Larry Kestelman Announces Pre-Season Tournament In Tasmania To Test Viability For A 10th NBL Franchise

The National Basketball League (NBL) has partnered with the Tasmanian Government to host a four-day pre-season tournament that could be the first step towards Tasmania claiming the 10th franchise of the NBL.

The $300,000 investment from the government has allowed Hungry Jack’s NBL Owner and Executive Chairman, Larry Kestelman, to spread the games across Tasmania, giving fans an opportunity to meet players as part of a range of community activities around the state.

The move is apart of Kestleman’s plans to test out interest of the state returning to the NBL competition for the first time since the licence of the now-defunct Hobart Tassie Devils was revoked in 1996 over financial issues.

“We encourage every Tasmanian to register their support there because we need as much support to make it happen,” Kestelman said about the launch of the new www.nbltas.com.au website.

“Tasmania is a great sporting state and we want basketball to be its number one sport, that’s why we’ve expressed a strong interest in establishing a 10^th NBL team in Tasmania that will represent the whole state and we think the NBL Blitz is a great opportunity to showcase the league.

Justin Hickey, the owner of the Southern Huskies, had pushed for the Tasmanian based basketball team to enter the NBL sooner rather than later, but after a South East Melbourne Phoenix bid was preferred, the Huskies signed a five-year deal to join the New Zealand league until further NBL expansion.