The NBL1 is a semi-professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

run by the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of five conferences:

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria (state), Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (Australia), ...

NBL1 North NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

, NBL1 Central,

NBL1 West NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

and

NBL1 East NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales partnered with the Nat ...

, with each consisting of both men's and women's competitions. Each conference is run by their respective state governing body, with the league including 72 clubs from across every state and territory. The NBL1 in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

was a single league and consisted of one conference. That conference would go on to become the South Conference in 2020 after the inclusion of the former

Queensland Basketball League NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

(QBL) and South Australian Premier League saw them become the new North and Central conferences. The league grew to four conferences in 2021 with the inclusion of the former WA State Basketball League (SBL) and then five conferences in 2022 with the inclusion of the former NSW Waratah League.

History

In October 2018, following the demise of the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL), Basketball Victoria announced a new senior elite league to take the reins as Australia's pre-eminent semi-professional basketball league. All Victorian-based SEABL teams joined the new league, while

Eltham Wildcats Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Eltha ...

Knox Raiders Knox Raiders is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Knox Basketball Incorporated (KBI), the major administrative basketball organisation in the ...

Ringwood Hawks Ringwood Hawks is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Ringwood Basketball Association (RBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in ...

and

Waverley Falcons Waverley Falcons is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Waverley Basketball Association (WBA), the major administrative basketball organisation ...

also joined the league from the

Big V The Big V is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. History The Big V Conference was established in 2000 and joined the Australian Basketball Association (ABA). The ABA ...

. The

North-West Tasmania Thunder The North-West Tasmania Thunder are an Australian basketball team based in Ulverstone, Tasmania. The Thunder compete in the Men's NBL1 South and play their home games at the Ulverstone Sports and Leisure Centre. Team history The franchise began i ...

men and

Launceston Tornadoes The Launceston Tornadoes are an Australian basketball team based in Launceston, Tasmania. The Tornadoes compete in the Women's NBL1 South and play their home games at Elphin Sports Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the See Eyeca ...

women also kept their place, as did

Basketball Australia Basketball Australia (BA), officially registered as BA Limited, is the governing body for basketball in Australia. Established in 1939, BA is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for overseeing basketball at all levels in Australia. B ...

's Centre of Excellence teams. In February 2019, the league was named NBL1 after Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL). After a successful first season in

, the NBL expanded the NBL1 in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

by introducing Basketball Victoria's inaugural 2019 league and teams as the new South Conference and partnering with Basketball Queensland and Basketball South Australia to make the

(QBL) and South Australian Premier League the new North and Central conferences. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the 2020 season was cancelled for all three conferences. In

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, the league expanded to four conferences after partnering with

Basketball Western Australia Basketball Western Australia is the governing body for the sport of basketball in the state of Western Australia. It is responsible for overseeing the development, promotion, and administration of basketball throughout Western Australia. The organ ...

to make the

State Basketball League NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

(SBL) the new West Conference. The inaugural NBL1 National Finals was set to take place in 2021, comprising the champions of the four conferences. However, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The South Conference later cancelled the remaining weeks of its season due to ongoing complications with the pandemic. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, the league expanded to five conferences after partnering with Basketball New South Wales to make the Waratah League the new East Conference. Additionally, a club from Darwin,

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, the Darwin Salties, joined the North Conference in 2022 which saw the NBL1 become the first Australian sport league to have clubs based in and playing out of every state and territory in Australia. The NBL1 National Finals took place for the first time in 2022.

Conferences

South Conference

Founded in 2019, the South Conference was the only NBL1 conference during its inaugural season and predominantly consisted of teams from the defunct

(SEABL). The South Conference currently has 20 clubs spread across

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

North Conference

In 2020, the North Conference joined the league, becoming the second conference introduced following NBL1's merger with the former

(QBL). The North Conference currently consists of 12 clubs, all based in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The Darwin Salties from the

featured in the North Conference for three seasons before withdrawing following the 2024 season.

Central Conference

In 2020, the Central Conference joined the league, becoming the third conference introduced following NBL1's merger with the former South Australian

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. The Central Conference currently consists of 10 clubs, all of which are based in

West Conference

In 2021, the West Conference joined the league, becoming the fourth conference introduced following NBL1's merger with the former Western Australian

(SBL). The West Conference currently consists of 14 clubs, all of which are based in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

East Conference

In 2022, the East Conference joined the league, becoming the fifth conference introduced following NBL1's merger with the former New South Wales Waratah League. The East Conference currently consists of 16 clubs, with 14 based in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and two based in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

Current clubs

Spread across the five conferences, a total of 72 clubs compete in the league. *South Conference: 20 clubs (includes 19 female teams and 19 male teams) *North Conference: 12 clubs *Central Conference: 10 clubs *West Conference: 14 clubs *East Conference: 16 clubs

List of National champions

Sponsorship

Naming rights

*2021 to 2023:

Coles Express Reddy Express, formerly Coles Express, is an Australian chain of convenience stores at Shell Australia petrol stations. Until it became controlled by Viva Energy in May 2023, Coles Express was a trading name of Coles Group. Then in Septemb ...

*2023 to present:

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) is a fully owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan, headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia. The company was established in 1980 and began vehicle manufacturing in that year, havin ...

References

External links

*
"What is NBL1 and why its important to Australian hoops"
at basketball.com.au
"7 questions: How NBL1 went from idea to global league"
at basketball.com.au {{NBL1 seasons Basketball leagues in Australia 2019 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 2019 National Basketball League (Australia) Professional sports leagues in Australia