Hawks hunt for new Major Partner

The Illawarra Hawks are on the lookout for a new principal partner, heading into the NBL23 season.

The NBL's foundation club announced that Pepper Money, after two seasons of being the Wollongong-based club's front-of-jersey partner (which included spearheading the industry-leading Real Life Stories community program), are stepping down.

Hawks GM Basketball and Strategy, Mat Campbell, thanked Pepper Money for their support over the past two seasons, in which the club qualified for back-to-back semi-finals series'.

"Pepper Money has played an invaluable role for the club over the past two seasons, helping put us in a position to compete for the title and make a real life difference for the Illawarra community and Hawks fans, and we’re forever thankful," Campbell said.

During the NBL22 season, gross viewership for the Illawarra Hawks amassed 515,000 with a strong uplift in viewership from broadcasts on ESPN and OTT (Over The Top) streams on Kayo.

The average viewership on ESPN was 35 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Across all brands, Illawarra saw an uplift of 72 per cent in QI media value, which is Nielsen Sports' global industry standard for sponsorship measurement that takes into account the quality and weight of exposure, audience size and cost per thousand.

Furthermore, the Hawk’s front of jersey sponsorship spaces generated more than $1million in QI Media Value.

Social media is the main driver of growth, up 330 per cent year-on-year, while dedicated media contributed more than $1.4m of QIMV - an increase of 70 per cent as compared to NBL21.

The process of finding a new principal partner has already begun for the Hawks.

To discuss ways your business can partner with the Hawks, contact the club via partnerships@hawks.com.au.