Feehan believes new €35m National Basketball Arena will be completed without any debt

NEW DEVELOPMENT: Basketball Ireland has announced plans for a €35m redevelopment of the National Basketball Arena, with planning permission submitted on Tuesday (19th December).

IRISH basketball’s blue riband event, the national Cup finals, could temporarily return to their spiritual home in Cork in 2026 to fill the vacuum left by the construction of a new €35m National Basketball Arena in Dublin.

Planning permission was submitted yesterday to build a new stadium at the game’s existing HQ in Tymon Park. Construction is expected to take 18 months, from the summer of 2025 to the start of the 2026-27 season.

Basketball Ireland CEO John Feehan is adamant the new centre, which will double the current capacity to 3,300 spectators, will be achieved without any debt or negative financial impact on any of the country’s 250-plus clubs or international programmes.

He also stressed that the sport should only be without its national stadium for just one season but major events, including the schools and adult Cup finals and international games, will have to be hosted elsewhere in that hiatus in 2025-2026.

“I don’t think there will be any problem (in accommodating major fixtures elsewhere),” Feehan said. “Obviously we will have to use venues that can’t take as many people but it’s all doable.

“Yes, Neptune is one (option) and there’s a new venue opening in Belfast also which could take an international for instance.

“This development will discommode some of our teams to some extent but the long-term benefits will far outweigh any short-term problems.” 

NEW DEVELOPMENT: Basketball Ireland has announced plans for a €35m redevelopment of the National Basketball Arena, with planning permission submitted on Tuesday (19th December).

The association is banking on receiving almost three-quarters of the funding from the government’s Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) and will look to commercial partners, a naming rights deal and other fundraising sources, including philanthropy, to raise the remainder (approximately €10m).

The current stadium already hosts other sporting and commercial events to wash its face financially and extending its capacity should increase that potential.

The support of Irish volleyball, badminton and squash is already being harnessed to strengthen Basketball Ireland’s grant application to government.

The maximum funding available from the LSSIF is 70 per cent.

“You can never be sure of anything but we would hope that we would get the maximum funding because we believe we have a very good case, not just in relation to ourselves but in relation to the other sports who are coming in to this with us,” Feehan said.

“In terms of growth and participation and a great diverse (playing) population and gender mix we (Basketball Ireland) are doing it. If the aim for government is to have more participation then that is a fundamental part of our growth which will also allow some more sports to grow as well.

“There’s no such thing as certainty in life but we are as certain as we can be that there won’t be an issue around debt,” he said. “We are in a very positive (financial) situation going forward and that’s one of the reasons why this is a viable option.

“We spend as much money as we can on the development of the game. This project should produce significant extra funds into the game when it’s up and running.

“It’s about bringing a lot more money into the game in the longer term. Without this it will be a much more difficult sell commercially to make the game get to the next level.” 

Given his €32 million donation to GAA county boards last week Basketball Ireland missed JP McManus’ largesse by just a week but they are hoping to unearth some altruism from other high-worth individuals with a particular interest in the game.

The current Arena, completed 30 years ago and a monument to the ambition and drive of then CEO Noel Keating, harnessed significant funding then through philanthropy, particularly from Irish-Americans. Feehan said that is a source, at home and abroad, that they will explore but not depend upon.

He said the considerable increase in participation rates has emboldened the association to take this step now.

“The current Arena, built in 1993, served us well but it’s time for a more ambitious vision for Irish basketball. The growth in our sport is phenomenal, we have almost doubled our participation rates in the last seven years.” 

The new stadium will increase the current facilities from two full-size courts to four and include, for the first time, a high-performance gym and a café, both of which can be leased out to commercial operators to bring in extra revenue.

FIBA (the international federation) seeks a capacity of 15,000 to host senior championships but this expansion would facilitate Irish basketball, and possibly some other national governing bodies, to host international events at lower levels.