In Newcastle, we love sport

The three core tenets of our vision are establishing new flagship teams, bringing premier events to our city, and seeing modern facilities developed—all underpinned by connection with our communities.

Supported by these pillars, we aim to see the primary presence of top-level professional sports expanded beyond Rugby League and Football.

Recognising that we alone can not fulfil the entirety of our vision, we aim to keep the conversation moving forward by sharing our ideas—to inspire those who can make this a reality. We dare to dream big.

Believe us. The bulk of our vision will eventually form part of the broader sporting landscape in Newcastle and the Hunter.

It is a case of when not if.

Flagship teams for our city

Our ultimate goal is to see new teams established alongside the current flagship Newcastle teams, the Knights in the NRL and the Jets in the A-Leagues.

• Basketball — NBL and WNBL
  • An overdue return to the top flight of Australian basketball
  • The return of the Falcons name with Newcastle Basketball in the second-tier NBL1 East competition is an excellent start, but we want to go further.
  • A team that the entire region can unite behind, including Newcastle Basketball and Maitland Basketball, rather than just being a direct extension of a single NBL1 side.
  • The WNBL and women’s basketball should see expansion in the coming years, boosted by the success of the Opals.
• Netball — Super Netball
  • Netball is hugely popular in Newcastle, and we are ready for a return to the national level for the first time since 2007.
  • A new broadcast deal in the next five years should support the expansion of the Super Netball competition, and Newcastle should be at the front of the queue.
• Combined “super team”
  • With basketball primarily running through the warmer months, and netball the cooler months, running these through an overarching “super team” seems to make sense.
  • Efficiencies through shared facilities, staff and resources could provide significant financial and logistical benefits compared to operating as fully independent entities.

Premier events in our backyard

Greater Newcastle is the second largest city in NSW (620k) and 7th in the country—a more extensive population base than Canberra and Tasmania—we should be hosting events representative of that status.

Regional centres, including Alice Springs, Ballarat, Mackay, Moe, and Coffs Harbour, regularly host BBL and WBBL games, and the NBL have taken their pre-season tournament to Darwin.

If they can, Newcastle can.

• NBL Blitz pre-season
  • Tasmania and Darwin have hosted the week-long event in recent years; bringing it to Newcastle should be a logical step in the bid for a full-time return to the NBL.
• Domestic cricket fixtures
  • The newly refreshed No. 1 Sports Ground should bring cricket back to Newcastle.
  • Domestic Shield and One-Day cricket, WNCL
  • BBL/WBBL pre-season trial games
  • WBBL carnival weekends
  • Women’s international one-day and T20 cricket
• Pre-season AFL and AFLW
  • The improvements to No. 1 Sports Ground should bring Newcastle back into the frame for pre-season games and even regular season AFLW games.
  • How great would it be to see pre-season AFL and AFLW in the city? We’d love to see the Swans and Giants in action at No. 1
• Destination of choice for women’s sport
  • More games for the Opals and Diamonds as part of their annual schedules; the crowds at recent visits have demonstrated strong interest from a public craving these sports.
  • WBBL carnival weekends
  • Location for women’s cricket internationals
  • With the largest population outside the major capital cities, Newcastle should strive to be the preferred destination for prominent women’s sporting events.

Modern facilities, built for success

The most significant physical hurdle currently in our way is the need for a modern, premier indoor venue. The Newcastle Entertainment Centre is showing its age and needs refurbishment or replacement.

• Broadmeadow and the Hunter Park Precinct
  • We support the ongoing discovery work around the Hunter Park precinct in Broadmeadow and what that may mean for a future home of professional basketball and netball. We look forward to seeing this progress.
  • The ‘preferred’ route for the proposed extension of the Newcastle Light Rail corridor runs through Broadmeadow.
• New or refurbished indoor arena
  • The Newcastle Entertainment Centre is overdue for some love, needing either substantial refurbishment to modernise and improve facilities or an outright replacement.
  • Novocastrians deserve a modern venue to host sports, concerts, conferences and cultural events.
  • With minimal overlap in their seasons, bringing NBL, WNBL, and Super Netball to Newcastle would provide a near year-round tenant for a new, or refurbished, arena.
  • A new venue could be a potential future home for the Newcastle NorthStars in the AIHL.
  • Sustainability and energy efficiency—targeting a 6-Star Green Star rating—should be a priority for any new development.
• More outdoor recreational basketball facilities
  • Seeing the new courts in town at National Park and out at Wallsend is fantastic; we hope they are the first of many outdoor full-size and 3x3 half-courts to pop up across the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie areas in the future.
  • Areas of opportunity exist near our many beaches, at Honeysuckle amongst the growing University presence, and in Charlestown alongside the existing Netball facilities, to name a few.

Just the beginning…

The above is just a starting point. We intend to continue to evolve and expand this vision with additional ideas and supporting information as our research continues.

If you have any feedback as we develop this further, we would love to hear from you.

Dean Robinson Say hello. ✦