The inaugural HoopsFest, a slate of blockbuster games in the opening few rounds, and a week of rivals battling it out highlight the newly-released schedule for the 2024-25 NBL regular season.
Once the HoopsFest action in Perth is complete -- that week acting as Round 1 -- all NBL eyes will descend onto Melbourne for the first Throwdown of the new regular season, with United taking on the new-look South East Melbourne Phoenix on September 26, 2024.
That's the first of multiple expected blockbusters to open the new season. The Sydney Kings will play their opening game against the Adelaide 36ers as part of HoopsFest in Perth on September 22, then stay in the city as they prepare for a matchup with the Wildcats on Friday, September 27. The Kings will play their first home game on Sunday, September 29 against the Illawarra Hawks; the opening 'Freeway Series' game of the new season, and the return of new head coach Brian Goorjian and returning star Xavier Cooks to Qudos Bank Arena.
There will also be two Championship Series rematches in the first two weeks of the season. United and the Tasmania JackJumpers face off in the NBL's season opener on Thursday, September 19 at Perth's RAC Arena, with another matchup between the pair of powerhouses set for Saturday, September 28 in Tasmania's MyState Bank Arena.
"Excitement is building for next season, and we are thrilled to announce a schedule that'll see the campaign begin with a bang in Perth," NBL CEO, David Stevenson, said.
"There's real anticipation for us to be back playing, and having the combination of the biggest weekend in Australian basketball history with HoopsFest, alongside a Round 2 schedule that's jam-packed with great matchups, ensures we will return in the biggest way possible.
"Fans are at the forefront of everything we do, and after welcoming more than a million people through the gates for the first time since 1996, we have developed a schedule that is filled with family friendly timeslots, especially through the summer holidays."
The Brisbane Bullets will christen the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in their Round 3 matchup with the Kings, with the team reinstating the Boondall venue as their home floor.
The New Zealand Breakers will play their first home game on Sunday, September 29 against the Phoenix, and don't play another regular season NBL game until October 17. During that period of time, the Breakers will play a pair of NBA preseason games, sources told ESPN; one against the Utah Jazz, and the other against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This regular season will see a continuation of Christmas Day games, with the Kings hosting the Hawks, while the Breakers head to Tasmania for a matchup.
January of 2025 projects as an extremely busy month of NBL basketball, with 35 games set to be played between January 2-25. From January 7-20, there will be at least one game per day.
The 20th and final round of the season acts as a 'rivals week', of sorts. The Cairns Taipans and Bullets face off in a 'Sunshine Stoush' on Thursday, February 6; while the action on Friday, February 7 will see the season's last edition of the 'Freeway Series' between the Kings and Hawks, as well as a matchup of traditional rivals Perth and Adelaide. That week - and the regular season - concludes on Saturday, February 8 with one last Throwdown matchup between the Phoenix and United.
The February 8 end to the regular season is 10 days earlier than the finish of the previous season.
There's a FIBA window from November 18-26, 2024. There's also one from February 17-25, 2025, so the NBL could endeavour to have its play-in games complete before then; last season, the play-in games were played following that FIBA break. The Australian Boomers will be in action for both of those FIBA windows, competing in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Every game of the season will be broadcast on ESPN.