The NBL has officially announced a new in-season tournament, with the Ignite Cup set to be introduced during the 2025-26 season.
The new tournament will see an additional 21 games added to the NBL schedule, with the league's 10 teams to compete for a cash prize of $300,000.
But is the NBL's latest addition an exciting innovation, or an attempt at plagiarising NBA success?
NBL announces new tournament 'Ignite Cup'
The 2025-26 NBL season will feature more basketball than ever before, with the inaugural Ignite Cup set to take place every Wednesday from October 8, in a standalone tournament whose results will also count towards the final season standings.
This will extend the NBL's traditional schedule, which normally runs across weekends, and will look to expand the game and the league within Australia.
"The Ignite Cup is a huge new chapter for the Hungry Jack's NBL," NBL CEO David Stevenson said.
"We’re building something that adds more competitive fire throughout the season, creates more blockbuster games, and brings fresh energy for our fans every single Wednesday night.
"It's high-stakes hoops – and we think fans are going to love it. With 55 sell out games last season, these new games bring new opportunities for NBL fans to see their teams more often."
This is not the first time that the league has attempted something like this; during the 2020-21 season they played the 'NBL Cup', a 36 game tournament played from 20 February to 14 March out of Melbourne, which was discontinued after one year.
Is the NBL Ignite Cup another NBA rip-off?
Two years ago, the NBA introduced the 'NBA Cup', an in-season tournament similar to the model of professional football (soccer) - the difference being that these games counted to both the regular season and the cup - before the top teams battled for the title in Las Vegas.
While the NBL's previous attempt at a tournament was a standalone event, the Ignite Cup follows this NBA model, which is not the first time the Australian league has borrowed initiatives from their American counterparts.
The NBL also adopted the NBA's 'Play-In Game' format in 2022, and has consistently looked to associate itself with the league both through the pre-season NBLxNBA games, and the Next Stars program which acts as a pathway to being drafted.
But regardless of the inspiration, the Ignite Cup will undoubtedly draw more attention to basketball, especially in assuming the mid-week slot which most sports avoid.
"We're all competitors, so the fact that we get an extra four games this season, as well as the chance to win another trophy for our fans, is great and something we're all excited to be involved in," Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian said.
Success of mid-week sports tournaments
While the Ignite Cup is not the NBL's first attempt at a mid-week competition, it will also follow a long line of former codes who also had a crack at the work night tournaments.
The AFL attempted something similar between 2011 and 2014 with the Foxtel Cup, which featured the top state league teams playing for glory.
Previous to this, the NRL also had their own attempt at it, hosting the Amco Cup between 1974 and 1989.
The NBL will hope to be the next league to crack the midweek code, with the inaugural Ignite Cup set to begin this October.