NBL boss not daunted as the AFL make a move into Tasmania JackJumpers territory

The AFL will launch a new team in Tasmania, but the NBL isn’t worried about the move impacting the JackJumpers, with boss Larry Kestelman saying the two codes compliment each other.

Owner of the NBL Larry Kestelman talks with board members of the Tasmania JackJumpers during their first meeting at their headquarters on Macquarie Street. Picture: Zak Simmonds

The AFL’s move to Tasmania doesn’t daunt NBL owner Larry Kestelman with basketball’s boss declaring, the JackJumpers have another five years to cement hoops’ standing in the Apple Isle.

Kestelman also concedes he can’t “reconcile” with the whopping $750 million to build a new stadium in Hobart to house Tassie’s new AFL team.

It comes as the AFL unveiled Tasmania as the league’s 19th licence.

Australian rules is a national juggernaut, but Kestelman believes basketball’s JackJumpers can capitalise on its growth in Tasmania with the AFL’s franchise not slated to join the competition until 2028.

NBL and JackJumpers owner Larry Kestelman (centre), coach Scott Roth and team member Will Magnay at MyState Bank Arena. Picture: Chris Kidd

“We’ve got another five years of no AFL there, so we will certainly make the most of it while that is the case,” Kestelman said about the JackJumpers, who were founded in 2020 and first played in the 2021-22 season.

“But our position against the AFL has always been very clear. We don’t see the AFL as a competitor at all.

“They play in the winter, and we play in the summer. It is a very complimentary relationship, and we don’t have any issues with it.

“The people of Tasmania love their sport and will just transition from one to the other.

“So, we’re good.”

Kestelman, though, couldn’t help but take a cheeky dig at the AFL’s proposed $750 million for a new 23,000 seat stadium in Hobart.

The Albanese Government has also committed $240 million towards the Macquarie Point project.

In comparison, the JackJumpers’ home venue MyState Bank Arena cost $40 million.

This prompted Kestelman to say: “I can’t say I can reconcile the cost of the stadium, but that is a different conversation, and they have a team.”

Kestelman, meanwhile, revealed there is US interest in the sale of the JackJumpers.

The NBL boss recently returned from a business trip in America that included 34 meetings in five days.

A Tassie team, for Tassie people 🐜

Incoming NBL CEO Dave Stevenson has an update on the potential sale of the @JackJumpers 🗣

Catch the full interview here: https://t.co/WmLrw88hWQpic.twitter.com/0O0wp50y9e

— NBL (@NBL) May 16, 2023

Kestelman wants to give local businesses in Tasmania the first opportunity to bid for the JackJumpers, but he also stressed American options will be seriously considered.

“We had a lot of conversations (during our American trip) around the sale of the JackJumpers,” he said about the JackJumpers – the first NBL team to be sold since the Perth Wildcats were bought by Sports Entertainment Group (SEG) in 2021 for a reported AUS$8.5 million.

“That is something that has begun in earnest.

“We first went to the Tassie market, and we want to see if we can attract the right interest out of Tasmania and Australia and then we will engage with the overseas parties.

“But there is a huge amount of interest in investing in NBL clubs and the growth.”