THE Wests Group are confident they can bankroll National Basketball League and Super Netball franchises in Newcastle - providing the state government honours its promise to build an entertainment centre at District Park.
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Then sports minister Stuart Ayres and parliamentary secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald unveiled in 2017 a blueprint for a "Hunter Park" sports and entertainment precinct at Brodmeadow, which was expected to include an indoor arena to replace the current EntCent.
Six years down the track, the only completed developments have been the construction of the Knights' Centre of Excellence - half funded by Wests - and an upgrade of the hockey centre.
The Newcastle Herald revealed in November a leaked "masterplan" business case for the precinct - which would include a new 11,000-seat entertainment centre, an aquatic centre, hotels, an eat street and 2700 dwellings - but the Liberal government is yet to confirm any further details.
Gardner described a new indoor arena as "the key development" for the proposed precinct. "Once that goes in, it will be the catalyst for everything else," he said.
Wests have owned the Knights for five NRL seasons now and have posted a healthy profit each year, even during COVID. Gardner said the licensed-club juggernaut could easily afford to fund NBL and Super Netball teams.
"But we need a 10,000-seat arena to make it financially viable," Gardner said.
"In a modern facility of that size, with corporate support and the support of the community and the associations, we believe both franchises would be profitable.
"For both those sports, the cost of running them is nowhere near what it costs to run an NRL franchise."
Newcastle has not fielded an NBL team since the demise of the Hunter Pirates in 2006. Before the Pirates, the Newcastle Falcons were the city's basketball flagship for 20 years, from 1979-99.
Newcastle had a presence in the premier netball competition for four years before the Hunter Jaegers disbanded in 2007, but international games staged since at the EntCent have attracted capacity crowds.
"We were sponsors back in the Falcons' days, and were the major sponsor of the Jaegers," Gardner said.
"So we have an association with both sports, and we think it's a natural progression for us, to be able to deliver that, in partnership with the local associations.
"If the government can build a 10,000-seat arena, those teams would be tenants who use the facility week in, week out."
Gardner said it was premature to talk to the governing bodies of either sport until a venue was locked in.
"We haven't gone to them yet because we need a time line," he said. "Once we know when the facility will be built, we can start talking about getting a licence."
