Kestelman Eyes "Aggressive Expansion"

The NBL will continue to conduct its due diligence on potential expansion destinations, with owner Larry Kestelman foreseeing “aggressive” expansion of the competition occurring over the next half-decade.

Following the roaring success of the Tasmania JackJumpers – who have made the final four in each of their two seasons in the NBL and consistently sell out their home stadium of MyState Bank Arena – cities all around Australia are fighting to be among the next sides added into the competition.

“We can only have so many [teams] so it’s just assessing where and when, but there will definitely be growth in the NBL from a club level,” Kestelman said at the announcement of the NBL’s new partnership with Mitsubishi.

“We’re in a privileged position where we have every state wanting another team, we have new opportunities from so many major cities so it’s for us to currently assess where we can open a club next.

“We want an aggressive expansion, and I can see us being 13 to 15 clubs over the next five years.”

Kestelman, who owns the JackJumpers, also provided an update on the upcoming sale of the NBL’s newest side, and has continued to stand by his desire to sell the majority of the team to a Tasmanian-based owner.

“We’ve started the process, the IM (Information Memorandum) and all the information is done. We’ve put it out to Tasmanians first, so there’s quite a lot of interest out of Tasmania.

“We hope over the next six months to announce new ownership.

“They’re a profitable club, which in sport is unusual, and very financially sustainable.

“We wanted to make sure the club was set up the right way but it’s the right time to make the transition.

“It’s a great success story.”

Tasmania’s first game of the upcoming NBL24 season will come on Friday, September 29 against the Perth Wildcats who were, incidentally, the most recent NBL side to change ownership hands back in 2021.