Isaac
Years ago

Blackwells to sell majority stake in Breakers

The owners of the SKYCITY Breakers Paul and Liz Blackwell will relinquish their controlling stake in one of New Zealand's most successful and high-profile sporting brands, in order to bring new investors into the club as the National Basketball League heads into an exciting new growth phase.

The club is currently enjoying the high of a record start to any season, sitting on top of the Hungry Jack’s NBL ladder, with an 8-win, 1-loss record - those 8 successive victories including Sunday night’s win over nearest rivals Perth Wildcats in Perth.

Paul and Liz Blackwell, who’ve owned the club since 2005, have decided the time is right for new investors to lead the club into what promises to be an exciting stage of both the club’s and the NBL’s development, with new commercial opportunities beckoning as the league goes from strength to strength.

Paul Blackwell spoke with typical honesty about the decision that this season will be their last at the helm, one based on what is best for the club as the Hungry Jack’s NBL continues to evolve and grow, as evidenced by the recent games played between Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney against NBA clubs in America, and a strong increase in attendance and television audiences through the opening weeks of the season.

"We have thought about this long and hard and spoken with those close to us and the club, and we believe the timing is perfect for us to make this decision and more importantly, for a new majority owner to lead the club into what promises to be an exciting new phase as the NBL continues to grow and develop," said Blackwell.

SKYCITY Breakers in the Market for New Investors

Buy low, sell high.

Credit to them for backing a successful club with a great community program. The transition to a club comprised of largely NZ players has been admirable.

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Haz
Years ago

Are they still at a high point now though? They're on top of the ladder, but their crowds at Spark Arena havent been more than 5000 this season. I know they are still highly respected and have great community engagement, but they seem to be regressing a bit from my observations.

I could be totally wrong though as I dont know the NZ sports scene very well. They carried the league along with Perth when the comp was struggling, but now the league is much stronger, the Breakers look like they are just another team, rather than the dominant force on and off the court they were a few seasons ago.

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AngusH
Years ago

This is far from a scientific observation, but I deal with a ton of Kiwis in my job from all over north and south islands, and during that championship stretch from 2011-2015 the Breakers were something that got brought up a lot in casual conversation (about 500% more than the local Kings team or any other Aussie NBL teams are).

That's definitely dropped off for me lately, and a few times I've mentioned the Breakers and how well they're doing the past week or so have been met with responses along the lines of "Oh, they are winning are they?". Like I said, not scientific, but it's something I've noticed. One colleague of mine was a huge Cedrick Jackson fan and that's why she stopped paying close attention, but I haven't asked the question to any others.

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Anonymous
Years ago

You can't expect the Kiwis to support the Breakers when they are still bashing on about Chappell's underarm bowl.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Luv the anonymous idiots talking about shit that my mum mentioned. Chappell. So last century by about 50 years.

Back on topic.
The NBL is at a tipping point right now.
The LVK people are talking about Freo and Melb and Afl now. Is LK living in a fantasy world?
Perhaps they should tell the other groups that are already having conversations about entry soon about this crap.
Clearly 2 agendas going on in LK's head. Perhaps more who knows.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Sell to a chump?

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Isaac
Years ago

Haz, combination of club and league. League at a high point, club top of the ladder. Good young prospects in NZ basketball. Not a silly time to sell up.

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Dome Rat
Years ago

Wouldn't be a silly move for LK to exit to the AFL in totality and cash out his 7mm

AFL then gets TV year round and can build a secondary brand with international and Olympic connections that they will never have.

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Anonymous
Years ago

AFL would only buy NBL to kill it off, not help it.

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Manu Fieldel
Years ago

I actually doubt That, because the AFL would like to make money 12 months of the year, so summer income would be attractive to them surely

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KingPodge
Years ago

hang on, the AFL would buy the NBL, say for a few million - just to throw that few million in the bin? A few million on a sport that doesn't impact them financially, physically or emotionally?

I've been intoxicated plenty, i'm pretty drunk right now, but i've never been intoxicated enough for that logic to make sense.

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Anonymous
Years ago

The AFL aren't interested. It's more LK spin because China option has fizzled out.

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Haz
Years ago

The Breakers right now reminds me of the Wldcats in the late 90s. They were coming towards the end of their great years, players were ageing and crowds were dropping.

Yet the Wildcats (like the Breakers) were still finding ways to win. Wildcats even snagged a lucky championship in 2000 when they were supposed to be rebuilding, not unlike the Breakers now by being on top of the league due to a number of close wins. Im sure its surprised many people.

The main difference being that the league is heading upwards now, whereas the late 90s early 2000s the league was going down.

Good time to sell, maybe. I will be following closely to see what kind of market the Breakers find themselves in at this point.

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UseTaHoop
Years ago

Not sure it's such a good time to sell.

If NBL rises as a commodity, it could be a good time to buy in.

Is the NBL a "bear" or a “bull”?

Only time will tell.

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Hoops

Blackwells to sell majority stake in Breakers

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