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New professional Aussie netball league signs landmark TV deal

Xinhua, May 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Netball is, for the first time in Australia, set to be shown on prime time free-to-air TV, after a breakaway league signed a landmark television deal on Thursday.

For the first time in netball's history, the revamped Australian netball competition will be shown to viewers live in prime time on a Saturday night, after Netball Australia announced the disbandment of the current trans-Tasman ANZ Championship competition.

Under the new deal, two matches will be shown back-to-back and live on the Nine Network on Saturday evenings, with the league to be made up of the current competition's five Australian-based teams as well as three new teams to be formed.

Netball Australia's chief executive Kate Palmer told the media that the five-year broadcasting deal would result in live free-to-air TV coverage of two games of professional netball per week for the entirety of the 2017 season.

"It's time for our sport to take another leap forward, to challenge the norm, to be innovative and to take more risks," Palmer said on Thursday.

Meanwhile Australian Diamonds star Laura Geitz said the deal was a win for women's sport, and would eventually translate to further national team success.

"This allows more girls to be out on court... as a result, we'll see a stronger Australian Diamonds side," Geitz told the press.

"(We can now see) these wonderful women playing, this wonderful game, and know that they too can grow up and head down the path of being a professional athlete."

Earlier Palmer released a statement confirming the news, which said the broadcasting deal would result in "professionalized" pay for players, increased sponsorship opportunities and a better cash distribution for clubs.

"It is truly transformative. It lays the foundation for the full professionalization of elite netball and the cementing of Australia's reputation as having the prime netball competition in the world," the statement said.

"At the grass roots, it will encourage participation and allow girls and young women to realise their dream of a career in netball." Endit