KEY POINTS:
The new netball competition involving five teams each from Australia and New Zealand has netted an ideal sponsorship as far as naming rights are concerned.
With ANZ Bank coming to the party, the new competition starting next year will be known as the ANZ Championship, Trans Tasman Netball Ltd (TTNL) announced today.
ANZ has signed a three-year sponsorship with TTNL, the company running the competition.
TTNL general manager Tony Holding said the deal was critical to the viability of the new competition.
"The ANZ Championship is a significant new venture. We're pioneering semi-professionalism in a woman's-only sport through a competition spread between two countries.
"Without a cornerstone sponsor willing to back our idea, it simply couldn't happen.
"It's an added bonus to find a sponsor with a name made for the competition - our name couldn't be more perfect than the ANZ Championship."
The championship will feature five teams each from the two countries, with 69 games running over 17 weeks from April. The finals will be played over three weeks in July.
Each team will host six or seven home games. Australian teams will play each other twice and the New Zealand teams once, and the New Zealand teams will play each other twice and the Australian teams once.
Matches will be played on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. All matches will be covered by Sky in New Zealand and Fox Sports in Australia.
The new teams will be announced by the end of this month.
- NZPA
