MORE than 1,150 games will take place in a blockbuster opening round of National Basketball League (NBL)1 action set to tip off on Saturday, April 10. For the first time, four different leagues will tip off after NBL1 South was completed in 2019, before a COVID-19 shutdown stopped NBL1 North and NBL1 Central from running, whilst NBL1 West will also join the new second tier competition.
NBL1 Central will tip-off first this year, with an April 10 starting date as the 10 teams take to the court in the men’s and women’s matches. Forestville Eagles and Eastern Mavericks officially become the first NBL1 teams to begin the 2021 season, in what will be an 18-round season for that competition.
NBL1 West begins on Friday. April 16 with 16 matches played across Round 1, and the league going 17 rounds. A day later NBL1 South will tip-off as 18 games take place across a huge Saturday, April 17 fixture, and much like their west counterparts, will run for 17 rounds.
The last competition to tip-off will come a month later when NBL1 North begins on Friday May 14. There will be 14 rounds for the season leading up until the finals series.
Each conference will complete its regular season and finals by September 5, with the men’s and women’s champions to then compete in the inaugural NBL1 Finals Series in Melbourne from September 10-12.
Excitingly, all NBL1 games will be streamed live this season across the country, with more games than ever before. NBL1 Chief Commercial Officer Brad Joyner said it was an exciting time for basketball.
“We are delighted to announce NBL1 will return to basketball courts across Australia this April after its cancellation in 2020 because of COVID,” he said.
“NBL1 has grown immensely since it started in 2019 and continues to go from strength to strength with the introduction of three new conferences in NBL1 North, NBL1 Central and NBL1 West joining NBL1 South.
“We look forward to what will be an exciting 2021 season culminating with the NBL1 Finals Series in September and watching the continued growth of all of our clubs and players over the coming months.”
The four conferences consist of 57 clubs and 110 teams across both men’s and women’s competitions.
For the full schedules across all four competitions, head to the NBL1 site.
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