A pioneering day for professional women's basketball in this country.

Player wages in the five-team Tauihi league will double this season - meaning female players will earn more than their male counterparts.

The season is also shifting from a July to an October start, with international expansion likely next year.

Sky Sport head of commercialisation Justin Nelson says the league has attracted a good range of corporate partners to fund this pay increase.

"This is a competition that started a couple of years ago, with some fantastic corporate partners coming on board- G.J. Gardner Homes, a few others through that growth period - they're coming back."

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