‘All available options’: Illawarra Hawks owner committed to long, drawn out, civil war with NBL

We should only be talking about the Hawks’ epic championship series win, but instead the Illawarra ownership has doubled down on its league takeover push, and are set for a long, drawn out battle.

The civil war between newly-crowned NBL champion Illawarra and league owner Larry Kestelman appears set for a long, drawn out conclusion, Hawks ownership vowing to explore “all available options” to agitate change.

Kestelman was quick to shut down any notion the NBL was for sale in the wake of last Thursday’s shock takeover bid, a leaked email revealing the Hawks billionaire oil scion owner Jared Novelly’s proposal to oust him and return ownership of the league to clubs.

Several owners told Code Sports they were shocked by the league-destabilising move, which came just three days before the title decider, it’s understood none supported the takeover bid.

But Terry Egger, vice-chairman of Crest Sports — the US-based limited liability company which owns the Hawks — believed an appetite for reform among some NBL club owners remained.

Egger acknowledged all owners fully understood terms when they purchased their license agreements from the league and bought into the NBL “wide-eyed”, but, given its growth over the past decade under Kestelman and, after months of discussions, the push was now on for change to its governance, structure, transparency and revenue share.

Larry Kestelman, Jared Novelly are set for a long battle.

“You can’t question what you signed on for but what you can question is, ‘is there a way, now, down the path, you can improve that so there’s more of a win-win financially for all?’,” Egger said.

“Secondly, you can ask for full transparency to understand how those revenue shares are allocated and there have been inquiries about transparency of all the financials.

“Those are fundamental things we think are legitimate business questions that we continue to ask.”

A league spokesperson confirmed the NBL provides all teams its audited annual financial reports, conducted by PwC, and also commissioned KPMG to look back on the past three years of financials, its findings shared with all clubs.

In the email, Novelly, whose Hawks had the lowest revenue and lost more money than any other NBL club last season, told club owners he was planning to “file multiple actions” against NBLCO. Egger confirmed all options remained on the table.

“There is the continued pursuit of what rights you have to try to impact change you believe would make the independent owners’ business models more sustainable,” Egger said.

“You continue to look at all the avenues you have available to you if you believe that some change would make an improvement and you pursue those.”

Illawarra Hawks majority owner's email to NBL clubs.

It’s a move former Kings owner Dorry Kordahi believes would be a destined to fail if the club owners took full control of the league like in past years.

“Back in 2009, the league was weak — there was no clear direction, and team owners were largely looking after their own interests,” Kordahi said.

“The competition lacked unity, and the overall structure was in disarray. At the time, I was vocal about the need for change, and it was clear the NBL couldn’t survive without a major reset. Fast forward to today, and it’s incredible to see how far the league has come under Larry Kestelman’s leadership. There’s now a clear vision, strong central governance, and a unified approach that’s lifted the professionalism and profile of the sport in Australia. The NBL is thriving, and it’s a credit to the direction and discipline that’s been brought to the game.”

Egger took exception to the takeover — which proposed Kestelman stepped aside for $9 million plus $35 million from the recent sale of Tasmania JackJumpers — being branded “hostile”.

“The strongest exception would be the word hostile takeover — there’s a big difference between hostile take over and maybe an unsolicited offer, as a concept,” he said, revealing the offer was never officially tabled to Kestelman or the NBL.

Illawarra Hawks’ championship has been clouded by their owners boilover attempt. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

“All this was is there’d been many months of conversations with different independent owners, as you might expect in a free market, as to, ‘here’s our current status, what would make the structure and things better?’ Those brain storms led to this (takeover) as one of the concepts.”

He paid tribute to Kestelman, who saved the NBL when it was almost dead and has, over the past 10 years, steadily helped turn it into a burgeoning powerhouse in the Australian sporting landscape.

“I don’t think there’s a single person who doesn’t give full credit to Larry and the risk that he took, the investments that he’s made, the progress that has been made by the league over the years,” Egger said.

“It’s more so, ‘Ok, 10 or so years in, what’s the next step? What could a brighter future look like where the independent owners have more skin in the game?’ That’s a very different structure than what we have.

“At least for the Hawks, we continue to want to try to pursue what’s best for a sustainable future for professional basketball in Australia, and people can disagree on that point.”

Originally published as ‘All available options’: Illawarra Hawks owner committed to long, drawn out, civil war with NBL