NBL in women’s league buyout

National Basketball League owner Larry Kestelman is looking to finalise a deal to buy the Women’s NBL.

Oustide Marvel Stadium, left to right, Basketball Australia CEO Jerril Rechter, Boomers plays Mitch Creek, Opals player Jenna O'Hea and NBL CEO Jeremy Loeliger. Pic: David Geraghty

Larry Kestelman’s National Basketball League is in due diligence to potentially buy the Women’s NBL, with his privately owned league set to announce it is taking control of all Australian basketball commercial assets.

The NBL today will announce a landmark deal with governing body Basketball Australia to gain control of all national basketball teams, the WNBL and grassroots commercial properties.

The league will then attempt to sell new naming rights sponsorship and broadcast deals for the Australian Boomers men’s national team, which will play the US national team in two blockbuster matches in Melbourne in August, as well as the Opals women’s side, the WNBL and junior competitions. Basketball Australia will share in the revenue earned by the NBL, which Mr Kestelman — on The Australian’s The List of Australia’s Richest 250, with wealth of $605 million — took control of from the governing body in a $7m deal four years ago.

NBL chief executive Jeremy Loeliger told The Australian the commercial tie-up with Basketball Australia should ensure the sport was able to strike more lucrative sponsorship and partnership deals with corporate Australia.

“We’ve previously gone to market separately and probably bid each other down at times. But now we can offer that holistic approach to the commercial assets of the sum of all the parts, from the professional leagues to the grassroots, which is what corporates have been saying would be good.”

He also confirmed the NBL was in “deep due diligence” looking at whether it made financial sense for the NBL to take control of the WNBL at a time when women’s sport is becoming more popular with sponsors and audiences and when other competitions, including the AFL and NRL, have launched women’s competitions. “It will not be a short due diligence (process) but we are in discussions with BA to explore the opportunity.”

One potential stumbling block could be that some WNBL clubs are based in cities without NBL teams.

Mr Loeliger said even if the league and Basketball Australia struck an agreement it was unlikely to be in place for the 2019-20 season, while Basketball Australia CEO Jerril Rechter said that “we will continue to manage the WNBL for now”.

Ms Rechter said the partnership with the NBL was “a win-win for Australian basketball and our partners but also the players, clubs and the fans who will benefit from a stronger and more united sport”.

“Importantly, the sport is now united, and this partnership will enable Basketball Australia and the NBL to capitalise on the opportunities to take the game to the next level.”

Both men’s and women’s national leagues have struggled financially at times in recent years, though the NBL has been rejuvenated since Mr Kestelman’s takeover and attendances and TV ratings grew substantially in the 2018-19 season.

Mr Loeliger said the league’s financial position is improving, though it is still reliant on Mr Kestelman’s funding to an extent. The property magnate and technology entrepreneur has spent at least $35 million overhauling what had been a stagnant league. “I would say that we are sustainable … and that we are still experiencing growth every year,” he said.

The commercial deal with Basketball Australia is the centrepiece of a busy off-season for the NBL, with its broadcast deal with Fox Sports having expired and it still being in the market for a multimillion-dollar rights deal for the Boomers-US matches. “We think the Boomers games will be the biggest events in the country this year,” Mr Loeliger said. “And we also have media rights and betting rights we can sell as well.”

The NBL has already extended a rights deal with Chinese streaming service PPTV and will go into the last season of a US contract with online company FloSports.