The Giants folded in 2003

By Chris,
October 6 2009

Reports suggest that backers of the newly-established British Basketball League are hoping to woo the Glazer family and persuade Manchester United to field a team in their division. The BBA is a proposed professional basketball league in the UK, backed by a group of investors who have experience in running the NBA across the pond.

The BBA is set to go head-to-head with the long-established British Basketball League, which the likes of the Cheshire Jets and the Plymouth Raiders currently compete in.

Local outfit the Manchester Giants used to compete in the British Basketball League before folding in 2003. Originally known as the Warrington Vikings, they were bought by and named Manchester United between 1985 and 1988, only for the revenue-chasing experiment to eventually flop. They went onto be named the Eagles, before becoming the Giants.

Reports now claim that the new BBA are desperate for United and other Premier League teams to field a team in their new league.

The ambitious project could see BBA chiefs approach a host of Premier League chairmen and ask them to enter the new league using their football team names. With Randy Lerner and George Gillett Jr. also heavily involved in Premier League clubs, the BBA must hope their idea has some mileage.