As a former NBA Champion, Shawn Marion knows what it takes to win. That’s probably why when Matt Walsh decided to put together a group of investors with the goal of buying the New Zealand Breakers of the NBL, Marion was involved in the process. Just a couple of days ago, in fact, the top division of Australian basketball announced that the New Zealand Breakers had new ownership in place, led by former NBA player Matt Walsh and Romie Chaudari, a part-owner of English Premier League team Swansea City. Shawn Marion will be one of the part-owners with the host of one of the most popular sports podcasts in Pardon My Take, Dan Katz, and Henry Lockwood. Marion immediately excluded the possibility of him playing but he added that he was thrilled by this new opportunity and that he’ll probably help the players in some capacity. In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, Marion said:
“I’d love to give advice to anyone who wants it”
This new group of investors, that will also include the former majority owners of the team in the Blackwell family, is expected to give a major popularity boost to the team, which has seen a decline in the attendance this season. The Blackwell family has brought four NBL titles to the Breakers fans, so Walsh and his fellow investors will have a tough time in matching those successes on the court. But with the Blackwell’s doing most of their job behind the scenes, the fans will definitely see a different kind of style in running the team in the next few years:
“Our goal is to bring exciting and winning basketball for our fans, to give back to the community, and make the Breakers a sporting ambassador for New Zealand,” Matt Walsh said.
With the NBA connections brought from both Walsh and Marion, the Breakers will likely be able to partner with some new global sponsors. Receiving that kind of commercial know-how would be crucial in increasing not only the popularity of the team but also in expanding the budget and the financial boundaries of the New Zealand side.
While the specific structure of the board is still not entirely clear, Matt Walsh is expected to be the main man in the building, in charge of running the basketball operations. The former player, in fact, has already decided to move from the USA to Auckland to control the situation directly. Larry Kestelman, the owner and chairman of NBL, expressed a lot of enthusiasm for the arrival of such an important group in the league:
“This is a strong endorsement of NBL. The caliber and experience of the new cohort of owners that the Breakers have been able to attract speaks volumes about the direction of both the Club and the NBL and their standing in world basketball,”
Considering how much of a change this could be for the NBL, we tried to get the feeling of the people who cover the league daily. I reached out to Tom Read, a writer and podcaster for ‘Believe The Hype Media’, who shared his thoughts about this new ownership in place:
“I think it’s a great thing for the league having some high profile investors in Shawn Marion and Matt Walsh,” Tom told Def Pen Hoops. “The former majority owners of the team, Paul and Liz Blackwell, will continue to have a role in the organization and that’s a great sign of continuity. They are the most successful owners in NBL history with success on the court and growth of the club off it. With them still being involved, I think the transition for the owners will be much easier to handle”.
But there are also concerns about some of the investors involved in the new ownership. As we mentioned before, Dan Katz, Henry Lockwood, and PFT Commenter of Pardon My Take are all part of the new ownership group. Their podcast, controlled by Barstool Sports, is incredibly popular and is something that will definitely help in expanding the brand of the Breakers. Barstool, a men’s lifestyle organization, has created a lot of controversy in the United States. Walsh has appeared as a guest on several Barstool programs and while none of the ownership group has been involved in any specific controversy, there’s the fear that the ‘macho mentality’ of the Barstool network may influence the family-oriented atmosphere of the organization:
“Me and a number of supporters of the league are slightly concerned about the Barstool investors. The ‘Bro Culture’ is something that NBL doesn’t want to attract. Hopefully, they’ll be very silent investors,” Tom Read told Def Pen Hoops.
Paul Blackwell, the former majority owner who’ll stay as a director of the team, said that the new ownership is willing to maintain the club family’s values:
“Matt and I shared a familiar family focus and belief in foundations and principles.”
After retiring from basketball at the end of 2014-15 season, Shawn Marion is now ready for this new challenge as a part-owner of the Breakers. He’ll try to recruit some NBA talent to a league that has already seen some fringe NBA talents flourishing, such as Bryce Cotton and Casper Ware to mention a few. The NBL is on the rise over the last few years. The attendance in the majority of the arenas is increasing, the broadcast deals are better than they were a few years ago and more corporate sponsorships are on the way, especially after the arrival of this new ownership group. The league is also becoming more attractive to the American players, just last season we saw a prospect like Terrance Ferguson, then drafted in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder, bringing his talents to the Australian league after his decision of skipping college basketball. Many G League alums now see the NBL as a very good landing spot to keep improving while making a good amount of money.
With a future Hall of Famer like Marion now in the picture, we can only expect this trend to continue.
