NBL boss Larry Kestelman reveals league’s push to conquer American market

The NBL’s bold ambition to push into the American market has been revealed. Find out how league boss Larry Kestelman hopes it will work.

The NBL has launched an “aggressive assault” on the American market, with media heavyweights NBC, CBS and Universal in the mix to broadcast games and content.

Boss Larry Kestelman wants to use the league’s respected Next Stars program as a launch pad to entice the US audience to watch Australian basketball.

Kestelman recently returned from a business trip in America that included 34 meetings in five days.

The whirlwind tour resulted in serious interest from multiple media outlets to broadcast NBL games and content.

Kestelman is confident the league can find a genuine partnership to maximise the NBL’s reach into the basketball mad US population.

“The US is tough with the time zones, but I was pleasantly surprised that there is a lot of interest for our product,” Kestelman said.

“We’d come on from anywhere between 10pm and 3am, so we want to find ways to expose what we do.

Larry Kestelmann has revealed the NBL’s plans to push into the American market.

“We caught up with heads of studios from NBC, CBS, Universal, ESPN and NBA TV.

“We want to have all sorts of content – long form in the full games being broadcast, short form content.

“There is definite interest – we just need to access who the best partner is, but you’ll see us do more and more in the US market.

“We will be absolutely doing an assault on the US market as to how we expose what we do as the second-best league in the world.”

Kestelman confirmed the NBL has employed a three-pronged strategy to promote the league on the international stage.

The first stage is here in Australia, the second via Asia and then the American market.

The NBL see the league’s Next Stars program, which has paved the way for LaMelo Ball and Josh Giddey to make the NBA, as the perfect leverage for greater US interest.

“Everyone is talking about the program,” Kestelman said.

“It has been so successful, and we want to ramp that up even more.

“You’ll see us be even more aggressive in that American space.

“We’re in our Australian market here and we’ve got a plan, we’re executing it and it’s going extremely well.

“But we don’t spend a lot of time listening to people on the outside, so it was great to spend a little bit of time chatting to people who look at us from the outside.

Sydney Kings celebrate this year’s NBL triumph.

“I have to say that the comments were very flattering, and it is very humbling to hear how people from overseas perceive us.

“The US is absolutely watching us and all we want to do is get more exposure there.”

Kestelman’s US trip has left him feeling “heartened and enthused” about the genuine respect for the NBL throughout America.

He said American businesses know an NBL franchise is worth “one per cent” of an NBA team, but this financial gap isn’t stopping people from wanting to put their money into a booming Australian domestic league.

“They want to invest because they can see our growth and our aspiration,” he said.

“They’ve seen the model with the JackJumpers work and we’ll be rolling out more clubs, so there is a huge amount of interest in America.

“The amount of money pouring into sport is enormous.

“It is one of the things that people absolutely love to watch and they’ll turn out and switch on the television.

“There is nothing like live sport and there are lots of companies wanting to invest into the business of basketball and sport.

“When they see the model that we have everyone loves the private ownership model because they realise that it is a way to make decisions quickly.”

BOOMERS LEGEND CLOSE TO NBL RETURN

Michael Randall, Exclusive

Boomers legend Matthew Dellavedova is closing in on a return to Melbourne United.

It’s understood the NBA champion has been in discussions with United about suiting up in NBL24 and a deal could be sealed in the coming days.

Dellavedova, 32, spent NBL22 with United, averaging 10.3 points and 4.9 assists in making the All-NBL Second Team. He franked that form by securing an NBA contract with Sacramento, where he was a cult hit with the Kings faithful as they broke a 16-year playoff drought.

Delly, who won an NBA title in Cleveland alongside LeBron James in 2016, played sparingly but was a popular veteran presence in Sacramento.

He is recovering from surgery to fix the right index finger he fractured in late March, which forced him to miss the Kings’ first-round playoff series against Golden State.

Matthew Dellavedova in action for the Boomers against China.

Matthew Dellavedova defends during his previous stint with Melbourne United.

A tweet earlier in the week signalled the Maryborough-born point guard would be moving on from the Kings.

“Thank you Sacramento fans, the @sacramentokings, the boys, and my family for such a fun season #lightthebeam,” he tweeted.

Dellavedova’s addition would give United one of the most-talented local cores ever to take the floor in the NBL, with former teammate Jo Lual-Acuil also back and young star Luke Travers crossing from Perth to join the likes of veteran sharpshooter Chris Goulding and defensive dynamo Shea Ili.

Thank you Sacramento fans, the @sacramentokings, the boys, and my family for such a fun season #lightthebeam🔦🟣 pic.twitter.com/xboFYpQY67

— Matthew Dellavedova (@matthewdelly) May 5, 2023

Should the deal eventuate, it would leave United with two remaining roster spots. It’s possible, given Dellavedova was the NBL’s highest paid player in his lone season at United and earned in excess of US$2.6 million in Sacramento, he could choose to sign a cap-friendly deal that would allow United to secure another marquee local or a high-level import.

One of the leaders of the Boomers’ much-vaunted culture, Dellavedova was part of the history-making bronze medal-winning Tokyo Olympic team and has been selected among 18 Aussies to compete for a spot in August’s World Cup team.

Originally published as NBL boss Larry Kestelman reveals league’s push to conquer American market