Eastern Canadian Basketball League owes thousands to players, coaches and businesses

The Eastern Canadian Basketball League was more than $180,000 in debt by the time its inaugural season came to an abrupt end in May, according to a league official, and nearly two months later several players, staff and vendors are still waiting to hear when – or if – they get paid.

David Tingley, former business executive and basketball manager of the Moncton Motion team, says everyone was excited when the competition started.

He said they were told the owner, New York-based Ravi Verma, was “financially viable and had big plans.”

After the first few weeks when people weren’t paid, they attributed it to “common problems in the first year,” Tingley said.

He claims explanations ranged from delays because the money was stationed in the US, to arenas falling behind on their payments.

But as he and Moncton’s coaches pushed for answers, “those quickly evaporated into … serious financial trouble.”

When the league announced in May that it would cancel all remaining regular season games and the championship tournament, it said it would restructure and come back stronger and more confident in 2024.

The affected teams included the Moncton Motion, Saint John Union, Bathurst Bears, Truro Tide, the Valley Vipers and Charlottetown Power.

“We don’t want the city, the vendors, the sponsors, the fans, the volunteers to feel that it was in any way their fault for the league ending,” Tingley said.

“What went wrong here was a terrible business model,” which he said relied on ticket sales and sponsorship. Ticket sales started strong at about 2,000 per game, and then “trailed a bit,” at around 700, he said, which he described as natural for a first year.

Tingley claims he did not receive a penny for about eight weeks before the competition ended and that he is out an additional $1,000 because he was never reimbursed for food and equipment he bought for some players.

According to Tingley, most players in the entire league have only been given two of the eight weeks they are owed.

Most buses are also unpaid, he said, and three companies in Moncton alone have outstanding bills totaling about $86,000.

“If [the league] raised money from sponsorships, which they did, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if no one got money – vendors, players – where is that money?

CBC requested an interview with the league’s owner. Instead, Verma sent a link to the league’s May 19 Instagram post announcing the end of the season.

Charlottetown league president Tim Kendrick was also contacted but did not respond to a request for an interview.

‘We dug a pretty big hole’

“The league is heavily in debt. No one can deny that,” said league vice president Dwayne Tingley, who is not related to David Tingley.

He says that while the Bathurst team was a “great success story”, the league generally overestimated revenues and expenses. “I think we expected visitor numbers to be higher,” and accommodations ended up being the biggest expense due to housing shortages and reliance on hotels.

Dwayne estimates the league was at least $180,000 in the red. That amount has dropped “significantly” since then, he said, but could not provide an estimate.

The debt is being paid off “very slowly,” he said, noting that he “hasn’t paid a dime yet” and has taken a leave of absence until all of the league’s debts are paid.

‘It’s going to take a while. I mean, we dug quite a big hole.’

For now, I just ask that they be patient while we try to work something out.— Dwyane Tingley, League Vice President

The league made “a concerted effort to catch up with the players as much as possible,” Dwyane said. He estimates players across the league have been paid about 80 percent of what they owe.

He acknowledged that some staff, including coaches, have not been paid. “Everything is done to pay them.”

The league’s owner has been in touch with all sellers about a refund plan, he said, while sponsors have been offered “discounted rates” during a second season.

As for fans with season tickets who have lost five or six games? “We are very sorry about what happened,” he said, adding that the league is working on reduced ticket prices for next year.

“For now, I just ask that they be patient while we try to fix something. It’s not a good situation.”

Dream come true short-lived

Moncton Motion small forward/power forward James French said he and his teammates were only paid for two weeks.

“It was very unfortunate how everything turned out.”

French, a 24-year-old rookie, said it was a dream come true for him to be able to play professional basketball in his hometown. “I feel like I’ve really grown as a basketball player and as a person.”

As a college student, the missing “few thousand” hurts, he said, but he feels worse for his teammates, many of whom came from the US and owe more on their contracts.

“It was frustrating for me to see them not get the proper pay or treatment they were supposed to get,” he said, noting that some of them had given up other jobs or other opportunities to join the League.

He hasn’t heard anything about getting paid since the league ended, he said, and is “not too confident” that he will.

“I think most guys would feel the same way…that’s why a lot of guys wanted to get home as soon as possible to make money or find other work instead of waiting and hoping it would work out.”

Coach would never have been involved

Motion head coach Todd McKillop said he knows two coaches in the league who have each received one salary. The rest “never got a dime.”

When approached about coaching, McKillop claimed his first question was how the league would be funded, because “pro leagues can’t survive on ticket sales and merchandise sales”.

“We were assured that there were investors in the United States. The owner had investors, many investors within his company who supported the competition and got it off the ground until it could take off,” McKillop said.

“I would never have come on board with a league that I didn’t think had the funding, to disrupt people’s lives by taking them from all over, you know the United States and Canada and not paying them. “

Bus company already in pain after pandemic

Jonathan Keith, owner and president of Optimum Ride Charter Service, said he owes just over $38,000 for transporting players on his buses and has consulted an attorney.

“It’s a big stretch,” he said, especially after two “horrible” years of the COVID-19 pandemic when he had to let go five of his 24-bus fleet.

According to Keith, Verma hired him personally. “I even told him, I said, ‘I need to get paid for this,’ because we had a bad deal” with another sports organization and got stuck with a $5,000 bill.

Keith, who has been operating for 23 years and employs about 40 people, said the teams have traveled extensively in a short period of time. “So that’s why they run up a bill so quickly.”

“I didn’t get worried until it was 30 days – and then they decided to stop the competition.”

Keith said he tried to reach Verma about his account last week but got no response.

Hotel manager ‘not impressed’

Hyatt Place Moncton owes $37,000 according to general manager Pascal Pisegna.

“I got a $100 wire transfer about a month ago,” “and that’s it.”

Pisegna is “not impressed”.

“We’ve done our part. You know, we’ve negotiated a rate and we’ve provided clean rooms for their players and done everything they wanted from us. We’ve done it, now just pay this bill. It’s all what we ask.”

Verma has sent emails saying payment arrangements are being made, according to Pisegna.

But “he’s been saying that for a long time,” he claimed.

The hotel is not taking any legal action “at this time”.

“We just hope he’s going to do something.”

‘Very disappointing’

According to general manager Joni-Raye Poole, the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Moncton is waiting for nearly $11,000 from the competition for accommodations from May 3 to May 18.

“It’s very disappointing,” she said. “There was some confusion about where [the players] stayed and at the last minute we were able to move reservations to accommodate and extend last minute reservations.

“The players who stayed here were fantastic and we hated having to ask them to leave because of non-payment.”

Verma has not provided a “concrete” payment plan, according to Poole. “Only that he intends to pay.”

The competition will resume next year

David Tingley said he believes other teams are not speaking out as they hope the competition will resume next year as planned.

He doesn’t see how that can be done in Moncton without new leadership.

“They have damage everywhere in their wake.”

The league’s vice president claims most of the players have said they would be back.

“I don’t think we’ve burned bridges with players. No doubt we’ve repaired a lot of bridges with spectators and sponsors and vendors,” said Dwyane Tingley.