National Basketball League (Australia)

The National Basketball League is a basketball competition in Australasia. It's current sponsor is Hungry Jack's, so it is also known as the Hungry Jack's NBL Championship. It is the top-level basketball competition in Australasia. The Singapore Slingers once played in this league, meaning it is the first Australasian sporting league ever to have a team from Asia. The league started in 1979, and its most successful time is during the 1980s and 1990s. However, it started to struggle in the 20th century. At the start of the 2004/05 season the league had a deal with Fox Sports of Australia. On September 18, 2007, the National Basketball League had Hummer as their sponsor. one HD started broadcasting in 2010, the first time a game has been on TV for eight years.

National Basketball League

Founded	1979; 45 years ago (1979)
First season	1979
Country	Australia (9 teams)
Other club(s) from	New Zealand (1 team)
Confederation	FIBA Oceania (Oceania)
Number of teams	10
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	NBL Cup
Current champions	Melbourne United (2020–21, 6th title)
Most championships	Perth Wildcats (10 titles)
Commissioner	Jeremy Loeliger
President	Larry Kestelman
TV partners	Australia: ESPN 10 Peach New Zealand: Sky Sport Online: Kayo Sports NBL TV 10 Play
Website	NBL.com.au

Clubs

Current clubs

Overview of NBL teams

Club	Location	Arena	Capacity	Head Coach	Titles	Founded
Adelaide 36ers	Adelaide	Adelaide Entertainment Centre	11,300	Scott Ninnis	4	1982
Brisbane Bullets	Brisbane	Nissan Arena	5,000	Justin Schueller	3	1979
Cairns Taipans	Cairns	Cairns Convention Centre	5,300	Adam Forde	0	1999
Illawarra Hawks	Wollongong	Wollongong Entertainment Centre	6,000	Justin Tatum	1	1979
Melbourne United	Melbourne	John Cain Arena	10,175	Dean Vickerman	6	1984
New Zealand Breakers	Auckland	Spark Arena	9,740	Mody Maor	4	2003
Perth Wildcats	Perth	Perth Arena	15,500	John Rillie	10	1982
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	Melbourne	John Cain Arena	10,175	Mike Kelly	0	2018
Sydney Kings	Sydney	Sydney SuperDome	18,200	Mahmoud Abdelfattah	5	1988
Tasmania JackJumpers	Hobart	MyState Bank Arena	4,340	Scott Roth	0	2020

Adelaide 36ers

Brisbane Bullets

Cairns Taipans

Illawarra Hawks

Melbourne United

New Zealand Breakers

Perth Wildcats

S.E. Melbourne Phoenix

Sydney Kings

Tasmania JackJumpers

Former clubs

See also: List of defunct National Basketball League (Australia) teams

Overview of defunct NBL teams

Club	Location	Years
Canberra Cannons	Canberra	1979–2003
Devonport Warriors	Devonport	1983–1984
Eastside Spectres	Nunawading	1979–1991
Forestville Eagles[1]	Wayville	1980–1981
Frankston Bears	Frankston	1983–1984
Geelong Supercats	Geelong	1982–1996
Glenelg Tigers	Glenelg	1979
Gold Coast Blaze	Gold Coast	2007–2012
Gold Coast Rollers	Gold Coast	1990–1996
Hobart Devils	Hobart	1983–1996
Hunter Pirates	Newcastle	2003–2006
Launceston Casino City	Launceston	1980–1982
Newcastle Falcons	Newcastle	1979–1999
North Melbourne Giants	North Melbourne	1980–1998
Singapore Slingers	Singapore	2006–2008
South Dragons	Melbourne	2006–2009
S.E. Melbourne Magic	Melbourne	1992–1998
Southern Melbourne Saints	Melbourne	1979–1991
Sydney Supersonics	Sydney	1979–1987
Townsville Crocodiles[2]	Townsville	1993–2016
Victoria Titans	Melbourne	1998–2004
West Adelaide Bearcats	Adelaide	1979–1984
West Sydney Razorbacks	Western Sydney	1998–2009
West Sydney Westars	Bankstown	1979–1987

Sponsors

Naming rights

• 1979 to 1987: none
• 1988 to 1991: Hungry Jack's
• 1992 to 2001–02: Mitsubishi^[3]
• 2002–03 to 2003–04: none
• 2004–05 to 2006–07: Philips^[4]
• 2007–08: Hummer^[5]
• 2008–09 to 2009–10: none
• 2010–11 to 2012–13: iiNet
• 2013–14 to 2016–17: none
• 2017–18 to present: Hungry Jack's^[6]

Broadcasting

Since 1995, the league has had a broadcasting deal for paid programming with Fox Sports of Australia. For free TV, they were first sponsored by ABC from 1979 to 1987. Then they were sponsored by Seven Network for three years, and then from Network Ten from 1992 to 1997. From 1998 to 2001, they were again sponsored by ABC. The league did not have free TV for almost a decade, until in 2010 when Network Ten HD started broadcasting. This contract ended in 2015. The current broadcasting rights are owned by SBS.

NBLxNBA

The NBLxNBA is an annual series involving clubs from the NBL and the National Basketball Association (NBA) of the United States. The series started in 2017 for each league's 2017–18 season, and each season includes between three and seven games. The games have previously always been held in the US and Canada, and are normally held during September and early October.

References

1. "After 40 years, Eagles return to the nest and celebrate a milestone in SA basketball history".
2. "Townsville Crocodiles withdraw from the NBL". Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
3. "NBL lines up a new naming-rights sponsor". The Age. 16 July 2003. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
4. "NBL signs naming rights sponsor". www.abc.net.au. 2004-09-08. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
5. Howell, Stephen (2007-09-19). "New sponsor gives NBL a rev-up". The Age. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
6. Ward, Roy (2017-10-04). "NBL sign new naming-rights sponsor as season tips off". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2020-06-16.