Nine years ago, the paradigm was established for how big-league sports during the mega-money age could succeed in a small market.

When the Seligs were no longer equipped to make baseball work on a radically changed financial playing field, they sold to someone with deep pockets and fresh ideas. Since then, the Milwaukee Brewers have not only survived, but in general they have thrived.

Now, Bud Selig’s childhood pal and college roommate is beginning the process of following the same plan.

It is not only the proper and enlightened path, it is the only way the Bucks stand a chance to remain in Milwaukee.

Since the Bucks almost made the NBA Finals more than a dozen seasons ago, coaches have come and gone. General managers have come and gone. The revolving door for bad-act players has been busier than, well, Kohl’s on Black Friday. And nothing has worked for a franchise that has been unable to keep up as contracts and arenas grew larger in bigger cities.

The only constant amid repeated failure has been ownership.

To Herb Kohl’s credit, one of the last solitary owners in the NBA is finally opening the long-locked door for expanding the fragile franchise’s financial base and, just as important, fresh insight on how to run a basketball team.

More critical to the future of the Bucks, Kohl, who will be 79 in February, is working toward a plan for succession when he is no longer around.

As regressive and stagnant as things have been for far too long with the Bucks, credit Kohl for the effort to keep his legacy of an NBA franchise, which never would have been possible had he not intervened almost 30 years ago, alive in a city that deserves its place at an exclusive 30-seat table.

By allowing the right kind of outside investors into what has been a stale, closed society, Kohl is being proactive and progressive in the nick of time. Should this have happened sooner? Of course. But it is a very good thing that it is happening now, before it is really too late.

The key is “right kind” of partners. The Seligs could have sold the Brewers for more money to the wrong owner. Instead, their due diligence on behalf the community led them to Mark Attanasio, the absolute right guy for the job. Now it is up to Kohl to have the same kind of foresight.

Attanasio, however, would not have bought the Brewers unless two things were already in place that Bud Selig ensured: Miller Park and revenue sharing. Along with prudent management, Attanasio and his ownership partners have used those two resources to make the Brewersan example of how success can overcome market size.

It will be up to Kohl and the new investors to get an arena deal done. It is up to the league to do more for its have-not membership. And then there will be no more excuses. With a modern building and support from the league for a system that might lead to competitive balance, it would then be up to the Bucks to make a real go of it or go away.

Ask me if the Bucks will still be around in five or six years and I’d say yes because Kohl, if he gets the right kind of support, is determined to build an arena with a lot of his own money as a gift to his hometown.

Right now the franchise is an embarrassment to the city, but no more of an embarrassment than the 200 combined games the Brewers lost in 2002 and 2003. The Brewers turned it around with enlightened ownership and management.

Without it, the Bucks don’t have a chance.

Sports, Pages 18 on 12/17/2013