December: President's Address

Thursday 19 December, 2024

Ahead of the 2023/2024 Annual General Meeting of Taipans Basketball Inc., I’d like to take the opportunity on behalf of the club to wish all of you Happy Holidays and I can’t wait to see a great crowd at our second ever Boxing Day game at the Cairns Convention Centre.
 
As always, we could not do what we do without the support of our amazing sponsors and I'd like to shout out our partners, particularly our new naming rights sponsor Kenfrost Homes & Residential Estates and new naming rights of high-performance CQUniversity. I’d also love to acknowledge the following organisations and the brilliant people that are part of them: Trinity Auto Group, Cairns Regional Council, The Reef Hotel Casino, Pullman Cairns International & Novotel Cairns Oasis Resort, Star FM, IFYS Foster Care, Status Signs, Queensland Country Bank and Studio Pilates. 

Our corporate support continues to grow year on year, we thank our partners for their loyalty and commitment to the only national sports team in FNQ. I’m pleased to share that not only are we at full capacity for our corporate boxes at games, but we now have a waitlist for the upcoming 2025-26 NBL season and beyond. This demonstrates the popularity of the Taipans’ entertainment package and the two-way benefit of being involved.

Just as important to the club, are all our members and supporters. While we didn’t make playoffs in 2023-24, we did see some very exciting basketball and our crowd numbers continued to grow; with an average increase in attendance on the previous season of 7.5 per cent. In a season interrupted by Cyclone Jasper and the subsequent flooding events, in addition to the team’s historic trip to the NBA pre-season, I believe our club and our fans have demonstrated a resilience like no other team in the league. 

Prior to the start of this season, we also saw Taipans' Next Star Bobi Klintman drafted in the second round by the Detroit Pistons. It was amazing to see the Cairns Taipans represented at such a monumental event, and we are proud to have played a part in Bobi’s career. We will eagerly watch his progression in the NBA and the G! 

Off the court, the Taipans finished the 2023/2024 financial year posting a profit and in the best financial position the club has been in since pre-COVID. This is particularly notable, given we are one of only three clubs in the NBL that posted a profit for this financial year. I thank the Board and CEO Mark Beecroft for their efforts to achieve this position through strict financial diligence and fiscal responsibility. It’s never easy, but to post a profit as a professional sporting organisation in Australia is significant.

In addition to the Taipans’ positives from the previous season, the NBL also had success in some key KPI’s: 

-        Broadcast views up 34 per cent.
-        Attendance across all games for the season up 12 per cent.
-        Online interactions with the NBL website and social media up 33 per cent.

Thank you to the NBL for their ongoing support of our club and the league at large. As the saying goes, “a rising tide lifts all boats” and we continue to work hand in hand with the NBL to drive support and growth of basketball.

I would like to take this opportunity to also acknowledge the Taipans Board for their unwavering assistance and efforts throughout the year. The organisation does not stop when the season ends, and I appreciate what they do during the season and out of it, to continue to grow our club.

A massive thank you is deserved to the Taipans front office and game day staff, without what you do, day in day out, we would not be able to deliver the game day experience that our fans have come to expect. You continue to challenge yourselves and the Board on how we can do things differently, and better.

With the smallest front office in the NBL you guys continue to punch above your weight and deliver outstanding outcomes. There are also some key initiatives we look forward to in the near future: 

• Benchmarking across teams on key KPI’s and data sharing with the league is about to begin, and we look forward to comparing where we sit against our counterparts. 
• The new ownership of the NBL & WNBL to grow the female’s professional basketball competition is sensational and something we have flagged we have a very keen interest in. Jasmine Amis and her team have already delivered TAG (Taipans Academy - Girls) with the strong support of the Queensland Government, along with Tristan Russell at NBL Assists and Richard Jaska from Trinity Auto Group. We will look to substantially grow this wonderful program in the new year. 
• NBL will be investing in additional staff as shared services, to provide further support clubs.
• We will continue to investigate and push forward on privatisation of the Taipans (as flagged and recorded in minutes at previous AGM’s) as the best way forward for the club to remain competitive. We will however, be always diligent in moving forward with the best suited party - not just the one with the most money. Our focus is for the Taipans to still be here in another 25 years by partnering with the right people.

This is just to name a few of the objectives currently in play. There are plenty more proposals and ideas coming from the NBL which I can’t go into right now, but needless to say, the coming years are going to be both very hectic and extremely exciting.

Once more, the Cairns Taipans organisation wish you all a very Merry Christmas and we’ll see you at our Boxing Day game and then our New Year’s Eve game, both of these holiday fixtures tip-off at 6.30pm.

Troy Stone
Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans President