New teams, new rules, a new competition structure and a big bump in pay; a new era of the Netball Super League begins this weekend with the biggest shake-up in its 20-year history.
Gone are Bath, the league’s most successful side, and three other teams as the field has shrunk from 10 to eight. In have come two new outfits, among them Nottingham Forest Netball, an offshoot of the Premier League football club.
Squad sizes have also been trimmed from 12 to 10, a move designed to create a more even distribution of talent and make the league more competitive, which has also helped to raise players’ average salary by 60 per cent.
And the Netball Super League is hoping to grow its audience by staging more games in major venues such as Wembley Arena and the Copper Box, with the Grand Final set to be held at the O2 for the first time.
It is all part of the organisers’ mission to make the competition fully professional, and managing director Clare Nelson admits to casting envious glances across the Atlantic at the success of other women’s sport leagues.
“The data is showing us that what fans want, and particularly what female fans want, is they want an experience. We want to create unmissable experiences,” Nelson said.
“Let’s look at the WNBA and how that has grown. It’s through experiences that are value for money but actually drive that intersect between sport and fashion, music, lifestyle. So we’re taking our sport into major arenas.”
Netball Super League’s new format and rules
The curtain-raiser to the new season is today’s Netball Super Cup, a 15-game spectacular featuring all eight teams at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield.
Six days later the league begins in earnest with the first of 14 rounds, which are followed by semi-finals and a preliminary final before the big day out in north Greenwich.
The matches themselves have been revamped too, with extra-time to decide any draws, the introduction of tactical time-outs (hello WNBA) and the importing of a two-point “super shot” from Australia’s Super Netball.
“We’ve always said we want to build the most competitive, engaging, commercially vibrant league in the world and it starts with that,” said Nelson.
“Fans want to see games go to the wire and that’s what the Super Shot will do for us. We’ve always talked about the long bombs – it’s always something that fans have naturally got excited about.
“So to have that as part of our rules, with all the new innovations, new coaches, new teams, new clubs, I’m really hoping that this is going to drive the most competitive, exciting season that we’ve ever seen.”
Bigger crowds, better pay for players
At least half of Netball Super League games will be played in major venues, which also include Manchester’s AO Arena, the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena and the Utilita Arena in Cardiff.
All matches will also be broadcast, either on long-term partners Sky Sports, the BBC or streaming site NetballPass.
The growth is also translating into better remuneration, with the minimum pay for players more than doubling.
“We build female fandom through our athletes so to do that we need to give them the best environment, we need to pay them better and we need to ensure that they are competing in the best environment week in week out,” said Nelson.
“So, with less clubs, smaller squad sizes, better pay, new rule innovations, all of this we hope is going to deliver for the on-court product.
“Sky are trebling their coverage of the league ahead. They’re a partner of 18 years, and to say ‘we back you, we’re excited by what the Super League is going to look like, we want to give more access to fans’, it’s really exciting for us.”