The Norwood Football Club and The Norwood Basketball Club have today announced a ground-breaking partnership that will see one of South Australia’s oldest and most successful football clubs joins forces with South Australia’s largest basketball club.
The partnership brings together two of Adelaide’s most recognisable sporting clubs in an official commercial relationship that includes sponsorship, knowledge and facility sharing as well as many other commercial and community benefits.
“We are really excited to be partnering up with the Norwood Flames Basketball Club,” says Dale Fleming – Norwood Football Club Commercial Operations Manager.
“There is so much synergy between both organisations and we could not be better aligned from a geographic, community and brand point of view, and most importantly we share similar values.”
Norwood CEO James Fantasia said after conversations with the Management team of the Norwood Flames, it became apparent of the opportunities to help each other grow commercially and culturally.
“Across both our extensive communities of; members, supporters, players, families, staff as well as schools and affiliated club networks there are tens of thousands of people that we impact and engage with every day”.
Fantasia adds, “The prospect of helping each other provide better facilities, programs, events and partner benefits to these communities was a real driver for us, as was increasing the pathway opportunities for players and coaches along with general enjoyment for supporters.”
Norwood Flames Chairperson, Kelly O’Brien, shared this sentiment: “The opportunities in this partnership are endless. We are already really excited, and we have only just begun to scratch the surface. We believe with the multi-year deal in place, we will see immediate and long-term positive outcomes for both organisations to grow into the future together”.
“With each club named Norwood and wearing the Red and Blue the brand synergy couldn’t be better aligned, and we are excited about the joint merchandise and membership opportunities this presents,” Norwood Flames General Manager Will Smith said.
“Both clubs proudly wear red and blue, share the ‘Norwood’ name and catchment area, our partnership is a great natural fit.
“We believe it to be the first time an SANFL club and BSA basketball club has aligned this way.
“In particular, with both clubs’ senior teams playing in their respective top state leagues under the same ‘Norwood’ banner, this really benefits both clubs and our respective partners from a combined branding and commercial perspective.
“Across both clubs there are over 150 existing partners that also operate in the same markets, meaning the union between the Redlegs and the Flames increases the market and commercial reach for sponsors of both clubs. Increasing the value and return on investment for both club’s partners was a significant reason in forming the partnership.”
Both clubs operate in similar geographic locations and markets within Adelaide. The Norwood Flames administration team is based at the ARC in Campbelltown SA, overseeing 67 Norwood Flames junior and senior representative teams, along with the men’s & women’s NBL1 teams.
The Norwood Basketball Club, under the branding of Adelaide Community Basketball Association (ACBA) runs multiple junior domestic and school competitions, with close to 550 teams playing every week at 12 facilities, across the east, west and north-east of Adelaide. Being so closely aligned operationally and geographically brings with it great opportunity to align commercially and appeal to similar sponsors and partners who are looking to engage with each club’s extensive community of members, supporters, players, coaches and staff. The engagement opportunities are endless, providing partners a genuine platform to drive greater brand reach and awareness into the local community.
The sharing of knowledge and facilities will be another major benefit to both clubs. Being able to share things like High Performance training methods and programs from each other’s sporting codes will further grow the skills and competitive advantage for both clubs. The Women’s and Men’s NBL1 and SANFL programs will also look to share information in player management, strength and conditioning programs as well as other important areas including performance and mental health.
Flames General Manager Will Smith also mentioned the significant benefits on both sides, with the partnership driving a new level of opportunity for players, coaches, fans and members in the combined Norwood Red and Blue.
“We are excited to see where this can lead us in areas we haven’t even begun to think of yet,” said Smith. “Already we are working with the same Apparel partner in Apelle to create efficiencies across team wear and merchandise. We can do some exciting strategic initiative like launching new Red and Blue co-branded ranges for our combined supporters and markets, the opportunities are significant.”
Smith adds, “We truly believe in working together; we can strengthen each other’s partner proposition and network, high performance programs and most importantly create a great opportunity to better support our communities.”
Will Smith
NBL1 General Manager
Junior Development Manager
Coaching Director
