Newbie......who to follow?

£25 for Stevenage against Bradford tonight...and given the standard of football some alcohol as anaesthetic would also be good...

Your timeline is a bit off. Kings morphed into Guildford in 92 and died in 94. Tigers died in 2005. I'm not being a pedant but that's not quite the churn you've described. And Heat moving within Guildford isn't any different to football clubs moving, stortford trebled my walk to a home game but I still go.
I'm not sure why basketball clubs can't get solid, loyal fanbase. I'm not sure we're significantly worse that ice hockey, post professionalism rugby union or post sky rugby league when it comes to lon term consistency.
But I do know what people seem to enjoy watching us, but don't come back.

Wildcats in the EBL, not Kings. Although my parents both supported Kings.

Went to my first game last night to watch London Lions and Cal Poly. Not what I expected from a pro team in London. Cal Poly is a weak program so beating them is hardly something to write home about

The atmosphere was a bit weird and the arena was pretty empty but I guess a pre season exhibition game like that is not representative of the real product. The team looked old and weak. Is that the highest standard in the UK?

I may go see another game during the season but not impressed so far. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it a strong 4. Definitely room for improvement.

It's not a real game, no one cares much about the result, Lions had half a team & whilst I didn't go, I'm not sure I would have called the players old & weak but if you're comparing to NBA then perhaps you have a point.

No idea on the numbers but Lions never open the top tier, I got the impression it was a decent enough crowd for a pre-season friendly & was probably more fans than Royals saw at any game last season(along with a few other clubs).

Having seen another post about the game, it seems it was a good size crowd for a BBL crowd, 3 lower sides pretty much full. Agree with Sporty, visit some other venues but perhaps you need to set your expectations lower than you have at the moment & certainly make the next game a proper competitive game.

I'm convinced it is

Fozzie is locked in my shed. I'm feeding him - minus the big ginger beard - to the guinea pigs.

So not him.

Nobody will be precious here about the quality of BBL. Providing you aren't a basketball kit. 

if you choose the lions as your team its a big arena for BBL basketball and will always be pretty empty 

And you chose a friendly as your first match. The competitive games will be way better quality. 

There will definitely be better games to see as the season goes on. Although yes the standard is not the same as the NBA or other top leagues I have seen some epic games over the years and some really talented players.

I would suggest trying to get up to Newcastle to see the Eagles and the Riders in Leicester.

Both own their own arenas and they always have good crowds, the fans are close to the court as well and it creates a great atmosphere.

Outside of that Plymouth is good and Worcester was voted the best arena or something a little while ago, or was it best match night experience. Not sure but was something and am sure someone else could clarify that for me.

But definitely don’t give up on it and try more games.

Gonna check out the other London team Royals on the 28th down in Crystal Palace. Hopefully will be better than my time at the Lions.

I doubt it will. Royals only came into existence last season and have had no success at all in attracting a fan base thus far. I imagine there'll be less at this game than there were at the Copper Box fixture you attended... And the roof might leak.

A few things to bear in mind regarding the standard... Firstly, every BBL team experiences major player turnover almost every off season. For obvious reasons really. No one with an ounce of ambition wants to commit long term to a club at this level. Doesn't do wonders for early season cohesion on or off the court I'm sure. And some of the new signings will inevitably suck, get cut, and ultimately be replaced with better. Some rosters, including Royals' (who appear to only have six players announced currently) are still not complete. And with specific regard to the Lions fixture you attended, I imagine there's a very good chance they were missing some starters and playing mediocre veterans and young bench fillers far more minutes than they'd typically see in a competitive game.

If the BBL's already on it's last life with you, I'd recommend just giving it a few months tbh. By then every team will hopefully have a fairly settled roster and the product should be quite a bit better. But if you're determined to give Crystal Palace a go, keep an open mind, expect to be unimpressed... And check the weather forecast before you set off.