WNBL add Tasmanian club, push for 10-team comp
Murray Wenzel |
The reformed WNBL will add two new teams, including a Tasmanian franchise, to form a 10-club competition next year.
The Tasmania JackJumpers were awarded the license on Tuesday, fresh off the NBL club’s 2021 arrival, 2024 title and last season’s sold-out home season.
But the women’s outfit, set to be part of a 10-team 2026/27 campaign, will carry a different name and logo which is yet to be finalised.
It’ll be the first time the league has featured a Tasmanian-based team since 1996, when the Hobart Islanders’ 10-year stint ended.
“This is an incredibly proud day for this club and for the state of Tasmania,” JackJumpers boss Christine Finnegan said.
“We are so proud to expand the club to now have an inspirational and aspirational pathway for both girls and boys.
“We’ve seen what the JackJumpers have done for the community and how the community have embraced the team.
“Now we’ll have a women’s team that brings that same spirit, pride and passion to the women’s game at the highest national level.”
Australia’s longest-running elite domestic women’s sports competition has been an eight-team league since 2016.
That looked under threat when some teams baulked at conditions earlier this year, as Basketball Australia prepared to relinquish majority ownership to the NBL and Wollemi Capital Group Syndicate.
Five-time champions Adelaide have since struck a deal with the South Australian government to stay alive and the league has launched its search for a 10th club to join newcomers Tasmania.
In April the league announced a new, four-year deal that will more than double the WNBL’s minimum wage as part of a new collective bargaining agreement that creates pay parity with the NBL.
The Opals have won three silver and three Olympic bronze medals while Australians are prominent in the surging WNBA.
“With the new energy, investment, and passion in the WNBL, it is the right time for Tasmania to return to the league,” WNBL boss Jennie Sager said.
“We thank the JackJumpers for believing in our vision and backing the future of women’s basketball.
“With one-in-five girls playing basketball in this country, this new team helps increase opportunities and inspire a new generation of girls to dream big.”
AAP
