Netball Australia struggling to repay debt after losing $15m sponsorship

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• By Avi Yemini

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Netball Australia is struggling to repay a $4.2m debt after losing $15m in sponsorship last year due to a race row.

In October the sport lost key sponsor Hancock Prospecting when players protested racist comments made by long deceased company founder Lang Hancock.

Indigenous netballer Donnell Wallam refused to have the Hancock Prospecting logo on her jersey, and was backed by teammates for her stance.

She was reportedly upset by comments made decades earlier by Hancock who, in 1984, had said Indigenous Australians should be sterilised to 'breed themselves out'.
Hancock died in 1992.

Hancock’s daughter and company boss Gina Rinehart refused demands to apologise for her father’s remarks and ended the sponsorship deal with Netball Australia.

Five months on, Netball Australia is still struggling financially, despite the Victorian government announcing a $15m sponsorship deal that would see players promote tourism.

Netball Australia chief executive Kelly Ryan told people gathered for the 2023 season launch that the sport needed to be “very fiscally responsible” because it had “a sizeable debt that still does need to be repaid”.

“$4.2 million is the debt that we have and need to repay,” she said.

The lost sponsorship did not seem to matter though, as Ryan announced that the sport’s 2023 theme would be “we’re not sorry”.

“We're tired of netball stereotypes; a stuffy, safe sport played by quiet, nice girls. We're sorry we're not sorry, and we're not just here if you need. We Are Here,” the theme says.