Formation | 1994[1] |
---|---|
Type | Publicly listed company |
Headquarters | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
CEO | Craig Hutchison |
Chairman | Craig Coleman |
Colm O'Brien Andrew Moffat Ronald Hall Chris Giannopoulos | |
Website | sportsentertainmentnetwork |
Formerly called | Ledge Group Limited (1994) Media Technology Corporation Limited (1994–2000) Data and Commerce Limited (2000–2004) Pacific Star Network Limited (2004–2020) [1] |
Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), formerly Pacific Star Network, [2] is an Australian sports media content and entertainment business. SEG is the owner and parent company of Sports Entertainment Network (SEN).
After going through a number of name changes in the 1990s and early 2000s, the company was known as Pacific Star Network for 16 years. [1]
In December 2014, Pacific Star Network acquired Morrison Media Services, the publisher of Frankie Magazine and Smith Journal. [3] They sold Morrison Media Services to Nextmedia in September 2018. [4]
In January 2018, Pacific Star Network acquired 100 per cent of equity in Crocmedia. [5] In September 2020, Pacific Star Network rebranded Crocmedia as Sports Entertainment Network (SEN). [6] Two months later, Pacific Star Network changed its name to Sports Entertainment Group (SEG). [2] [7]
In September 2023, it was reported that SEG posted a $9.2 million loss in the 2022–23 financial year. The company reportedly asked for covenant relief from the bank in the June quarter. [8] [9] In November 2023, it was reported that SEG required a cash injection or new investors in the next nine months to survive. [10] To finish the year, SEG sold 3.75 per cent of their sporting teams business, SEN Teams, and received $1.5 million in investor funds from new individual shareholders. [11] [12]
SEG's sporting teams business, SEN Teams, is the owner of five clubs as of March 2024. [12]
Under Pacific Star Network and Crocmedia, the company owned 25 percent of National Basketball League (NBL) team Melbourne United between 2018 and 2021. [13] [14]
In July 2021, SEG purchased rival NBL team the Perth Wildcats [15] [16] [17] for roughly $8.5 million. [11] In November 2021, SEG's New Zealand subsidiary purchased New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL) team the Otago Nuggets. [18] In March 2022, SEN unveiled the Southern Hoiho for the inaugural Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa season. [19] SEN Teams purchased Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) team the Bendigo Spirit in April 2022 [20] and acquired a Super Netball team licence in July 2023, [21] which became the Melbourne Mavericks. [11]
In May 2024, Basketball Australia granted SEN Teams permission to run a second WNBL club. [22] On 13 June 2024, the Perth Lynx's WNBL licence was transferred to Perth Lynx Pty Ltd, an organisation owned by SEN Teams investors Christian Hauff and Jodi Millhahn. [23] [24] [25]
The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle".
Craig Hutchison is an Australian journalist, sports broadcaster and businessman. He is the chief executive officer of Sports Entertainment Group and is the host of Footy Classified.
Sports Entertainment Network (SEN), formerly Crocmedia, is an Australian radio and television distribution company established in 2006. SEN's parent company is Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), formerly Pacific Star Network.
The Perth Lynx are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Bendat Basketball Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Northern Star Resources Perth Lynx.
Bryce Jiron Cotton is an American professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). In the NBL, he is a four-time winner of the Most Valuable Player Award and has won three championships. He is also a two-time grand final MVP, seven-time All-NBL First Team recipient, and has seven scoring titles.
Jack Bendat was an American-born Australian businessman most known for his ownership of the Perth Wildcats basketball team between 2007 and 2021. Previously involved in construction and media businesses with longtime business partner Kerry Stokes, Bendat was involved in philanthropic and sporting interests.
Angus John Brandt is an Australian professional basketball player for the Shinshu Brave Warriors of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for Oregon State University before beginning his professional career with the Sydney Kings in 2014. After two seasons with the Kings, he joined the Perth Wildcats, where he won two NBL championships in three years. He has also had stints in Lithuania, New Zealand and Italy.
Samantha Allison Whitcomb is an American-Australian professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Washington Huskies before making a name for herself in Australia with the Rockingham Flames in the State Basketball League (SBL) and the Perth Lynx in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She made her debut in the WNBA in 2017 and won championships with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020. She became an Australian citizen in 2018 and made her debut for the Australian Opals.
Bradley Robbins is an Australian basketball coach and former player who is most known for his time spent in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Perth Wildcats. He currently serves as an assistant coach with the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). He is also the head coach of the Warwick Senators women's team in the NBL1 West.
Andy Stewart is an Australian basketball coach.
Anneli Maley is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She is also contracted with the Perth Redbacks of the NBL1 West. She made her WNBL debut in 2016 and then spent two seasons in the United States playing college basketball for the Oregon Ducks and TCU Horned Frogs. With the Bendigo Spirit in 2022, she was named the WNBL Most Valuable Player.
Marena Whittle is an Australian professional basketball player.
Devondrick Deshawn Walker is an American professional basketball player for the Rockingham Flames of the NBL1 West. He played three years of college basketball for the Texas A&M–Commerce Lions between 2011 and 2014 before playing the first three seasons of his professional career in the NBA Development League. He later played in Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand and Latvia. In the NBL1 West, Walker is a two-time league MVP and a championship winner in 2022.
Rhys Anthony Vague is an Australian professional basketball player for the Cockburn Cougars of the NBL1 West. He made his debut for his hometown Perth Wildcats in the National Basketball League (NBL) as a development player in 2014. After four seasons as a development player, he was elevated to a fully contracted player in 2018. In his six seasons with the Wildcats, he was a part of four championship teams in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Vague also made a name for himself in the State Basketball League (SBL), playing for the Cockburn Cougars, East Perth Eagles and Stirling Senators, earning the State Basketball League Most Improved Player Award in 2015. Between 2020 and 2023, he played in Japan for the Kagawa Five Arrows.
Sunday Dech is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for the East Perth Eagles of the NBL1 West. He is also contracted with the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He is a two-time NBL champion with the Perth Wildcats, having won in 2014 and 2019. Dech played NCAA Division II college basketball for the Metro State Roadrunners and Barry Buccaneers.
Ryan Petrik is an Australian basketball coach who currently serves as head coach of the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). Prior to becoming head coach of the Lynx in 2020, Petrik led the Rockingham Flames women's team in the State Basketball League (SBL) to two championships in 2014 and 2015 and earned SBL Coach of the Year honours in 2012. Between 2015 and 2020, he served as an assistant coach with the Lynx, and between 2019 and 2023, he served as head coach of the Flames men's team. In 2022, he was named the WNBL Coach of the Year and guided the Flames men to the NBL1 West championship and NBL1 National championship.
Alexandra Jane Sharp is an Australian professional basketball player.
Jarred Bairstow is an Australian professional basketball player for the Southern Districts Spartans of the NBL1 North. He played three seasons of college basketball in the United States for the Central Oklahoma Bronchos before returning to Australia and spending the 2016–17 season as a development player with his hometown Brisbane Bullets in the National Basketball League (NBL). Between 2020 and 2024, he played one season with the Perth Wildcats and three seasons with the Tasmania JackJumpers.
Aarion Shawnae McDonald is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and for the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in Australia. She was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the 2021 WNBA draft after playing college basketball at the University of Washington and the University of Arizona.
Ben Henshall is an Australian professional basketball player for the Otago Nuggets of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He is also contracted with the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played for the BA Centre of Excellence in the NBL1 in 2022 and 2023.
The year saw two rebrands under CEO Craig Hutchison with the names Pacific Star Network and Crocmedia being dropped for Sports Entertainment Group and Sports Entertainment Network.
New Perth Wildcats owners, Sports Entertainment Group are in the final stage of selling their shares in Melbourne United and will have completed the deal before the start of the NBL season. SEG bought the Wildcats from Jack Bendat in July and promised to divest their 25 per cent stake in the NBL champions.
Bravo has been considering getting back into representing current athletes for some time after merging in with Pacific Star Network and the broader Crocmedia business...