A "game-changing" revamp of the women's National Basketball League (NBL) will bring pay equity, top tier talent and better prepare the Tall Ferns for international competition.
Tall Fern Ella Fotu. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Five new franchises will play a 12-game home and away regular season tipping off in mid-2022, followed by a Final 4.
Expressions of Interest are now being sought from potential owners of the five franchises, which will cover the length of New Zealand and will be provided with unique names, brand, and colours.
NBL general manager Huw Beynon said this was a long overdue change for the women's game.
"This league will catapult the women's game in Aotearoa into unchartered territory," Beynon said.
"It will provide a pathway for our athletes to reach the best leagues in the world, it will give them a professional league to play in at home, and most importantly it will expose the next generation of basketball players and fans to our incredible kaiaka wahine."
Significant investment has been put into the players' salaries - which will be governed by the League - meaning the athletes will be the highest paid female basketballers in domestic league history.
Beynon said that this can only be good for local players.
"To attract the best players, we have to pay them what they are worth. We're excited to welcome our Tall Ferns home - as well as top imports - who will help lift the level of our competition."
Megan Compain, a BBNZ board member - and a trailblazer for women's basketball in New Zealand - said the revamp was vital for the continued growth of the women's game.
"It's exciting and genuinely ground-breaking, in the sense that it creates an aspirational pathway for current and aspiring Tall Ferns to come home and play in a meaningful competition - and get paid for it," Compain said.
"It also shows there is both commitment and investment in the women's game, which will help attract the best talent to play in the league."
Compain said the pay equality between the men's and women's competition was a "game-changer".
"This signals to fans and sponsors that this 'product' is worth watching and investing in, and that we are taking our female athletes seriously.
"It's a fantastic signal in that our female athletes will be making the type of money that allows them to play professionally and to invest in themselves more to become better basketball players - without having to hold down another job or other financial pressures."
The teams will be announced in February.