The Illawarra Hawks based themselves in Canberra this week to start laying the foundations for what they hope will be an AIS Arena sell-out when the NBL returns to the city on January 26. It has renewed calls for a Canberra Cannons revival.

The first of two Big Bash games will be played at Manuka Oval on December 21, although Canberra's bid for a team has been relatively silent since being launched last year.

Could Canberra sustain one team, let alone three, at a time of the year when most public servants are at the beach instead of walking around Lake Burley Griffin?

All three sports are enjoying respective booms, but if there can only be one, who will it be?

Chris Dutton: Australian basketball is experience a genuine fresh start. Crowd numbers are up, television viewership has increased and the history of the Canberra Cannons will spark new interest in the capital. That's why basketball is the obvious choice to fill the summer gap in Canberra - indoors, fast-paced and a sport on the rise again.

Eamonn Tiernan: Does the NBL even have anyone who can dunk? You might get a few wannabe Americans down to the AIS with their NBA jumpers on but if we really want to paint this city red the clear answer is A-League. More people play soccer in Canberra than the rest of the winter sports combined. I don't want to hear about the blow-in Mariners or the Cosmos. The city has changed dramatically since the NSL days and the punters are crying out for a team to call their own, throw in a marquee player and they'll be hanging from the rafters at Canberra Stadium.

David Polkinghorne: Yawn, why would we want teams from two failing leagues? You guys are clinging to the past. Canberrans turned off them years ago. But everyone loves the excitement charged Big Bash! Might as well just install a "sold out" sign out at Manuka.

CD: Which failing league are you referring to, Polky? The A-League, where crowd numbers have been stagnant in recent years and broadcast figures are doing the same. Or the Big Bash, where the Hobart Hurricanes' crowd dropped by 30 per cent last season. The NBL is on the way up, let's jump on board now. A Canberra team won't need to fill a big stadium, just 5000 people at the AIS Arena. NBL online and television coverage is up 150 per cent and crowds are following Andrew Bogut around the country. The Hawks sold out a pre-season game in Canberra. Yes, only 1500 or so, but it proves the appetite is there.

ET: Canberra loves a winner and if our A-League team hits the ground running like the Wanderers did, they'll be playing in front of 15,000 every week! But you know what Canberra would love even more than a winner? An indoor Civic Stadium. And the only way that happens is with an A-League team using it in the summer. So Raiders and Brumbies fans should jump on board the A-League express if they want their frostbite days behind them. Did I mention soccer is the highest participation sport in Canberra?? If you build it, they will come.

DP: Do I need to speak louder for you blokes? SOLD OUT. BBL final in Canberra five years ago - sold out. Last year - sold out. December 21 coming up - on track for another. I don't need to cling to "what ifs" or participation numbers that have never turned into crowds. And what's Hobart got to do with anything Blocka? Isn't that the capital of Kangaroo Island?

CD: Yeah, we get it. Cricket can sell out one-off events. But what about when everyone's catching waves at Bateman's Bay and there's a full season of games. Filling 13,000 seats for every match at Manuka is going to be a stretch. That's why the AIS Arena with its 5000 seats and a roof to protect against the summer heat is a perfect option. A new Civic stadium for soccer is at least a decade away, if it gets done at all. And who wants to be stuck in the beer line at Manuka?

ET: A new stadium will be several decades away if we shun the A-League, again. Canberra Stadium has never been the Ritz Carlton but think just how sweet it will be when Civic Stadium finally does arrive and knowing you were on the right side of history to make it happen. Every journey of a 1000 miles starts with one step!

DP: Yeah can't wait til 2056 when it gets built! Meanwhile, while Blocka is sweating up a storm in his tin shed, I'll be all like "Eat my sunset". Oh and if there's no one here to go to BBL games, there's no one here for the basketball.

CD: But the point is basketball needs less than half of the spectator numbers cricket needs to be financially viable. Basketball in Canberra is already bursting at the seams. Participation numbers are at record numbers and still growing. Patty Mills is a leader in the NBA, Basketball ACT wants to build more courts and there's a history of the sport doing well in the city. The Cannons were the hottest ticket in town and will be again. The same can't be said for the previous soccer and cricket versions in Canberra. And basketball players know it's hot, Polky. So do their fans - that's why they all wear singlets.

ET: Soccer is called the world game for a reason. If Canberra is fair dinkum about becoming a world city we need the world game being played inside a world-class stadium. The season will be largely played over school holidays so families will flock to games. Make it free membership for every registered junior and there's 16,000 members straight off the bat. They won't be coming alone so throw in their parents and you can just about double that figure. Huge support equals huge crowds. If you're the instant gratification type, choose Big Bash or NBL. If you want to watch the most popular sport on the planet and see this city reach its potential, choose the world game.

DP: When I look at you two amigos, all I see are carcasses. Right next to the rotting Cannon are the bones of the Cosmos. Hasn't worked before, won't work again. But the BBL is a fresh new product that's captured the imagination of the modern age. You talk about kids and nothing captures their imagination of the big hitting Big Bash. Music blaring, flames launching with every six. TV interest tick. Crowds tick. Ground tick. There can be only one. And it's the Big Bash.