Jonathon Flegg tips Darwin Salties to be the next NBL franchise

The Darwin Salties' chances of landing a NBL license continue to grow, with the man that led the Dolphins successful NRL bid tipping the club to be the NBL’s next expansion franchise.

A key powerbroker in the Australian sports world who was instrumental in the Dolphins successful NRL bid has given his tick of approval to the Darwin Salties becoming Australia’s next NBL franchise.

Appearing on SEN’s The Jimmy Smith Show, Freshwater Strategy director Jonathon Flegg threw his weight behind the possibility of the Salties joining the top-tier competition.

“I’m pretty long on the Darwin opportunity,” he said.

“They’ve only been in the competition for two years but like a lot of the franchises in the smaller markets, they’re dominating that small market.

“I mean, there is no tier one franchise of any description in the NT, the Salties have just stepped into that opportunity and started to own it.

“In the two years that they’ve been playing, they’ve had the highest level of online watching and also the highest attendances of any NBL1 club.”

NT Major Events chairman Michael Bridge, NT Major Events chief executive Suzana Bishop, NBL chief executive David Stevenson, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles and NBL chief operating officer Vince Crivelli have met in Darwin. Picture: NBL.

A major selling point for the NBL higher-ups is the backing of the government and private sectors, as well as the Top End’s proximity to southeast Asia.

“Darwin may not necessarily be the number one at the top of the list,” Flegg said.

“But, the thing that’s going for Darwin is the Northern Territory government is incredibly strong on this.

“There’s been a lot of back and forth between the NBL executives heading up there to talk and also NT government officials flying down to Melbourne as well.

Flegg said the only major caveat for the Salties was a lack of seating in the Darwin Basketball Stadium, known as the Croc Pot.

“The big question is around venue,” he said.

“The Darwin Convention Centre, with some upgrades, would be suitable to get up to 5000 (seats), the minimum number you need to have a NBL franchise.

“Once that piece of the puzzle is solved, you might see a Darwin franchise in the national comp.”

It comes as the Salties have employed full time general manager Matt Nason, which chairman Craig Rowston labelled “strategic” as they eye becoming a NBL and WNBL club.

“The success of the Salties has shown that Darwin can have an NBL and WNBL team and we think it would be incredible for the Territory,” he said.

“To see the national bosses in Darwin was exciting for us because one of the reasons this club was created was to lay the foundation for NBL and WNBL teams.”

But the push for now on the NBL1 side of things is to become better on and off the court, with both sides targeting a top four finish and home finals.

“The Salties men and women had good NBL1 seasons and both played finals in Queensland,” Rowston said.

“But in 2024 we want to go to the next level by finishing top four and hosting home finals for the first time.

“We are very hard to beat at home because of our big and passionate fan base so that would set us up to win those finals.”