Nissan was one of the inaugural partners of Suncorp Super Netball in 2017 and has further added to its long-term support for Australian netball by extending its major partnership of Netball Australia and Super Netball for two additional years.
Nissan now has sponsorship relationships with seven of the eight Super Netball teams, is the exclusive automotive partner of the Australian Diamonds and has now secured the naming rights at the Queensland State Netball Centre, now called Nissan Arena. It is also the official automotive partner for every state and territory netball association, including Netball South Australia.
Bronwyn Klei, CEO, Netball South Australia, said that this major partnership will help drive game development and community programs across South Australia, in addition to supporting the state’s elite team.
“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Nissan Australia which will allow us to continue reaching out to communities across the state so we can best support the 33,000+ members and 100,000+ participants of our sport in SA,” said Klei.
“Netball South Australia and the Adelaide Thunderbirds are proud to be associated with Nissan, who have a demonstrated history of supporting our sport nationally,” she said.
“We look forward to growing this relationship into South Australia and joining forces with a company that is passionate about supporting netball at all levels, from grassroots to the elite league.”
Stephen Lester, Managing Director, Nissan Australia, said that Nissan’s involvement in netball is designed to strengthen brand awareness and engagement opportunities in the community and will help to market Nissan’s range of innovative vehicles to a wider audience across multiple buyer demographics.
“Netball is Australia’s number one female team participation sport and we are delighted to continue our sponsorship of the sport, from the grassroots to the elite teams,” said Lester.
“Nissan has been a proud partner of the Super Netball since its inception, and of the Australian Diamonds, so we are delighted to extend our relationship with the sport for two more years, but also expand our footprint across the sport,” he said.
The partnership has already led to innovation with 2019 having seen the introduction of Nissan Net Points – the first statistical player performance metric, which provided fans greater insight into elite netball through its integration into broadcast.
Adelaide Thunderbird, Hannah Petty attended the media launch of the signing in Dandenong, Victoria and says the team are proud to be partnering with Nissan Australia.
“We’re very excited to be partnering with Nissan. We think it’s fantastic that Nissan Australia are sponsoring all the way from the grassroots to the elite level,” said Hannah.
“Coming from the country I know how important the grassroots is and seeing that you can have a future from playing back in the country all the way to the elite level, and hopefully one day in the Diamonds”
Netball South Australia wishes to thank Mazda Australia for their wonderful relationship over the past four years.
“Mazda have been a valued partner of Netball SA and the Adelaide Thunderbirds, and we thank them for their support over that time,” said Klei.
“In particular, their contribution to grassroots netball through the Mazda Community Grants has generously delivered thousands of dollars in support to local netball clubs which we know has made a huge difference to those lucky recipients.”
