How the Sydney Kings and Andrew Bogut fell into Paul Kind’s lap at TSE
Paul Kind wasn’t passionate about buying a sports team when his agency, TSE, acquired a 50% stake in NBL team the Sydney Kings last year. It was a business decision, a way to expose TSE to brands. The Kings fell into his lap when a deal to buy a 50% stake in the NRL’s Illawarra Dragons fell through.
And the same can be said for the Kings’ signing of NBA championship winner Andrew Bogut, who returned home to sign with the team last year. According to Kind, that was a win he can’t take credit for.
“Obviously Andrew Bogut was a pivotal moment for the league and a pivotal moment for the sport in this country,” Kind said, speaking at Mumbrella’s Sports Marketing Summit.
“Andrew fell in our lap. You know, we take no credit for the negotiation of Andrew Bogut’s deal. He’s openly said that he was preparing to sign with Melbourne. That didn’t come to hand and within 48 hours we had Andrew Bogut on our roster and a whole set of new circumstances to look at.”
Bogut returned to the US after his Kings deal, rejoining the Golden State Warriors in their bid for a three-peat in the NBA finals. Bogut had previously won a championship with the Warriors, who were a favourite to take out this year’s title, but fell short.
Kind said that TSE has an opportunity with the Kings to leverage interest in the NBA, and it’s one he’s recognised.
“I think it’s very easy for people to make assumptions that if you rub yourself up against the NBA, you get magically get an outcome,” Kind explained.
“And I think that’s been an issue for the game, frankly, because basketball faces the EPL [English Premier League]/ local A-League problem in that the best players weren’t playing here and Andrew changed the paradigm of that. And I think he’ll lead to others doing the same and so we saw him as a real opportunity.”
But Bogut has also made a name for himself off the court. He’s particularly active on Twitter, criticising ‘social justice warriors’, safe spaces, and political correctness, which led to his well-publicised feud with fellow Australian basketballer Liz Cambage.
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/754567103127048192
Kind acknowledged that Bogut isn’t one to hold back.
“You know, we had Bogut in our back pocket. He was controversial. He was high profile. He was prepared to put himself out there,” he said.
Kind’s background is in the NRL, and he believes that his lack of involvement in basketball prior to TSE’s stake in the Kings is an advantage, a way to maintain a level of distance and objectivity.
“We thought we could be passionate without being obsessive,” he explained.
“A lot of people buy a team because they love the code. Both Paul and I had very little involvement in basketball leading into the investment. I can tell you now, we’re both very passionate about it, the whole team is passionate about it at TSE. But you can’t be obsessive.
“And we deliberately set out to make sure that we checked each other and everyone in the business on that because … you can get lost in it and it leads to bad decision making.”
As for whether the NBL can compete with the NBA, or indeed other codes, for fans?
“We don’t mind if we’re their second team [because they primarily support an AFL or NRL team]. We don’t mind if they love the NBA and kind of like us, as long as they take an active involvement.”
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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Super exciting to see how basketball is being supported, considering it’s a major growth sport for Australia with clear pathways to international opportunity.
Now let’s get the WNBL supported so that we can sponsor both men’s and women’s talented teams to wrap up 100% of the population.
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