Launceston will deliver a sizeable chunk towards Larry Kestelman's empire to build an NBL brand in Tasmania.
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Tasmania missed out in the last round of bids for a ninth spot in the NBL when the Southern Huskies were overlooked in favour for South East Melbourne Phoenix.
That admission comes after Kestelman has entered negotiations with Glenorchy City Council to buy the Derwent Entertainment Centre that will save council's ratepayers millions of dollars.
Kestelman was also keen to assure Launceston basketball fans that the Silverdome will not be downgraded or miss out entirely on games amid his personal stake and interest in the Hobart venue.
"We want to bring as much content as we can to the North and North-West. The venues are important because we're a global product now, so having the right venues is very important to us," Kestelman said.
"The product is not just about Tasmania being seen in Tasmania, or even around Australia, but it's about exposing Tasmania to the world. Basketball almost more than anything other sport being so global will expose Tassie. That is whether it's Launceston or Hobart.
"So we need to be mindful of the venues. I'm certainly working on the DEC being the main base, but part of it is I absolutely, unconditionally want Launceston to host plenty of games."
But the love from Kestelman was not without warning that the velodrome-adorned Silverdome would need to be transformed dramatically or even upgraded to meet the standards of the NBL to ever host a lion's share of games.
Basketball had only returned to the Prospect facility for the first time in more than two decades this year.
"Our vision is even if we can't play a lot of games in Launceston until there is an upgraded venue or even a better venue, we can certainly always look to play a couple of games at the Silverdome [each year]," he said.
"We need to assess if it can handle NBL games."
Kestelman is hoping that Launceston and the Silverdome would follow the model of Cairns Taipans and their Convention Centre venue.
"They have a great community where they get 5000 to every game. They just love their team and they feel like it's theirs. That's what I'd love as an ad for Tassie," he said.
Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
