On Monday morning, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Visit Victoria had signed a $15-million sponsorship with Netball Australia (NA), filling the hole left by the withdrawal of previous sponsors, Hancock Prospecting, nine days ago, after the company's chair, Gina Rinehart, withdrew its financial support.
In June, NA released its 2021 financial results, where the national sporting body reported a $7 million loss over the past two years and $4 million debt in bank loans that were due to be paid by the end of the 2022. These loans have now been extended to 2025.
Since then, the sport has tried to generate revenue in various controversial ways, selling its Super Netball Grand Final to the West Australian government, contemplating gambling sponsorship deals and landing a three-year, $15-million partnership with Hancock Prospecting in late September.
However, two weeks after Ms Rinehart's significant investment was made public, the sport found itself in crisis mode, when Diamonds newcomer and First Nations player Donnell Wallam raised concerns about wearing the Hancock Prospecting logo on her playing dress.
Wallam took issue with the genocidal comments made by company founder Lang Hancock during the 1980s — towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people — and the rest of the playing group stood united alongside the potential debutante as she requested an exemption.
She had been selected for the Test series currently being played against England — there's now only one game left to come — not the Constellation Cup against New Zealand that was taking place during the time the issue unfolded in the media.
However, the back and forth between NA, the Diamonds and Hancock Prospecting hung over the trans-Tasman series and, ultimately, came to a head a day before the final game, when Ms Rinehart decided to withdraw her sponsorship on the morning of October 22, even though the players, including Wallam, had caved to the pressure and committed to wearing the logo on their dress.
This conflict — coupled with the news that Australian Test captain Pat Cummins will no longer align himself with cricket's major commercial partner Alinta Energy — has generated a national discussion about how much say athletes should be given when it comes to sports sponsorship … or whether they should "shut up and dribble" instead of biting the hand that feeds them.
Despite the overwhelming criticism from those who believe the latter, Monday morning's announcement suggests the Diamonds may have won this battle, demonstrating their value to Visit Victoria by claiming back-to-back series victories amid the controversy.
So, what does this mean for the sport?
Mr Andrews confirmed the deal with Visit Victoria would match the $15-million commitment that was on the table with Hancock Prospecting, which is good news for the sport.
However, this sponsorship will run until the end of 2027, while Ms Rinehart's was due to finish up at the end of 2025, meaning it will take place over a longer period, with $3 million invested each year, rather than $5 million.
In another comparison, Hancock Prospecting's deal was to go directly to the Diamonds and NA's high-performance program.
Visit Victoria's partnership aims to promote netball at the elite level, while delivering community initiatives to encourage grassroots participation in the sport, particularly in culturally diverse communities.
The Diamonds will wear the Visit Victoria logo on their dress and hold their high-performance training camps there between 2023 and 2026.
They'll also play at least one match per year during the five-year deal in the state, separate to the 2026 Victorian Commonwealth Games where they'll try to defend their gold medal status.
Beyond the Diamonds' commitments, perhaps the biggest news for Super Netball fans is that next year's grand final will also be held in Victoria, securing home-crowd advantage for, potentially, the Melbourne Vixens or the Collingwood Magpies.
NA sparked controversy when it sold the 2022 decider to Western Australia for $300,000, right before the finals began, later confirming the most important match of the year would continue to be shopped around for at least the next four seasons.
While this goes against the traditional way the grand final has been awarded in the history of the national netball league — typically allocated to the winner of the major semi-final — announcing this news ahead of the season will at least keep everyone on the same page.
What does the deal mean for Victoria?
News of the sponsorship fell a day before the Victorian government moves into caretaker mode, ahead of its November election — and the premier didn't miss the opportunity to front the announcement.
He talked up the deal as a "coup for the state", which would take the image of Victoria as the sporting capital of Australia to the world, drawing in more valuable tourism dollars.
In addition to the Visit Victoria logo on uniforms and games being played in Victoria, he said the Diamonds would be able to help support a raft of tourism campaigns across different media platforms.
The state opposition drew attention to the timing of the announcement, which Shadow Treasurer David Davis described as a "taxpayer deal announced the day prior to caretaker [mode]".
However, he confirmed the opposition would honour the agreement, despite raising questions over whether the $15-million investment was a key priority on the day a budget update revealed a $1.8 billion increase in this year's budget deficit.
Players consulted? Yes or No?
There is confusion as to whether the players were properly consulted during the process of landing this new deal — and, perhaps, what the definition of 'consulted' means.
So far, all that has been confirmed is that there was a quick turnaround for the deal, with a meeting held on Thursday night to let the players know another sponsor had been secured.
The ABC reached out to NA to clarify how this process was carried out but was told the details of the dialogue between the playing group and governing body could not be divulged.
While the Visit Victoria partnership is better aligned with what netball stands for as a sport — and, at this stage, does not seem to have any complications in the First Nations space — this part of the process needs to be taken seriously in future.
With consultation — at least with a player representative or the Australian Netball Players' Association — the sport will be able to win back the trust of its athletes after the messy turmoil that has played out regarding several decisions this year.
Government versus commercial sponsorship
For the critics — particularly ones who have been the loudest in the comments section on any social media post regarding the Diamonds over the past few weeks — their negativity is now focused on pointing out Visit Victoria is backed by government funding and taxpayer money.
However, key figures within netball and various marketing experts independent to the sport have told the ABC the deal is a smart move and drew links to the commercial aspect of the tourism initiative with a home Commonwealth Games on the horizon.
Encouraging netball fans to head to Victoria multiple times in the coming years — while giving off a white-knight energy by swooping in as a bit of a saviour for the sport — feels like a win-win scenario for Visit Victoria.
The experts also suggested that this deal was less about relying on government sponsorship as much as it was proving that sport and politics can, and should, mix.
Meanwhile, those who suggest the commercial appeal of the sport is in trouble may need to double check NA's latest financial report — where it shows that, despite the sport's inability to balance its books, the revenue it generates has risen more than $14 million over the first five years of the all-Australian Super Netball league.
The other pleasing factor, is that netball hasn't lost its bargaining power in the wake of the Hancock Prospecting withdrawal, finding a sponsor that would match the significant investment and, this time, selling the 2023 grand final rights for a larger sum.
While we're on the topic, other major sports in Australia have received government handouts this year, such as the New South Wales government investing $113 million in the NRL, Queensland's $8 million partnership with the AFL and Tasmania's $12 million commitment per year over a 12-year term to establish and support the introduction of a new AFL team.
