Basketball: Southern fans quick to support Breakers' visit

Markham Brown
Markham Brown
The Breakers' pre-season match against the Wollongong Hawks in Dunedin on Thursday looks set to be a sell-out.

The defending Australian National Basketball League champion has proven to be a hot ticket and about 2400 of the 2900 tickets available have already been snapped up.

The Breakers play the Hawks in Christchurch on Tuesday night and that game is also shaping as a sell-out.

It is the first time the Breakers have played in Dunedin and the first trip to the South Island in six years for the North Shore-based club.

Promoter Greg Shackell said he was pleased with the response in the South.

"My plan, from the very start, was to have the Christchurch and Dunedin games sold out," he said.

"The Breakers are a very good brand.

"They are back-to-back champions and they're a class act."

Both teams arrive in Dunedin on Wednesday afternoon and will attend a Basketball Otago fundraising dinner and memorabilia auction that night.

"We wanted to work in with the local basketball associations and help them out the best we can to promote them and also to promote the game of basketball," Shackell said.

Basketball Otago general manager Markham Brown said the Breakers' presence in the city would be a boost for the sport's profile.

"We're really excited to have them down here and it is going to have a great flow-on effect for all of our fans and young players watching it," Brown said.

"They are getting involved in the community while they are down here, too."

Three lucky Dunedin primary schools will get a visit from the Breakers on Thursday.

St Joseph's Cathedral School, Green Island School and East Taieri School won a competition earlier in the year for the right to host a Breakers visit.

 

 

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