The NBL Ignite Cup debuts this Wednesday, 8th of October, as teams compete for the biggest prize money in league history.

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On the 18th of June the National Basketball League revealed their new in-season tournament, The Ignite Cup, in an attempt to give the regular season a boost. The addition of the tournament will provide an extra 21 games throughout the season and teams will battle it out every Wednesday night, adding mid-week games to NBL26.

NBL CEO David Stevenson expressed his excitement for the tournament:

“The Ignite Cup is a huge new chapter for the NBL,” he 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.”

Wildcats hand NBL champs another defeat! | 00:55

The total prize pool will be $400,000, with $300,000 of the prize money going towards the winning team. The remaining $100,000 will go to the tournament’s runner-up. To sweeten the deal for players, 60% of the prize money will go directly to them, while the remaining 40% will go to the winning club.

All the Ignite Cup games will count towards the regular season standings.

How does it work?

The tournament debuts a unique scoring system that will help separate clubs throughout the season.

The winning team will earn three points, while the team who wins each quarter of the match will receive an additional point towards their total.

If there is a scenario where both teams score the same amount of points in a quarter, they will each receive 0.5 points.

After the 21 games have been completed, a standalone Ignite Cup Final will be played outside of the NBL schedule, which will not count towards the regular season. A time and date for said final is yet to be released.

Where can I watch?

The Ignite Cup can be watched live with ESPN on Kayo Sports.

The tournament kicks-off with two matches:

New Zealand Breakers vs Illawarra Hawks, 5:30PM AEDT, Spark Arena

Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United, 7:30PM AEDT, Qudos Bank Arena