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Speaker 1: The NBL Blitz has indeed been a big hit, with

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Speaker 1: thousands of dar and basketball fans flocking to MA well

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Speaker 1: to I believe it was to the I'll have to

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Speaker 1: find out whether it was to the Convention Center or Marara.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is the CEO

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Speaker 1: of int Major Events.

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Speaker 2: It is Tim. What's for Good morning? Tim?

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Speaker 3: Morning Katie.

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Speaker 2: I'm good. I thought everybody was flocking to the waterfront.

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Speaker 3: No, look, there was, there was the three x three

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Speaker 3: that was there. But now the daw And Basketball Center

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Speaker 3: hosted what was a very successful NBL Blitz. I'm very

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Speaker 3: happy to say.

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Speaker 2: Mate, how many people do you reckon? We got there.

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Speaker 3: Look, we're still washing up the numbers. Our total capacity

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Speaker 3: for the week that will complete sell out every night

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Speaker 3: was around about eighty two hundred. We're sitting, as I

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Speaker 3: understand about seven five hundred. So people of the territory

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Speaker 3: and visitors alike really voted with their feet and so

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Speaker 3: they loved basketball. So it was jammed. There was there

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Speaker 3: was pretty night. It's obviously then Tuesday's a bit of

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Speaker 3: a struggle to get people out, but every the night

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Speaker 3: was just about four. Yeah, it was amazing, it was electric.

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Speaker 1: It is wonderful to hear. And you know, Territorians love

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Speaker 1: their sport. There is no doubt about that they love

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Speaker 1: their basketball from your perspective.

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Speaker 2: You know, now that it's all wrapped up, how did

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Speaker 2: it go?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Really well, I'm not going to shy away from the

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Speaker 3: fact that everyone that was out at Marara, I'm sure

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Speaker 3: had had an amazing time seeing the best of the

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Speaker 3: best in terms of what's considered the best basketball league

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Speaker 3: in the world behind the NBA. At Darwin. It was

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Speaker 3: pretty special. You know, everyone from kids, adults, grandparents alike,

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Speaker 3: it was. It was amazing and complete success. What what

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Speaker 3: we set out to achieve is test the market, I guess,

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Speaker 3: and see if this is this a code or a

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Speaker 3: sport that the territory can get behind on a long

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Speaker 3: term future around you know, potentially holding a license. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I can safely say that both US at major events

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Speaker 3: and the NBL were incredibly wrapped in terms of what

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Speaker 3: was produced. So look now it's I guess we've proven

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Speaker 3: the community sentiment piece. Now time to really start hitting

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Speaker 3: the putting a feat the rubber, I guess you could say,

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Speaker 3: or run on the road and getting a business case

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Speaker 3: developed and see if we can get something up.

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Speaker 2: So why are these discussions out now team?

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Speaker 1: Like, what's the next steps for us to have an

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Speaker 1: NBL team?

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Speaker 3: Good question. So once again we've proven kind of that

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Speaker 3: first box is box is ticked. I think there's definitely

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Speaker 3: that community support. We have had some amazing discussions with

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Speaker 3: the NBL throughout the week and they've been quite public

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Speaker 3: around their appreciation of the territory as well. So now

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Speaker 3: it's just making sure it stacks up. Obviously, financially, we're

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Speaker 3: looking at venues coming home to the team. The world's

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Speaker 3: the challenging place in the Laman Katie. Obviously, travel and

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Speaker 3: logistics and supply chains are all getting smashed. So we've

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Speaker 3: got to work through a really detailed plan around what

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Speaker 3: the next five to ten years looks like. I think

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Speaker 3: the earliest we can possibly get a team is kind

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Speaker 3: of that twenty four to twenty five season that we're

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Speaker 3: looking at, which is kind of two years from now,

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Speaker 3: but we will work hard. I think there's really a

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Speaker 3: chance now to try and grab it if we want

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Speaker 3: it and say the NBA this is ours as part

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Speaker 3: of major events. Due diligence. We'll get into detail now

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Speaker 3: and will present something to government to support hopefully and

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Speaker 3: not to this in future.

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Speaker 1: And so how quickly do you think that you know

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Speaker 1: that that work from nt major events perspective can happen

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Speaker 1: and be presented to government.

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Speaker 3: Look, I would love to hope that we've got something

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Speaker 3: up in at least draft form kind of by the

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Speaker 3: end of the year. To be quite honest, we've done

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Speaker 3: a significant a ount of work over the past eighteen

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Speaker 3: months with with the owners of the NBL, so we've

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Speaker 3: got a bit of an idea of where we want

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Speaker 3: to go and how we want to do it. We

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Speaker 3: will now go deeper with NBL in particular around player

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Speaker 3: contracting and rock we access and our strategic pillars being

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Speaker 3: indigenous and access to Southeast Asia. There's all areas that

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Speaker 3: we'll now highlight with a bit more detail to the

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Speaker 3: NBL once again. Hopefully then they can say yes and

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Speaker 3: by the end of the year, I'm hoping we can

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Speaker 3: probably have a bit more of an understanding, you know,

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Speaker 3: going into early twenty twenty three. This is something that

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Speaker 3: we can do and that's probably the latest we can

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Speaker 3: possibly do to get a team in towards the end

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Speaker 3: of twenty four anyway on in months is kind of

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Speaker 3: a limit. That's based on what the Tasmanian jack jumpers

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Speaker 3: did a couple of years ago. We had about eighteen

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Speaker 3: months to build it, so we're using that as our

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Speaker 3: as our blueprint, I guess. And the NBL had been

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Speaker 3: great and kind of looking at you know, we've done

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Speaker 3: it before in Tasmania. Why can't be doing in the territory

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Speaker 3: is what they're doying. So it's really time to you know,

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Speaker 3: try to get our thinking caps on and work as

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Speaker 3: hard as you possibly can.

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Speaker 1: And so from your perspective, you know, based on those

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Speaker 1: discussions with the NBL over the over the last week

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Speaker 1: and over the weekend, were they pretty impressed with what

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Speaker 1: they saw here in the Northern territory.

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Speaker 3: Yeah they were, they were. They've all they've all come

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Speaker 3: out of Melbourne too, by the way, so they did

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Speaker 3: enjoy a bit of reprieve and heat. But now they

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Speaker 3: were looking in all honesty, it was it was a

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Speaker 3: test case. I think I said this with you a

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Speaker 3: couple of weeks ago. You know, if if, if they

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Speaker 3: come out for the blitz and if and if we

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Speaker 3: can get behind as territorians and you know, then that's

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Speaker 3: that's the first step. And I can painfully say that

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Speaker 3: they were happy Vince. It was their CEO who enjoyed

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Speaker 3: the week in the territory and out of Marara was wrapped.

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Speaker 3: So think I think that was that was a key

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Speaker 3: point for the territory. If it was, I'll be honest,

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Speaker 3: if we didn't sell tickets and there was an atmosphere

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Speaker 3: and it was a bit of flop then before we

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Speaker 3: wouldn't gave in this conversation. But I can safely say

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Speaker 3: that that we're engaged now with the NML, and I

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Speaker 3: know I know Vince had some or the NBL had

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Speaker 3: some great discussions with a few of the ministers that

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Speaker 3: managed to get out and have a look as well,

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Speaker 3: and I generally there's there's a support there and it's

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Speaker 3: a it's an afford option for the team to have

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Speaker 3: for the territory to have a premier team in a

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Speaker 3: national competition. So look, that's that's the most exciting bit.

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Speaker 3: And I think coming to the end on Friday when

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Speaker 3: the thirty six took out the gong, that was we've

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Speaker 3: done that bit. Now it's now it's trying to make

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Speaker 3: sure it stacks.

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Speaker 1: So it is just a matter now of making sure

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Speaker 1: that that business case does stack up, and that'll be

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Speaker 1: something that the Northern Territory government have to approve and

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Speaker 1: if they do well, we're all all going ahead with

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Speaker 1: the with the NBL team.

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Speaker 3: Basically, yes, I think there's simply from a major events perspective.

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Speaker 3: You know, our bill's been behind this discussion for a

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Speaker 3: better part of you know, two or two and a

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Speaker 3: half years. But yeah, now it's just to make sure

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Speaker 3: it does stack up, particular financially, Like I said, hopefully

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Speaker 3: the world rights itself to be honest and get kind

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Speaker 3: of by the twenty four to twenty five seasons, so

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Speaker 3: we shouldn't be seeing those those exorbitant flight costs and whatnot.

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Speaker 3: The good thing about this too, though, is it activates

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Speaker 3: our wet season, Katie. So yeah, that's a that's a

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Speaker 3: big selling point for the territory in particular areas around Darwen.

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Speaker 3: So you know, accommodation and flights and all the things

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Speaker 3: in between can level out a little bit and become

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Speaker 3: a bit more on affwordable option. And that's that's for

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Speaker 3: a kind of reason why we're doing it. So yeah,

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Speaker 3: I think it's crossed. We can get we can get

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Speaker 3: some stuff to really make it work and press.

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Speaker 2: On and tim.

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Speaker 1: Would they be playing at the Waterfront at the Convention

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Speaker 1: Center there or would they be playing at Marara definite possibility.

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Speaker 3: I think what I think what we found out over

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Speaker 3: last week is wherever they're going to play, we're going

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Speaker 3: to need to do some work. The convention center up

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Speaker 3: is amazing and that's the center point of where where

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Speaker 3: Darwin is. It needs to fit out. Most basketball do,

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Speaker 3: most basketball teams do playing convention centers around the country.

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Speaker 3: Or if it's a Marara option, then then we're going

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Speaker 3: to do some decent fit outwork there. Either way, there's

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Speaker 3: going to be some couple of expanders, just spend to

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Speaker 3: get the internal of what those shells look like up

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Speaker 3: to grade they do everything from retractable seeding to the

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Speaker 3: big screens PA, everything needs to kind of go through.

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Speaker 3: So if it was if it was going to be

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Speaker 3: at the Waterfront, there's too an amazing there's two amazing

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Speaker 3: training venues out at Marara brand and at ball Center

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Speaker 3: and Basketball Center as well. So look we're halfway there

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Speaker 3: and we're not building anything new and such, it's just

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Speaker 3: it's just kind of doing a bit of a refit

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Speaker 3: which is which kind of helps in terms of our

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Speaker 3: economic because the economic woes at the moment as well,

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Speaker 3: so an affordable option.

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Speaker 1: Nonetheless, well Tim Watsford, it is going to be interesting

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Speaker 1: to see exactly what happens. We will keep in contact

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Speaker 1: with you. Thank you so very much for your time

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Speaker 1: this morning.

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Speaker 3: Good only Katie, Thank you