NBL and Basketball Australia form taskforce to tackle COVID-19 shutdown

The NBL and Basketball Australia have formed a taskforce to plot a path for the sport through the COVID-19 shutdown.

NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman. Picture: AAP

The NBL and Basketball Australia have formed a taskforce to plot a path for the sport through the COVID-19 shutdown.

Billionaire Ruffy Geminder, Wesfarmers board member and prominent company director Diane Smith-Gander, and private equity executive Rickard Gardell will join the taskforce with NBL owner Larry Kestelman and BA officials.

The taskforce, to be led by Kestelman and BA chairman Ned Coten, could ask for government assistance as all levels of basketball grapple with being unable to play. Kestelman’s NBL could face financial issues if the league is unable to open its stadiums to spectators should the 2020-21 season proceed as scheduled with a start in October. While the NBL is broadcast on SBS Viceland and ESPN, the deal is not a lucrative one, given there is no upfront rights fee. Instead, the league shares advertising revenue, meaning club owners rely on gate takings for much of their ­income.

“The NBL attracted almost one million people last season and is now widely considered the second-best domestic basketball league in the world after the NBA. We are an entertainment product built for live attendances,” Kestelman said. “Unlike other codes, basketball cannot fall back on revenue from television if restrictions are still in place to crowds and would need assistance. We are not seeking special priority but rather simply asking not to be forgotten to ensure we can continue to deliver the sport that we and so many Australians love.”

NBL club owners lost $15-20m between them last season, which was considered the most successful in the four-decade history of the league before the remainder of the finals series were cancelled in mid-March and Perth Wildcats declared champions.

The taskforce will consult with all areas of the sport to develop the recovery program for Australian basketball, from the NBL and WNBL, the winter NBL1 league, state associations to grassroots clubs and players. Geminder is a former owner of defunct NBL club South Dragons, while Gardell once held a stake in the Sydney Kings. Smith-Gander is a former basketball player and one-time chair of BA. Others on the taskforce, which will have its second meeting next week, include BA chief executive Jerril Rechter.

Coten said the group was mindful of the wider impact of the coronavirus shutdown across society “Basketball is not immune to the impact of the COVID-19 and, like the rest of the community, we need to do everything we can to get through these challenging times but also work together to restart the sport when the time is right. Basketball is one of Australia’s highest participation sports with over 1.5 million active participants. It is the number one family sport, is incredibly inclusive and diverse and is a source of enjoyment across all levels of the community. Importantly, 38 per cent of our participants are female and we have two of the leading men’s and women’s leagues in the world in the NBL and WNBL. The game employs tens of thousands of people across the country and generates significant economic impact as well as a range of health and social benefits for the wider community across both genders and all ages that will be needed more than ever as we recover.”