Online pharmacy company Chemist Warehouse has agreed to become an official partner of the Australian National Basketball League.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Chemist Warehouse will serve as the official chemist retailer and partner of the NBL and the league’s general manager Jeremy Loeliger is committed to bringing further commercial partners on board ahead of the 2015-16 season launch in October.
“We are committed to repositioning the NBL as the number-one summer entertainment sport in this country and working with partners who support that vision,” he said. “Chemist Warehouse have dominated their own market in recent years with an aggressive growth strategy, and understand our vision to do the same.”
Chemist Warehouse chief operating officer Mario Tascone added: “Basketball is among the most popular sports the world over and certainly one of the highest participation sports among our youth. The NBL competition represents an opportunity for us. We recognise this sponsorship will help rebuild the NBL competition which will ultimately flow down to the grass roots.”
Melbourne-based businessman Larry Kestelman bought the NBL in June and has pursued a host of new commercial and media partners in order to reinvigorate the competition. The 2015-16 fixtures for the NBL outlined a move from a weekend schedule to a Wednesday-Sunday five-day schedule, placing the league in direct competition with Australia’s domestic Twenty20 cricket Big Bash League in the midweek market.