A proposed 11,000-seat entertainment centre is nearing approval in Newcastle, and with it, a chance of bringing more international netball to the region and the return of an NBL team.
The Newcastle Herald reported on Saturday that Venues NSW had completed a business case for the state government recommending a replacement venue for the ageing Newcastle Entertainment Centre. Venues NSW says a new $350 million indoor stadium should be built beside McDonald Jones Stadium as the first stage of the 63-hectare Hunter Park sport, entertainment and residential redevelopment at Broadmeadow.
Upon hearing the news, NBL commissioner Jeremy Loeliger says the league is interested in hearing more about the proposed 11,000-seat Newcastle Entertainment Centre and looking at ways to bring an NBL team back to the area.
“The NBL are always open to discussions with all governments around bringing games to regions who have NBL-standard venues” said Loeliger.
Larry Kestelman, who completed a stadium and property deal with the Tasmanian government two years ago to set up the Tasmanian JackJumpers franchise, has said the league could expand in coming years and completing a similar agreement between the NBL and local government could see that become a reality.
“The proposition of a new 11,000-seat stadium in Newcastle is something we would be interested in hearing more about,” he said.
“We want to keep growing the NBL and the game of basketball, and bringing the sport to new regions is paramount in achieving that goal.” Said Loeliger.
Newcastle has a strong NBL history, with the Newcastle Falcons competing in the league from 1979 to 1999 and the Hunter Pirates from 2003 to 2006.
This opportunity presents the exact kind of ‘basketball for real estate’ opportunity we at Aussie Hoopla have outlined numerous times, which seems to be the only way regional teams will be able to enter the NBL and remain sustainable. So far, Newcastle is ticking all the boxes for the blueprint.
The business case explores three options for a new stadium and recommends the most ambitious plan, an 11,945-seat venue with 34 corporate suites and conference and exhibition spaces. The business case suggests national league sporting teams would be the key tenants of the stadium, and concerts, conferences and exhibitions would be held as a way to generate supplementing income.
Among the key ‘selling points’ a new indoor stadium would bring to Newcastle is avoiding the $30 million on maintenance over the next 10 years on the existing entertainment centre. The existing entertainment centre (former home of the Newcastle Falcons) is also estimated to have missed out on $20.3 million in potential “events” revenue last year due to poor facilities.
Former Newcastle Basketball coaching director Tim Mallon said a stadium of the scale proposed would be ideal for a team in the NBL with owner Larry Kestelman heavily focused on expansion right now. Mr Kestelman has named Canberra, Gold Coast, Darwin, East Sydney and Perth as potential expansion clubs. Mallon believes building a large new stadium would demonstrate Newcastle was “serious” about reviving its NBL team.
“It would go a long way towards showing the powers that be there is an appetite for it,” he said. “It would also show that a place like Newcastle and the Hunter deserves to have teams in the national competition.
“We already have them in football and rugby league, and basketball is a legit national league sport.
“If Newcastle build a venue like that, then I think Kestelman would be saying, ‘OK, they’re fair dinkum.’ “I think that would be a prerequisite for something happening. He wants them to play out of arenas.” said Mallon.
Newcastle Basketball, who is set to join the WNBL with plans to base a team at a stadium in Glendale agreed a new entertainment centre would improve the chances of Newcastle hosting an NBL team.
“An entertainment centre improves the prospects of a team, but there’s many other things that have to fall in line to make sure it makes business sense,” he said. “They’ve shown they [the NBL] will fund [clubs] internally.” said NSW basketball general manager Matt Neason.
The Herald reported that the key to developing the entertainment centre and the broader precinct is unlocking $50 million from the Restart NSW fund to move the Newcastle harness racing track to Cessnock, Branxton or elsewhere in the Hunter Valley.
A new indoor stadium could also house a Super Netball national league team, though Hunter Netball is working on an alternative plan for a 4500-seat stadium and training venue at The Forum at the University of Newcastle. Hunter Netball chair Jodi Cassar said an 11,000-seat stadium would help attract international netball more regularly to the region and “absolutely” could host a Super Netball team.
“For the Hunter to be a viable option to be included in Super Netball into the future, we first need to secure the netball infrastructure in the Hunter region that would allow us not only to be part of the league but to bring elite netball games to the Hunter on a regular basis,” she said.
“This would take significant financial backing from the NSW government, corporate partners and the broader netball community but could be a real game-changer for Hunter Netball.”
The Australian Diamonds’ international against England at Newcastle Entertainment Centre on October 26 sold out 4,100 tickets. Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said after the game that organisers could have sold four to five times that number if the venue was larger.
A master plan for Hunter Park also includes a swim centre, hotels, eat street and residential and mixed-use buildings with 2700 dwellings for up to 6400 residents.