're confirming today is that we will have a team in Sydney and we're very excited about that fact, because we believe it's a very strong group and we're comfortable that they've met the criteria that we're set for them."
Sengstock revealed BA spoke with two interested parties before awarding the licence to a consortium of unknown business identities.
He is confident the team will be ready to go by the start of the season, confirming the group is free to start signing players and coaching staff.
Meanwhile, Sengstock says BA is committed to adding a Brisbane-based team in time for the 2011/12 competition.
"We worked very hard with a group up there and we're continuing to work with that same group," he said.
"It just got to a point where we decided that it would be better to give them more time."
"So we were very close but I think that what we've preached all along here is sustainability and we want to make sure that we don't make decisions in a rushed fashion. We want to make sure that the teams that go forward with us are sustainable for the long term and meet all of the right criteria."
Sengstock revealed talks with a second Melbourne consortium have also commenced with a view to adding another Melbourne team in 2011/12.