Netball will become the latest sport to welcome fans back into the stands this weekend.
Netball New Zealand has confirmed that the general public will be able to attend matches at the Auckland Netball Centre - the headquarters for the revised ANZ Premiership - from Sunday.
The first two nights of competition on Friday and Saturday are reserved for the team’s wider families and sponsors, as a gesture of gratitude for their support.
"It's been an incredibly tough journey to get to this point and we want to acknowledge the effort and commitment it has taken to ensure the ANZ Premiership can resume," says Netball NZ head of events and international Kate Agnew.
New Zealand’s elite domestic league will become the first professional women’s sporting competition in the southern hemisphere to return to action in front of fans, since the start of the global COVID-19 lockdown in March.
The 10-week ANZ Premiership starts on Friday when the Magic go up against the Northern Mystics at the Stonefields-based venue, where a grandstand will be erected to cater for a capacity crowd of 500.
The rest of the public will be able to purchase tickets from Wednesday for Sunday's and Monday's games, when the Stars take on the Pulse then back up the following day against the Tactix.
The remainder of the schedule will be announced on Wednesday.
Netball NZ is in discussions with teams and venues regarding a potential return to home courts later in the competition.
