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- Heading into the last quarter of 25.
Heading into the last quarter of 25.
Sponsored by Sports and Business podcast Scoreboard. Listen up!
Mivin Mathew & Mark Zmarzly
September 23, 2025
Welcome Back, Ballers.
Read all the way for:
→ Our sponsor spotlight,
→2026 January Tournament EOI,
→ 4 new runs (including two special SXBall events to coincide with SXSW in Sydney),
→ and an easter egg. 🐰
Combining business and basketball has been the goal of our community since we first started…that and getting a chance to improve health and wellness.
What better way to end Q3 than with teaming up with Chris Titley of Scoreboard to shine a light on his podcast work with world class athletes and organisations like the Sydney Kings, WNBL, and Dallas Mavericks. Check out some episodes in the links below. Game on!
Quick recap on what’s coming up. If any of these events sounds like a play you want to assist - let us know.
ATTENTION - NEXT TOURNAMENT:
We’re experimenting in early 2026 with a new format where you can submit your own team of 4 or 5 for a 24 team tournament.
Would be 4v4 (1 sub) half court games with a guaranteed 4 games and top teams playing in single elimination playoff.
We’ll have a “Scale Up” Division for the top players/teams who want to really ball and be crowned champions and a “Startup” Division for those who want to have fun, meet new people, and use the event as a chance to team build.
This “bring your own team” has been our biggest request in the past from Pre Seed to Series D funded companies and we’re going to host this in Jan.
We’re looking for sponsors for a lunch or drinks afterward as well.
We continue to play around with formats/timing, and that produced a successful and SOLD OUT run in conjunction with Something Tech in Brisbane in Aug. We had 1 court, 6 teams of 4 players, and 16 quick half court games with networking off court for the teams at rest. Each attendee received a custom Australian Startup Basketball <> Zeligate sponsored reversible jersey. Check out photos from the event towards the end of the newsletter.
We’re looking to host an upcoming event in conjunction with SXSW in Sydney on Oct 16th. Let us know if you’re keen to sponsor court costs for a chance to talk to the community. The SXBBALL run in 2024 had an excellent turnout of 40 players for a 2 hour run!
We are also undergoing a rebrand and consolidation of everything we are doing to better service and provide value to our community.
Any feedback, thoughts and perspectives are welcome as we shape our new direction - you know where to find us 🌱 🦄
As always, below is what you’ll find in this newsletter.
Info on our upcoming Events + Hoop Runs
SportsTech and Ecosystem Updates
Community Wins + Movement
See you on the court,
🔈️ KEEPING SCORE w SCOREBOARD 🔈️
🥳 CELEBRATING 100 EPISODES FOR SCOREBOARD 🥳
Scoreboard is a Brisbane based Sports and Business podcast that explores how athletes, coaches, owners, CEOs, and sports administrators navigate the game of sport, business, and life - defining success on their own scoreboard.
In this section we’re delighted to share the value of the Scoreboard Podcast for both the startup and sportstech ecosystem with some gems just for you.
But first;
Swyftx, Australia’s highest rated crypto exchange is a proud major sponsor of the Scoreboard Podcast. 💱 💰️
Pocketsmith, the segment sponsor of the Scoreboard podcast, is a personal finance software, offering “a crystal ball for your money” 🔮
And now onto some beautiful Scoreboard highlights:
→ 100 episodes and counting ( currently 130! )
→ Connecting 10+ sport ecosystems, with guests like CEO’s, Team Owners, Head Coaches, Athletes, Commentators and more.
→ 11,000 + Listens and growing.
All under one year of operation 🤯
Below are some recent episodes following the century milestone that are absolute basketball bangers we know will provide value to your startup operation, and passion for ball:
Chris also opens the floor with each of his guests to share a “Scoreboard Moment” - a highlight that is still vivid to them and has changed the trajectory of their life.
→ Brian Goorjian, Head Coach @ Sydney Kings + more.
Spanning a career for 4 decades, across NBL Championships, Olympic Bronze, and some crazy stints in the Chinese Basketball Association, Brian and Chris discuss leadership, resilience and culture across global basketball environments.
→ Leroy Loggins, Former NBL Player @ Brisbane Bullets
A timeless baller that left the streets of Baltimore, to shake it up in Brisbane.
→ Jason Cadee, Former NBL Player @ Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney.
A reflection on a long spanning baller career, constantly proving your value, and surviving a near-fatal car crash in 2010. A banger from the earlier days of Scoreboard.
→ Duop Reath, Current Basketball Player @ NBA, NBL, CBA, Olympics.
From a refugee camp to the NBA. An unforgetable journey for Duop. Listen in to this episode to learn more.
→ Danielle Mansell, VP Service and Fan Experience @ Dallas Mavericks
In this conversation, Chris discusses the similarities and difference between sports in America and Australia, as well as insights from Danielle in her role at the Dallas Mavericks. Topics covered include the value of brand loyalty, engagement strategies, adapting to changes in the fan ecosystem, and the importance of intentional activity when creating beautiful experiences for the modern NBA Fan.
She also mentioned Australia has the best coffee she’s tried. Another one for the books.
→ Mitch McCarron, Former NBL Player @ Adelaide 36ers
A solid episode reflecting on a decade long adventure as a baller, with energy shared for the next generation.
→ Cayla George, WNBL Player @ Melbourne Boomers.
Three time Olympian. WNBL MVP. Proud Opal. And Mum.
Enough said. Powerpacked episode.
→ Guy Molley, Head Coach @ Sydney Flames
A golden episode for parents and coaches alike. Guy dives into his history as a coach, moments of truth and realisation, and strategies for dealing with undesirable outcomes, both as the coach of a competitive team, and as a parent driving your kid back home from a game.
→ Jack Kelly, Socials @ Pistons Jack, NBL
From writing for fan blogs to landing at the NBL, Jack breaks down lessons of content creation, consistency, and goal setting.
🔈️ Tune in to Scoreboard by Chris Titley 🔈️
And be sure to follow him and the podcast on socials to stay in tune with future quality from the Scoreboard podcast.
Follow Chris on X
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn
Follow Scoreboard on LinkedIn
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
Local Startup Sydney Strong Forward Shyeon Delnawaz not only pulls down boards, he pulls in funding…$2,300,000 to be specific on his stats!
Read more here about Shyeon, his cofounders, their Pre Seed Raise, and how they are using a ferret to fix critical infrastructure! Intrigued?? 🙂
SPOTLIGHT ON VC OIF
OIF staffer Oliver Darwin is a regular at our Hoops Capital and King George Runs but we didn’t know that much about OIF until we say this great write up in the AFR about OFI’s founder David Shein. Rumour has it more OIF staff will be joining our runs soon so practice your off the ball hustle and quick pitches because these investors are looking for new teams to founders to back!
SPOTLIGHT ON GOLF & GENAI FOUNDERS
Join Z and other AI founders in Syd on Sept 25 at 3pm, read more here.
🦄 SPORTSTECH NEWS 🦄
NBA Launchpad Applications open in September.
An incredible initiative to support startups and basketball.
Check out the website, and this linkedin post + share this around with anyone you know building for basketball in ANZ!
Womans 3v3 Basketball League is popping off💰️
Founded by exWNBA stars, and with an oversubscribed Series B, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, supported by Serena Williams, Trae Young and more NBA personnel - Unrivaled is looking to kick off its next season in January 2026 with a BANG.
Players own equity in the league too. The game is evolving. We have goosebumps.
Read more at sportsbusinessjournal.com here
Mark Cuban reflects on the changing game of basketball.
Some interesting statistics from this podcast:
→ Teams collectively run 200 miles more per season now than they did 10 years ago!
→ This in turn results in a greater impact on athlete bodies, with more injuries being tied to this data point.
REMINDER ! NBA IN OZ IN OCT
The NBA is coming DOWN UNDER -
Click here to buy tickets and checkout the website if they haven’t already sold out.
PAST AND UPCOMING EVENTS 🫡 🦾 🦿 ⛹️
More of the good stuff.
If you miss out this time - you’ll always find the next event in your inbox and through this newsletter…though we’ve noticed less and less signups when using the Lu.ma invite function so may resort to direct emails in future if the trend continues.
Try adding [email protected] to your contacts to help make sure you get the invites.
UPCOMING:
If you’ve read this far and are joining either the Sydney or Brisbane September runs below, here’s a $1 off coupon for you as an Easter Egg: EDHA4P
SYD 🏀 SEPT 26th at 8AM @ KING GEORGE REC CENTRE: https://luma.com/0xuvm412
BRIS 🏀 SEPT 30 at 4pm @ QUT: https://luma.com/yvnh5zu1
SXBBALL at SXSW!
SYD 🏀 OCT 15 at 7:30AM @ SYD UNI DARLINGTON: https://luma.com/7rm93sto
SYD 🏀 OCT 15 at 8:30AM @ SYD UNI DARLINGTON: https://luma.com/uvta837p
RECAP ON RECENT RUNS:
From our recent run in Melbourne ❤️🔥 . Included were the founders of SuperStat…we’ve not yet seen the data but keen to share it later on and feature them in a future newsletter. Check them out here: https://superstat.com.au/
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