Kelley has 'no intention of selling the licence'

Adelaide 36ers owner and chairman Grant Kelley says he has 'no intention of selling the licence' of the club during an interview released this week.

Speaking to Warren Tredrea on The Big Deal podcast, Kelley spoke in depth about the happenings in the sports business realm, with the key focus the 36ers.

Kelley said taking ownership was a challenging task, but a rewarding one.

“It started as a passion project, then it quickly switched into ‘gee, we’ve really got to switch this thing around’,” he said.

“There had been some instability in the ownership ranks, there had been some short-term ownerships.

“I have enormous respect for anyone who went before me, it’s not an easy task, but I felt that I could add value re-establishing the club’s financial footing.

“Obviously we’re not happy with what’s occurred on the court, but one thing I’m somewhat proud of is we’ve quadrupled the revenue base of the club and it’s set up for future success.

“It’s evolved a lot since I did that deal, clubs are now much bigger.

“It’s become a far bigger business.

“I have no intention of selling the licence.

“I think groups that want to buy into the league, it’s become a very successful business so it would require a significant premium and I suspect the due diligence process would be far more detailed than it was a decade ago.”

Kelley looked back on his time growing up as a basketball tragic, which triggered his interest in acquiring the club in the late 2010s.

“I was up in Singapore and we would hook up a laptop that we VPN’d into Australia and then get the nbl.com feed,” he said.

“There wasn’t the global broadcast that we have for the NBL now.

“I was just always a fan of basketball played the sport into my late 20s, I felt I understood the game, and I was a Sixers tragic.

“I used to go to the old Apollo Stadium with my father and followed the club when I moved overseas for a number of years.”

You can listen to the full podcast here.