The NBL Canada's expansion deadline was set for May 31 and there were apparently five approved expansion bids for the 2012-13 season.
This is expected I would suppose with the success of the first season. The league by all accounts has been very successful and it looks pretty bright for the coming season. So really, this is the last thing that surprised me. What did surprise me is that the teams that are on the prospective list of possible locations for next year are all in Ontario.
If you check the link above, the five cities are Mississauga, St. Catherines, Ottawa, Windsor and Kitchener. Those would all be very good cities for new teams for sure. I really thought that there would be more interest from places in the provinces between Nova Scotia and Quebec but I suppose this is where the interest is right now.
I had mentioned in a previous post that I thought that any rapid expansion of the league was a little too ambitious and maybe too much for year two but then again these are just expansion possibilities at the moment. The five mentioned cities would be great locations no doubt and for three of them, Windsor, Ottawa and Kitchener, have basketball traditions through the CIS particularly Ottawa and the Carleton Ravens. The NBLC board will have the next few months to examine each bid city's proposal and we'll see which one will be victorious.
So until then, there are five in the running ...