The (not so little) White Lie
The lie that we have been told is that there is no money in woman's sports.
A horrible catch 22 that fed itself by the sponsors saying that the viewers weren't there so the eyeballs weren't seeing their support.
This forced the women's teams to be more proactive in social media and player profiles and this drew the eyeballs of the fans proving that the viewers were indeed there and it was just the major networks not showing the coverage.
Take a look at the News on television and note the 5% of the coverage that is given to any woman's sport.
Turning tide
SKY Sport thought they would come to the party and this year, like last year, will be covering all the games of the NZ Sals NBL. They know the eyeballs are there and now it is the time to get the sponsors on board.
Nationwide coverage of each and every game played and delivered to the high standard that is our premium sports network can.
Backing a winning team.
Firebrand's sponsorship of the Otago Gold Rush team has been something that we are very proud of and our team have done amazing things off the back of a very challenging year.
The Otago Gold Rush Awards for 2020 Season
- Schick 3X3 Playoff Semi-Finalists
- Sal's 18in18 NBL Playoff Semi-Finalists
- Coach of the Year - Gavin Briggs
- All-Star 5 - Zoe Richards
- Youth Player of the Year - Teararoa Sopoaga
- Best Social Media
Don't forget our local gem the ASB Otago Sports Awards where the Otago Gold Rush were nominated for Team of the Year.
One successful year doesn't make a legacy so let me also mention the Otago Gold Rush are WBC champions 2011, 2015 and 2018 ???
The Great Divide
NBL announced the Schick 3X3 competition equal prize money for both Women and Men's but we still have a long way to go.
The salary cap for Men’s NBL is $120,000 and the salary cap for Women’s NBL is $35,000 (player payments have been introduced for the Women’s NBL for the first time this year)
I never want to see the pay disparity as bad as the NBA, where the salary of LeBron James is $39.22 million and WNBA Elena Delle Donne is $224,870 and with the help of like-minded sponsors we can tighten that gap.
Bang for Buck
- Currently the largest School Sport in Otago
- 200 Adult teams in Otago alone
- Sky has 2.4 Million TV and streaming viewers
- Strong community connections and values
If these arguments aren't compelling enough reasons for you to support women in NZ's Fastest growing sport then perhaps you are happy with the status quo.
However, if you feel like I do and want to be an agent of change. Be part of the solution and not the problem. Think it is 2021 and this shouldn't even be a debate anymore; Then get in touch with Peter Drew at Basketball Otago and be on the right side of history.