‘No more money’: Netball Australia still reeling over $15m Gina Rinehart furore

Netball Australia replaced a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal from Gina Rinehart but the billionaire’s money has still left a gaping hole.

Netball Australia has admitted it’s still in a huge financial hole after Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart withdrew a $15m sponsorship for the sport.

The 2023 Super Netball season has launched with a new campaign stating “we’re not sorry” after the furore cost the sport the lucrative backing of the multi-billionaire.

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Rinehart withdrew her sponsorship after Indigenous player Donnell Wallam asked for her uniform not to have the Hancock Prospecting logo.

This was reportedly due to comments made by Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock in the 1980s. He infamously suggested in 1984 that Indigenous Australians should be sterilised to “breed themselves out” in coming years.

But while the backflip left netball on its knees in this country, the sport appeared to have been saved by Visit Victoria matching the sponsorship dollars, which was a controversial move at the time.

Under the deal, the Australian Diamonds will wear Visit Victoria branding on the uniform and players and coaches will appear in tourism campaigns to promote Victoria as a travel destination.

Victoria will effectively become the home of the Diamonds and will host at least one international Test match for the next five years as well as hosting high performance training camps in the state.

On top of that, the new deal means the 2023 Super Netball Grand Final will be held in Victoria.

Netball Australia isn’t out of the red. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images for FOX Sports

Aussie netball boss Kelly Ryan. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images for FOX Sports

But Netball was already in a deep financial hole, having been hit hard by the pandemic.

Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan admitted the sport is still trying to recover a debt of over $4 million.

“$4.2 million is the debt that we have and need to repay,” Ryan said at Super Netball launch on Tuesday.

“We still do have a considerable, sizeable debt that still does need to be repaid. So we’re still very fiscally responsible and making sure that any opportunities for growth will be realised.”

On top of the financial issues are the ongoing negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement with the player’s union claiming last week that Netball Australia did not intend to raise the pay of Super Netball players in 2024, a year after the players were handed a 22 per cent pay increase after a lucrative deal signed with Fox Sports.

At the time, Netball Australia promised netballers would remain the highest paid female athletes in a domestic league, a vow which was broken after female cricketers’ pay was increased.

The Australian Netball Players Association are reportedly exploring a “partnership” model in a bid to boost players’ salaries.