MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE BASKETBALL NEW ZEALAND BOARD
Basketball New Zealand Chief Executive, Iain Potter, will be stepping down from the role at the end of October. When Potter departs, he will have led Basketball New Zealand for just over nine years since starting the role in September 2012.
It’s no secret that Basketball New Zealand was in serious trouble before he started. The organisation was essentially on its knees with no cash reserves, few sponsors, and cut off from High Performance Sport funding. Potter was appointed to right the ship. Not only did he manage to do that quickly and effectively, he also fostered bold long-term strategies to create value and develop wider public interest in the game.
One of his early goals was lifting the New Zealand National Basketball League. When Potter arrived, the NBL was largely self-run, lacked commercial support and was generally ignored by media and broadcasters. In 2016, Potter became Chair of the NBL Board and he and his team turned to building the League into a broadcast property, with a long-term plan to attract commercial revenue. In 2018 the strategy began to payoff – in that year Potter signed the NBL with naming right sponsor Sal’s Pizza, broadcast partner Sky Sport, news partner Stuff and he also hired a full time General Manager which was a first for the NBL in over a decade. NBL viewership has since skyrocketed and Potter walks away having made a very significant contribution to a now thriving NBL.
New Zealand fans have also enjoyed the fruits of a significant plan to see our national teams play at home. When Potter arrived at the helm, the Tall Blacks and Tall Ferns played mostly abroad and had little presence in New Zealand venues.
A big challenge involved guiding the New Zealand Federation into the FIBA Asia Zone – the world’s largest and most populous basketball competition zone. This move saw the organisation tasked with finding the revenue to bring regular and meaningful basketball internationals to New Zealand, and regularly travel teams extensively through the Asia competition, without the luxury of meaningful high performance funding.
Potter’s team, who he describes as “passionate and committed,” took on the challenge. Basketball New Zealand went on to sell 100% of its commercial properties for the events and saw the Tall Blacks play in six home and six away tests, through six qualifying windows in only 15 months – a massive undertaking financially and logistically. FIBA acknowledged this by awarding Basketball New Zealand the FIBA President’s Award for its positive impact on basketball, and the commitment and contribution to the region.
Ultimately the move into the Asia Zone has seen New Zealand’s Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks back in front of Kiwis’ hearts and minds. Highlights would surely be the Tall Blacks vs China test in 2018, which saw the biggest crowd to watch an international in New Zealand, and the Tall Ferns Olympic qualifying event in 2019 – the first major women’s FIBA tournament held in New Zealand.
Potter will leave a strong legacy in the high performance space, particularly as basketball awaits the 2021 HPSNZ Aspirational Fund, which Potter was influential in developing through his inclusion on the HPSNZ review committee. Throughout that process, Potter advocated for other sports that struggled for recognition in HPSNZ tiered medal system of funding – he should be pleased that other sports will benefit from his advocacy.
Community basketball steadily lifted throughout Potter’s tenure. Participation growth has been well reported, Basketball New Zealand events including secondary school and age-group basketball events regularly broke their own registration records as more Kiwis turned to the game. Sponsors have backed these events and the fanfare for them has lifted each year.
In his spare time, Potter Chaired the Wellington Rugby Union for the six years through to 2020 and has been on the Board of the Hurricanes since 2012 (Chair since 2019). Prior to that, he was Chief Executive of the government agency – the Health Sponsorship Council – tasked with helping New Zealanders live healthier lifestyles and achieve Smokefree workplaces and bars, Sunsmart awareness and other beneficial behaviours. Possibly one of Potter’s biggest gifts to the New Zealand public and the sports sector, which is mostly unknown, is his leadership in seeing smoking brands removed from New Zealand’s sporting landscape and the introduction of the ‘Smokefree’ and ‘Quit’ smoking campaigns. At that time, Potter faced strong opposition as many sports accepted commercial support from cigarette companies. Now younger generations might find it hard to believe that smoking and sport were once partners.
Potter departs after guiding Basketball New Zealand through the harsh challenges of COVID-19 and helping to keep basketball aloft during this unprecedented time. In an address to staff on Monday, Potter thanked them for their support, tireless efforts and dedication, and said he felt the time was right to help find someone new to take over.
“It’s a good time for a new person to take the helm as we are soon to begin the next FIBA cycle of international events, we have an exciting opportunity with the recently approved Strengthen and Adapt funding from Sport New Zealand, the Sal’s NBL’s are at a high point, and basketball in general is on the upswing.”
Speaking of behalf of the staff, Basketball New Zealand’s Communications GM Joe Wallace said the BBNZ team wished to thank Iain for his time and dedication.
“The staff wish to extend our appreciation and gratitude to Iain for his leadership, positivity, tireless dedication and friendship. Iain always put people first and that’s perhaps why the organisation’s projects thrived the way they have. As a team, the staff and organisation achieved a lot with a little, thanks to Iain’s unyielding support. He is always respectful, encouraging, and seemed to make the right calls when faced with difficult challenges. He’s always operated with high integrity.
“He’s not one to speak of his accomplishments, so many will be unaware how much he has given to the sport. These sentiments have been mentioned by many of us, to each other, countless times over the years. We wish him all the very best for his next adventure,” said Wallace.
Upon hearing of Iain’s resignation, FIBA Executive Director David Crocker said he’s grateful to have worked with Potter.
“It’s the job of every CEO to leave the organisation in better health when you leave than what it was when you started, Iain has fulfilled and exceeded that expectation of him as CEO. Under his leadership, BBNZ has been a solid and respected partner of FIBA and received global recognition in 2019 of this with a FIBA Presidential Award.
“As a former CEO of BBNZ I understand the challenges as well as anybody and I greatly respect Iain’s approach to the role. The resources available to BBNZ have been significantly less than what other Federations competing at the global level have access to and he has found a way to deliver to all parts of the game. At times you need to make tough choices and prioritise with a broad perspective and he has shown courage to take these big decisions.
“Personally I will miss his regular calls that both challenge and support FIBA to keep growing our sport globally so we can have more people bouncing the ball than kicking it.
“FIBA genuinely thanks Iain for his contribution to basketball and we sincerely wish him well,” said Crocker.
Board Chair, Brian Yee, said the sport of basketball is thankful for Potter’s contribution.
“The Board wishes to express our gratitude and admiration for the way Iain has managed himself and his staff through some quite incredible years in our sport. As a result of his outstanding leadership, he has given meaning and life to our vision ‘A hoop in the heart of every neighbourhood’. Every facet of the game is now thriving and the popularity of basketball has skyrocketed through the roof.
“Iain has always led with the message of growth and opportunity, which is what the basketball community have taken and run with. There is still a lot to do, but the foundation that Iain and his team have created is quite exceptional, especially when you consider the challenges that the sport has faced over the years. We thank him for his service, his guidance, his dedication and integrity throughout his nine years. Basketball is lucky to have had Iain aboard,” said Yee.
Potter’s final day at Basketball New Zealand will be Friday 29 October. The Board will begin an appointment process immediately.
