Hoopsfest is set to tip off in Perth for the second time on Thursday, with Perth’s Lynx taking on the Bendigo Spirit in the WNBL, followed by the Wildcats at primetime on Friday.

With both teams looking a genuine chance to make playoffs and the Lynx looking to secure the WNBL minor premiership, crowds are expected to be at an all time high at RAC Arena.

Speaking to Sports Breakfast this morning, NBL CEO David Stevenson spoke on the excitement of the event returning to Perth.

“When you have Hoopsfest coming over and that celebration of basketball and have all ten NBL teams and all eight WNBL teams, 30 odd Hoopsfest cup teams, Allen Iverson, there is just a huge level of excitement and we just can’t wait to get over there,” he said.

“We were strategic in the way we did the schedule, opening on Thursday night with the Perth Lynx, having a local team there was really important, and then having the Wildcats on Friday night which we know is an important time slot.

“The demand for the NBL is off the charts, last year we had 55 sellouts for the full season, this year we’ve already had 43, we’re ten ahead of where we were last year, our broadcast ratings are up 30 per cent.

“Already the ticket sales are about four and a half thousand higher compared to this time last year.”

The event will be a chance for the WNBL to showcase what it has to offer in front of NBL fans.

“We’ve invested a lot into the WNBL… particularly a lot into the marketing and storytelling of the players and the clubs so our attendances are up about 60 per cent, and our broadcast ratings are up about 115 per cent.”

“We think those players and clubs deserve to be able to be more well known and so places like Perth, it’s a great opportunity to see what the Lynx have done and getting in front of big audiences like the RAC Arena I think will expose the WNBL to a bigger audience, leveraging off NBL fans.”

RAC Arena will have a busy weekend ahead of them hosting nine total matches, differing from the last time Hoopsfest was in Perth where it wasn’t a possibility to host all matches at the one venue.

This year will also see full length WNBL games, an upgrade from the previous Hoopsfest where they were forced to host exhibition matches.

“The big unlock for us was to be able to have full WNBL regular season games whereas last year in September it was a little bit early and so we had to have exhibition games,” he said.

“We love the January time slot, all the states are on holidays and people are looking for entertainment, very affordable ticket prices and great for families to go along.”

With the unique time zone Perth boasts to the US, scouts are heading over to find potential NBA level talent to import into the NBA system at this year’s draft.

“It drives a really good time zone for NBA scouts and we’ve got over 30 NBA scouts coming and watching all those players play and it’s an important time coming into the draft this year.”

This is a key factor in Stevenson hoping to return Hoopsfest to WA in future years.

“We’d love to go back to WA in the future, I think the way in which the Government and Tourism WA and the people of Western Australia have embraced it has been really rewarding for us.”

“A big part of what’s driving the economic contribution is that out of state visitation and so, the thousands of people who are coming in from all around the country and overseas really helps drive an economic contribution for the state.”

It is a busy period of the year for the NBL CEO, with talks of expanding the league up in the air.

He said they don’t want to expand for the sake of it, and that finding a venue is paramount to confirming the addition of new teams.

An expansion internationally is something Stevenson would love to see but isn’t possible right now, nevertheless recognising the Asian interest in the Australian league as a growth opportunity.

“We’ve seen the benchmark with the Tasmanian Jackjumpers, selling out every game, making finals and winning a title… the biggest unlock for all those expansion conversations is the venue,” he said.

“We’re past the time of playing in three or four thousand seat stadiums, we need to be playing in eight, ten, twelve thousand seat stadiums.

“The current FIBA restrictions prevent us from having a team in Asia so there’s a little bit of work to do there but we can see the opportunity in Asia is strong.

“There’s already tens of millions of people in Asia tuning into the NBL through our broadcast… even if we don’t have a team in Asia, we see that as a big growth opportunity.”

You can catch the first match of the weekend at 4pm on Thursday when the Lynx take on the Spirit in the WNBL.

IMAGE: NBL