There is no sugar daddy on the sideline signing the cheques.
The ownership has instead been transferred to a collective of mostly locals who have a vested interest in keeping the franchise in Dunedin.
The previous owner, Australian company Sport Entertainment Network, pulled out at the end of last season.
The Otago basketball community rallied and Otago Hoops Limited was formed. The entity owns the playing licences for the Otago Nuggets and the Southern Hoiho.
Had they not done anything, those playing licences would probably have been picked up by other provinces.
Southland was rumoured to be very keen to pick up the Hoiho’s playing licence.
Otago Hoops had to be structured very differently from your stock-standard company.
The ownership is split into 20 shareholdings. The Otago Daily Times understands each share costs $10,000.
Each share is paid for in three instalments over a three-year period.
The shares can be resold, but only for the nominal fee of one dollar. It is not a profit-making venture — it is an investment in the teams.
The capital they have raised through the shareholding structure serves as a float for Otago Hoops for the next three years.
It is a costly business running a National Basketball League team.
Otago Nuggets general manager Angela Ruske declined to say how much it cost to run the Nuggets each year.
However, she said it was ‘‘well north’’ of half a million.
Otago Hoops also has to secure funds to keep the Southern Hoiho going.
Fundraising is a tough slog at the best of times, let alone during a cost-of-living crisis.
Ruske said getting people along to the Edgar Centre to watch the Nuggets and Hoiho was an important part of the revenue stream and a key to making the teams viable in the long term.
That will remain an ongoing challenge. But she was thrilled with how Otago Hoops has started.
‘‘The new ownership is working amazingly, both from a financially sustainable perspective but also from a community engagement level,’’ she said, adding the community had bought into the idea of local ownership.
‘‘I think having that local ownership has helped, but also having the team organised early, having the culture that [Nuggets coach] Jeff [Sparrow] has put in.
‘‘The effort that he’s put into developing a different culture that’s been there in the past, and having the players like Ethan Rusbatch, who really do lead by example, has created a really exciting vibe.
‘‘This is the most excited I’ve been around a team since I’ve been involved with the Nuggets, I think. You can feel it in the community.’’
Ruske is one of the 10 listed shareholders.
Four shares remain vacant and are being held by GHP Law Ltd. The Pearce Corporation Pty Ltd owns three shares — the largest holding.
They are an Australian family who also own shares in Melbourne United and were connected through the previous owner, SEN.
Dunedin businessmen Lauchlan Chisholm and Matthew Lane, and former Basketball New Zealand and Basketball Otago chairman John Gallaher, own two shares
Hip Hoppity Hoops Ltd — great name — owns two shares as well, while Ruske, WBC Holdings Limited, Jetr Corp Ltd, Andrew Lane and Christopher Roy own one share apiece.
