In what is great news for Tassie basketball fans ,the annual NBL pre season competition, the NBL Blitz will be headed back down south from November 12-21. It will be the first chance for local fans to see the JackJumpers in competitive games, following a delayed start to the season due to COVID.
In a hub format that is reflective of current state COVID measures, Tasmania will host the JackJumpers, Breakers*, Wildcats, 36ers, Bullets and Taipans, while the New South Wales, Victorian teams will be based across their respective states (*The Breakers pre-season was originally due to take place in Tasmania, however they have relocated to Melbourne and will join the NSW/VIC Blitz Hub).
For Tasmania this means there will be up to 14 games held across Hobart, Launceston and the NW Coast Ulverstone. It will also provide the first glimpse of the new MyState Bank Arena upgrades, which thanks to the delayed season has had its renovations completed in time the the NBL season. UPDATE: Full list of games at bottom of post.
It is understood that Tasmanian State Government provided $1 million for the staging of the games. Which at first seemed a little steep for some pre-season games, however in context of what the much publicised deals the state government has struck with visiting AFL games, this it equals out to less than $100k per game.
Embed from Getty ImagesA great positive about the deal is that tickets are free and the matches will be played across the state, so it will be a big final push for the JackJumpers (and memberships no doubt!) ahead of the season kicking off 3 December.
Tasmania previously hosted the Blitz back in 2019, and similar to this year the games were held across the state. Aside from the matches, a highlight was seeing all the teams undertake community and school visits, which was covered really well by the NBL and respective clubs media. Hopefully COVID restrictions will still allow those to go ahead.
— NBL (@NBL) November 2, 2021
