October 30, 2024 • 10 mins
The boss of the new Indian Panthers basketball franchise is confident of building support in their south Auckland base.
Teams will join the men's NBL and women's Tauihi competitions in 2025 - with leading Indian representatives to feature alongside locals and overseas imports.
Auckland is home to the largest percentage of Indian migrants in New Zealand.
CEO Parveen Batish is optimistic the Panthers will resonate.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News TALKSB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
That's this News Talks there be. Today it was announced
that there will be two Indian expansion teams involved in
sells NBL, the men's version to either woman's version. They
are Indian based, well, they're actually going to be based
in South Auckland Pride. Predominantly they are from India. The
name is the Indian Panthers and we're joined now by
(00:35):
a man who is behind this expansion side. His name
is Paven Butts. It joins us now, Paven. Good day
to you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Sir, Good day to you too. I'm very good, thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Huge news today that there is going to be the
Indian Panthers involved in our very owner NBL, both men
and women, tapping into what would expect is what's hardly
the smallest market in the world.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Is it.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
No, it's it's fairly big, but it's a it's a
it's a great opportunity for Indian players.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
To be honest with you, if.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I give you a little bit of background on the
way that basketball is played in India, you'll you'll understand why.
You know, it's a popular sport but you know, nothing
like cricket. You'll find a basketball hoop in practically every
school that you that you would visit.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
The issues become as you get older.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
There's no real pathways, you know, once you leave university,
so people end up playing, you know, kind of local
basketball or statewide. There's no real professional sports when it
comes to basketball. If you're very good, then you make
it offered a job with an institution like the railways
or the army or navy, which is kind of your
(01:50):
pathway to staying within the sport because they allow you
the opportunity to play, especially if you play for the
national team and so on. So there's no real professionals.
So this is a great opportunity to open up a
different pathway for some player by bringing them over here
and actually playing in a home and away league, which
(02:11):
you know they're not used to. They're very much used
to tournament play which may last eight to ten days.
You play a game every day, but doesn't really help
with your development in the way that we're used to.
So it's a great opportunity to bring those players play
in this league, but also to play with international players,
(02:32):
so you know, we'll supplement the team with players from
New Zealand or from Australia or from the US, you know,
your traditional imports, and give them that opportunity to play
with and against good quality players and hopefully improve their skills.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I wouldn't say that Indian basketball is a hot beat.
I don't think many people would have heard of it.
But how big are we talking? How many people engage
at that lower level because there's no professional route for them?
And whereabouts? Is that the main focus? India is a
big place? Is it all over the shop Puving?
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Yeah, look at you know, the sport is played across
every state. Obviously there's some that where it's more popular
than others. So you know, the the national competition involves all,
if I remember correctly, all twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
States that play.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
It's it's difficult to gauge the popularity because there's no
real numbers that we can we can refer back to.
You know, there's not not the registration in the way
that we might we might see it. They play at
a state level competitions or even local level competition. There's
lots of tournaments that pop up three on three tournaments
or four five on five tournaments. So the sport is
(03:45):
popular and it's you know, there's a there's a following
for the sport and people know each other in the sport.
The opportunity we have is is really to you know,
encourage more people to play because they start to see
a pathway outside of just India. And bearing in mind
that you've got two types of audiences. You've got, you know,
one group of people who already know about the sport
(04:08):
and follow you know, things like the NBA and in
fact follow the New Zealand NBL on feb And then
you've got another group of people who are interested in playing.
And our job is to is to try and bring
those two groups together by giving them an opportunity to watch,
you know, a league where there's actually Indian players involved
in that league, not just the one off who may
(04:30):
make it to the NBA, NBA or or whatever.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Guess he's the Indian Panther's CEO. So how does this
come about?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
That's an interesting story. So we've been running some initiatives
in India for for about three and a half years
now and I actually rang Justin who's well known as
an innovator and to pick his brain on things like
the Rapid League and so on, and that short conversation
turned into I think an hour's conversation with potential opportunities
(05:01):
for running a you know, an Indian player's based team
in you know, well, we didn't know at the time
where it would be, and that conversation progressed very rapidly
into an MU and then we signed the agreement a
few weeks back, so that all of that took probably
about five or six months if that, So it's very quick.
(05:21):
But you know, like minded people make things happen, and
it was, you know, all down to him and him
asking me questions and probing, and next thing we.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Knew, Yeah, we had an MoU and here we are.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Doesn't surprise me at all from what I know of
justin Nelson. I mean, well, what about money involved here?
How expensive is this going to be. Where's the funding
coming from? Because at the base of it, you can't
get behind a sporting team if you haven't gotten Ney dollars.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Indeed, look, obviously our cost will be slightly higher because
we'll be bringing players in from India and we'll have
to house them and so on for five months and
then for three months with the women. So yeah, it's
going to be it's going to be a little bit different.
We're no different to any other franchise, you know. We'll
be looking at sponsors, will be looking to our investors
(06:08):
and so on to provide that that income. And as
we get the opportunity to grow into India, we think
that it will become commercially more and more viable for
us into into the future. So you know, we're not
expecting to be making millions of dollars after the first
year or two, but it's a long term project and
we'll see, you know, who we can we can get involved.
(06:31):
There's a big Indian community here, and the one thing
about you know, like most people from you know that
that go and live in a different country, is that
they like to hold onto connections back to their country.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
We're no different. I'm the same, and I.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Think giving the Indian community here that opportunity to have
some links back is going to hopefully draw people to
come and watch the games, but also sponsors and help
us fund what we're what we're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Long term broadcast rights. There must be some dollars there
purely due to the size of India and the amount
of people there were fifty per cent of the population
under twenty five to one point four billion, So there
are some there's some gold in them there hills, right,
we can't avoid that.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Yeah, look, that's a that's a question for the league,
No doubt we'll we'll help with you know, what we
can what we can do. But I think that was
the the opportunity for the league is to say, you know,
we've got this vast population, We've got this vast opportunity.
You know that the the way that you know, kind
(07:38):
of media and sport and so on is digested in
India is very different to what we're used to They
used to. You know, if you look at the IPL,
the IPL runs over a relatively short period of time
as a competition with games every day and so on,
and you know some of the T twenty competitions around
the world of mimic that. So it's a very different
(07:59):
way of selling something in But yeah, that's that's a
that's an opportunity that we need to we need to
take together, whether it's for sponsors or whether it's for media,
or whether it's an opportunity for sponsors to be seen
in a bigger country. That's what we've got to we've
got to try and try and generate and that will
hugely benefit everybody.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Pathan predominantly Indian players, but you have the space to
bring imports and the like. An are you running under
a similar structure to the other teams and sales NBL.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah, Look that the team will be largely Indian players
if you know, we have to convince them to come
over for five months, six months, whatever it happens to be.
But we one hundred percent will supplement that with with
with other players. There are some, you know, some we
want to make sure that the team is competitive and
you know NBL, you know New Zealand NBL is about
(08:57):
the right level for the players that we're we're looking at.
But you know, all the teams were very keen when
we discussed it with them to make sure that we
were competitive. So you know, we may get some additional opportunities,
you know, with with players, but that's that's to be
seen over the next few weeks in our discussions with
with Justin and so on. But you know, our priority
(09:18):
is to make sure that we're competitive and you know
we we add to you know, a great league that's
already running, has this Scott.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
The potential to go horribly wrong very fast. I either
team being out of its depth, not with the players,
not with the coaches, not with the support. You must
have looked.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
At that look.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I think it's a it's an interesting question for any
new franchise, you know. You but we've seen some great
success with you know, with soccer teams and someone who
who started up. We're no different to anybody else. We
have to you know, view it and run it as
a business. Employing the right coach is important, having the
right players is important. How we market ourselves into the
(10:02):
community is very important, you know. So whilst we're we're
you know, bringing players from India and and and we've
got players from New Zealand and so on. It's really
important that we get out into the community that we're in,
you know, and show that we're not just here for
you know, just to fly players in and fly them out,
but actually we want to be we want to make
(10:23):
this brand a part of the community.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
The fact that it has Indian panthers on it and
not anything else is you know, is a is a
great opportunity for for us. But we have to make
it local and that's what we intend to do, because
that will be, you know, will be how we become successful,
not just you know, as a fly and fly out team.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
We can't do that.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
For more from sports talk, listen live to news Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News TALKSB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
That's this News Talks there be. Today it was announced
that there will be two Indian expansion teams involved in
sells NBL, the men's version to either woman's version. They
are Indian based, well, they're actually going to be based
in South Auckland Pride. Predominantly they are from India. The
name is the Indian Panthers and we're joined now by
(00:35):
a man who is behind this expansion side. His name
is Paven Butts. It joins us now, Paven. Good day
to you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Sir, Good day to you too. I'm very good, thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Huge news today that there is going to be the
Indian Panthers involved in our very owner NBL, both men
and women, tapping into what would expect is what's hardly
the smallest market in the world.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Is it.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
No, it's it's fairly big, but it's a it's a
it's a great opportunity for Indian players.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
To be honest with you, if.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I give you a little bit of background on the
way that basketball is played in India, you'll you'll understand why.
You know, it's a popular sport but you know, nothing
like cricket. You'll find a basketball hoop in practically every
school that you that you would visit.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
The issues become as you get older.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
There's no real pathways, you know, once you leave university,
so people end up playing, you know, kind of local
basketball or statewide. There's no real professional sports when it
comes to basketball. If you're very good, then you make
it offered a job with an institution like the railways
or the army or navy, which is kind of your
(01:50):
pathway to staying within the sport because they allow you
the opportunity to play, especially if you play for the
national team and so on. So there's no real professionals.
So this is a great opportunity to open up a
different pathway for some player by bringing them over here
and actually playing in a home and away league, which
(02:11):
you know they're not used to. They're very much used
to tournament play which may last eight to ten days.
You play a game every day, but doesn't really help
with your development in the way that we're used to.
So it's a great opportunity to bring those players play
in this league, but also to play with international players,
(02:32):
so you know, we'll supplement the team with players from
New Zealand or from Australia or from the US, you know,
your traditional imports, and give them that opportunity to play
with and against good quality players and hopefully improve their skills.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I wouldn't say that Indian basketball is a hot beat.
I don't think many people would have heard of it.
But how big are we talking? How many people engage
at that lower level because there's no professional route for them?
And whereabouts? Is that the main focus? India is a
big place? Is it all over the shop Puving?
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Yeah, look at you know, the sport is played across
every state. Obviously there's some that where it's more popular
than others. So you know, the the national competition involves all,
if I remember correctly, all twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
States that play.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
It's it's difficult to gauge the popularity because there's no
real numbers that we can we can refer back to.
You know, there's not not the registration in the way
that we might we might see it. They play at
a state level competitions or even local level competition. There's
lots of tournaments that pop up three on three tournaments
or four five on five tournaments. So the sport is
(03:45):
popular and it's you know, there's a there's a following
for the sport and people know each other in the sport.
The opportunity we have is is really to you know,
encourage more people to play because they start to see
a pathway outside of just India. And bearing in mind
that you've got two types of audiences. You've got, you know,
one group of people who already know about the sport
(04:08):
and follow you know, things like the NBA and in
fact follow the New Zealand NBL on feb And then
you've got another group of people who are interested in playing.
And our job is to is to try and bring
those two groups together by giving them an opportunity to watch,
you know, a league where there's actually Indian players involved
in that league, not just the one off who may
(04:30):
make it to the NBA, NBA or or whatever.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Guess he's the Indian Panther's CEO. So how does this
come about?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
That's an interesting story. So we've been running some initiatives
in India for for about three and a half years
now and I actually rang Justin who's well known as
an innovator and to pick his brain on things like
the Rapid League and so on, and that short conversation
turned into I think an hour's conversation with potential opportunities
(05:01):
for running a you know, an Indian player's based team
in you know, well, we didn't know at the time
where it would be, and that conversation progressed very rapidly
into an MU and then we signed the agreement a
few weeks back, so that all of that took probably
about five or six months if that, So it's very quick.
(05:21):
But you know, like minded people make things happen, and
it was, you know, all down to him and him
asking me questions and probing, and next thing we.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Knew, Yeah, we had an MoU and here we are.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Doesn't surprise me at all from what I know of
justin Nelson. I mean, well, what about money involved here?
How expensive is this going to be. Where's the funding
coming from? Because at the base of it, you can't
get behind a sporting team if you haven't gotten Ney dollars.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Indeed, look, obviously our cost will be slightly higher because
we'll be bringing players in from India and we'll have
to house them and so on for five months and
then for three months with the women. So yeah, it's
going to be it's going to be a little bit different.
We're no different to any other franchise, you know. We'll
be looking at sponsors, will be looking to our investors
(06:08):
and so on to provide that that income. And as
we get the opportunity to grow into India, we think
that it will become commercially more and more viable for
us into into the future. So you know, we're not
expecting to be making millions of dollars after the first
year or two, but it's a long term project and
we'll see, you know, who we can we can get involved.
(06:31):
There's a big Indian community here, and the one thing
about you know, like most people from you know that
that go and live in a different country, is that
they like to hold onto connections back to their country.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
We're no different. I'm the same, and I.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Think giving the Indian community here that opportunity to have
some links back is going to hopefully draw people to
come and watch the games, but also sponsors and help
us fund what we're what we're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Long term broadcast rights. There must be some dollars there
purely due to the size of India and the amount
of people there were fifty per cent of the population
under twenty five to one point four billion, So there
are some there's some gold in them there hills, right,
we can't avoid that.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Yeah, look, that's a that's a question for the league,
No doubt we'll we'll help with you know, what we
can what we can do. But I think that was
the the opportunity for the league is to say, you know,
we've got this vast population, We've got this vast opportunity.
You know that the the way that you know, kind
(07:38):
of media and sport and so on is digested in
India is very different to what we're used to They
used to. You know, if you look at the IPL,
the IPL runs over a relatively short period of time
as a competition with games every day and so on,
and you know some of the T twenty competitions around
the world of mimic that. So it's a very different
(07:59):
way of selling something in But yeah, that's that's a
that's an opportunity that we need to we need to
take together, whether it's for sponsors or whether it's for media,
or whether it's an opportunity for sponsors to be seen
in a bigger country. That's what we've got to we've
got to try and try and generate and that will
hugely benefit everybody.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Pathan predominantly Indian players, but you have the space to
bring imports and the like. An are you running under
a similar structure to the other teams and sales NBL.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah, Look that the team will be largely Indian players
if you know, we have to convince them to come
over for five months, six months, whatever it happens to be.
But we one hundred percent will supplement that with with
with other players. There are some, you know, some we
want to make sure that the team is competitive and
you know NBL, you know New Zealand NBL is about
(08:57):
the right level for the players that we're we're looking at.
But you know, all the teams were very keen when
we discussed it with them to make sure that we
were competitive. So you know, we may get some additional opportunities,
you know, with with players, but that's that's to be
seen over the next few weeks in our discussions with
with Justin and so on. But you know, our priority
(09:18):
is to make sure that we're competitive and you know
we we add to you know, a great league that's
already running, has this Scott.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
The potential to go horribly wrong very fast. I either
team being out of its depth, not with the players,
not with the coaches, not with the support. You must
have looked.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
At that look.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I think it's a it's an interesting question for any
new franchise, you know. You but we've seen some great
success with you know, with soccer teams and someone who
who started up. We're no different to anybody else. We
have to you know, view it and run it as
a business. Employing the right coach is important, having the
right players is important. How we market ourselves into the
(10:02):
community is very important, you know. So whilst we're we're
you know, bringing players from India and and and we've
got players from New Zealand and so on. It's really
important that we get out into the community that we're in,
you know, and show that we're not just here for
you know, just to fly players in and fly them out,
but actually we want to be we want to make
(10:23):
this brand a part of the community.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
The fact that it has Indian panthers on it and
not anything else is you know, is a is a
great opportunity for for us. But we have to make
it local and that's what we intend to do, because
that will be, you know, will be how we become successful,
not just you know, as a fly and fly out team.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
We can't do that.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
For more from sports talk, listen live to news Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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