Netball's domestic future in question for third year
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What recent events have impacted the ANZ Premiership?
The Mystics producing a composed clinical display to beat the Southern Steel 56-46 capping off an outstanding season.
It feels like a big season was required and I think that everyone involved stepped up the best they could.
The ANZ Premiership, you know, it all... offers the perfect opportunity to showcase the talent in New Zealand. The games are fast, you know, it's super competitive. There's only six teams, so there's really strong rivalries. The fans are so passionate. You know, like I said before, we're selling out stadiums each week. The product and what's happening here is not an issue. It's amazing. So it's what is happening to allow it to get this point, I'm not sure.
For the third year in a row, players and staff have been left in limbo about the future of New Zealand's domestic netball showcase, the ANZ Premiership. And despite players and coaches making public appeals for answers, there's still no word on what will happen.
To be honest, this really should have been settled four months ago, before this competition started. That's the way that it's usually done, that they know that far ahead that there's going to be another season. But this plunging everybody into this doubt is really concerning.
Kia ora, I'm Shalise Tansey and today on The Detail, what needs to be done to secure netball's future in New Zealand and why is the sport in the same position again? Nearly a year ago, my colleague Alexia Russell did a podcast episode about the problems plaguing Netball New Zealand and TVNZ's broadcast deal for the ANZ premiership.
The announcement came after a season of uncertainty and increasing player unease. Great news story for Netball. You know what? Netball is going home. It's going back to where it first started.
But a lot has happened since then. So today I'm talking to Suzanne McFadden, founding editor of Locker Room, which focuses on women's sport. Suzanne starts off by breaking down what's happened recently.
The situation that we found ourselves in a year ago, there has been a massive shake-up at Netball New Zealand recently. their CEO has resigned and been replaced by an interim CEO the majority of the board decided not to stand again including the chairman and now the sport faces yet another crossroads really about whether they can continue to have a premier domestic competition and I'm just, it's mind-boggling that in 12 months how much damage Nepal New Zealand has done to its reputation and to the sport's reputation.
This is now the third year in a row that the premiership is in this position where players and coaching staff and all the teams are unsure whether they can actually continue the game on into the next year. Why do we keep coming back to these conversations time and time again?
It definitely comes down to money. And without a broadcast deal, there is no money for the sport. And so a competition like this it's just hanging on by its fingernails. It really comes down to corporate sponsorship of netball in New Zealand. And it's something that we're seeing through women's sport in general, where we've gone back to the days where corporates are choosing male sports over female sports. We thought we were kind of in this glamorous time for women's sport. I guess here in New Zealand, we had the three Women's World Cups in 2022 and 2023. Things were looking so rosy for women's sport. But really, it's still struggling to attract the sponsor's dollar. And that's really costing the sport.
And it was fascinating to see the former chair of Netball New Zealand, Alison Ferguson, comment on Facebook that the elephant in the room is the failure of corporate New Zealand to value and support women's sport. We see C-suite buying tables and corporate boxes at rugby, but not interested in backing women's sport.
Why are players and staff left in limbo about the future of netball?
Women's sport has proven, especially in this country, how entertaining it is and the following that it has grown in the last five years has been phenomenal. So why is there still that reluctance to put money behind it? That I think is, as Alison says, the elephant in the room.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What recent events have impacted the ANZ Premiership?
0:03–4:36
2
Why are players and staff left in limbo about the future of netball?
4:36–12:40
3
How has corporate sponsorship affected netball in New Zealand?
12:40–21:09
4
What challenges does Netball New Zealand face moving forward?
21:09–22:38