NEWCASTLE has emerged as a likely venue for the Illawarra Hawks to take games next season, NBL boss Larry Kestelman said on Friday.
In an interview with Melbourne radio station SEN, Kestelman said negotiations ongoing over a new Hawks' ownership model, led by a bid including potential No.1 NBA draft pick LaMelo Ball and Illawarra businessman Tory Lavalle.
Kestelman also confirmed the NBL want to take games to Canberra whenever the 2020-21 season begins at the end of the COVID-19 crisis.
However, he did reveal Newcastle were pushing to host Hawks games, emerging as a likely option instead of Darwin or Tasmania.
"There's a lot of interest out of Newcastle and I think sometimes we forget that all of regional NSW is almost as big as Melbourne," he said.
NBL basketball has not been played in Newcastle for more than a decade.
The Hawks were scheduled to play Sydney Kings in a pre-season trial match at Newcastle Entertainment Centre 18 months ago but it was embarrassingly abandoned during the warm-up because the court was too slippery.
Ball played 12 games for the Hawks, who crashed to a 5-23 record to finish last on the NBL ladder, before leaving in January after sustaining a foot injury.
Earlier this month, the Illawarra Mercury exclusively revealed Ball and manager Jermaine Jackson were in advanced talks with the NBL to take over the club, which has been delayed as the club was plunged into voluntary administration again, when Simon Stratford handed back the licence. It is believed the Hawks could take as many as four games on the road next season.
AAP reports: A new taskforce, led by Kestelman and Basketball Australia chief executive Ned Coten will investigate business and government financial support to manage the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the NBL and grassroots basketball.
The NBL's reliance on sponsorship and gate takings in the absence of a rich broadcast deal has left it exposed to the virus, with Sydney Kings owner Paul Smith telling AAP last week the competition may not be possible if crowds aren't allowed to watch next season.
Already player salaries have been cut by up to 50 per cent and there are concerns imports, which have been reduced from three to two per team, will be hesitant to feature even if they are allowed to enter the country.
The WNBL is in the midst of re-imagining its season, while the second-tier NBL1, 3x3 and club competitions have all been shut down.
The taskforce could join the queue in asking for government assistance at all levels, but Kestelman isn't seaking special treatment.
"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," he said. "We are an entertainment product built for live attendances.
"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."
Coten said the priority was "quite rightly with the millions of Australians doing it tough" but that basketball wasn't immune.
"Basketball is one of Australia's highest participation sports with over 1.5 million active participants," he said. "The game employs tens of thousands of people."
