OAMPS Joins NBL as Major Sponsor

OAMPS Insurance Brokers has been unveiled as a new long-term major sponsor of the National Basketball League competition for the 2009/10 NBL season.

The partnership is a major coup for the League in the lead-up to the new season's tip-off on 24th September, and follows on from the recent announcement of a new agreement with Fox Sports that will see the NBL's television live coverage almost double.

Basketball Australia Chief Executive Larry Sengstock said the partnership showed that basketballâs grass roots strength made the sport an attractive commercial proposition, commenting "it is fantastic that a major company like OAMPS which is part of the Wesfarmers group of companies has recognised the tangible commercial benefits of aligning their brand with the sport of basketball and our more than 600,000 grass roots participants and 370,000 registered members.

"By sponsoring the NBL they have clearly understood the leverage basketballâs massive participation base can give them into the community. They have also demonstrated a keenness to engage at the club, state and association level using their extensive national network of offices to establish deep links with the basketball community.

"Apart from the substantial cash component of the agreement, OAMPS will offer our players traineeships to help them prepare for life after basketball, which is a great benefit to our athletes.

"OAMPS will also provide a community grant to support the NBLâs array of community programs, starting with an indigenous camp at the Top End Challenge pre-season tournament in September.

"This deal is a win-win, not just for the NBL, but for the whole of basketball as the agreement will be linked to our national insurance scheme, leveraging OAMPS significant national coverage of offices to better serve the insurance needs of the basketball community. This is also consistent with our strategic focus on reconnecting the NBL with the grass roots of our sport, so we believe the NBL and OAMPS are a perfect fit."

OAMPS Head of Corporate Peter Blackmore said the NBL's renewed focus on community had struck a chord with OAMPS.

Blackmore advised "at OAMPS, we always work hard to be part of our different communities, therefore the NBL's drive to reconnect with the basketball community coupled with its profile as a major professional sporting league in Australia and New Zealand made a partnership incredibly attractive.

"Any sponsorship needs to be mutually beneficial and we have absolutely no doubt that OAMPS will be good for the NBL and the NBL will be good for OAMPS."

OAMPS started their association with the NBL a number of years ago with a club sponsorship of the Melbourne Tigers and Blackmore said the company had been so pleased with the arrangement that it made sense to expand to a league-wide partnership.

He concluded "our initial foray into NBL sponsorship with the Tigers was incredibly successful for us so we wanted to invest further in basketball, which is a truly global sport with massive participation levels."

The partnership is a three-year deal for the 2009/10 NBL season. The financial details were not disclosed as per standard NBL corporate policy.

OAMPS Insurance Brokers is a Wesfarmers Company with 850 employees in 28 offices around Australia serving over 120,000 clients. They have operations in the UK and a sister company, Crombie Lockwood, in New Zealand.

For more information go to www.oamps.com.au