Travis Knipe initially bought into Melbourne United in March with a 30% stake. It didn't take long for that investment to turn into something much bigger.
Just a few weeks later -- after an extensive look underneath the proverbial hood of one of Australian basketball's pre-eminent franchises, where he identified both a strong foundation and untapped upside -- Knipe quickly increased his stake to 75%, emerging as the central figure in a sweeping ownership restructure at United, officially announced on Wednesday.
The deal valued United at $50 million - the highest valuation ever attached to an NBL franchise - and ensures the club remains in local hands for the foreseeable future.
"Being a Melbourne boy investing in a marquee Melbourne team is a dream," Knipe told ESPN.
The sentiment is unadorned, but it carries weight. Knipe spent decades building StarRez -- a student housing management platform that grew from a regional product into infrastructure serving universities across the globe -- before stepping down as chief executive last year. He remains on the board, but the bulk of his focus is now on the NBL franchise he has taken majority ownership of.
"I love the pedigree of the team: the history going back to the Tigers, the success they've had on and off the court," Knipe said. "That was obviously a big attraction for me.
"I also look at it through the lens of business. I've been around and scaled my tech company to a significant scale, so I see this business as much earlier in its journey, in terms of the size of revenue, size of team members, how it's scaled."
Knipe's initial 30% investment made him the club's largest individual shareholder, but not quite its majority owner. That changed when long-time stakeholders Simon Hupfeld, Chris Moore, Simon Kelly, Callum Howard, and Michael Schneider sold down their positions, clearing the path for Knipe to take control. Brett Ralph, Kevin Li, Andrew Turner, Jeremy Vogler, David Brandi and John Hronis are also among those who are departing as owners.
"The first couple of weeks, I quickly realised we have an amazing team, and a really good foundation from the past owners, but I also saw tons of opportunities to make investments in helping them on and off the court that could drive even more tremendous success in the future," Knipe said.
"I have an incredible amount of expertise with international expansion, using technology and innovation to scale companies, so that's partly what motivated me to go from 30% to 75%
"There's a lot to work with, but there's a lot we could do to improve it as well."
And in a move sure to resonate with United fans, Knipe made his intentions clear.
"I don't look at this as a short-term investment," he said. "I'm not looking at this for dividends. I'm looking at this as a long-term investment, to build a really durable, sustainable club that's prospering on and off the floor."
Underpinning all of it is something more personal for Knipe. His two sons, aged 11 and 13, helped draw him closer to the sport.
"Our weeks revolve around basketball training and games," Knipe said. "We've been regularly attending NBL and NBA games for the last 10 years. I was looking for something I could do where I'd be able to involve my family more as I figured out the next chapter of my journey, in terms of business and life."
Knipe will work alongside Aaron Sansoni, whose stake in United increased to 25% in September, 2025.
"First, there's a lot of respect for what's been built at Melbourne United," Sansoni said in a statement to ESPN. "The previous group created a strong foundation: on-court success, a professional organisation, and a loyal fan base. The goal is simple: honour the past and build something that's materially bigger over the next decade."
The ownership restructure comes at a pivotal time for United, which recently began its search for a new head coach after agreeing to a buyout with Dean Vickerman, who spent nine seasons at the helm of the franchise. Vickerman effectively served as both head coach and general manager, and while he plans to assist in the search process, the new ownership group faces a major early decision.
"We're just at the start of the process," Knipe said of United's search for a head coach.
"We've got a really thoughtful process mapped out. We've been fortunate to have a really strong list of candidates come through the pipeline very quickly. This is a marquee role, where people love the club and love the city, so we've been really lucky... We've got some incredible candidates that are interested that we're starting to work through the first stages of our process."
Will United follow a growing league trend and hire a dedicated general manager of basketball operations alongside its next coach?
"I'm open to it, yeah," Knipe said.
"I'm still in listen and learn mode with the team. I'm definitely taking feedback from Dean, from [CEO] Nick [Truelson], and the team. It looks like that has been a potential gap where we could use investing in a role that couple help support us... For long term success, for sharing the workload and responsibility, it would make sense, but we haven't gone further than that."
United has had substantial success over the past decade, winning two titles and advancing to a total of five NBL Championship Series since the 2017-18 season. At this point in free agency, the team has Sam Waardenburg, Chris Goulding, Shea Ili, Kyle Bowen, and Fabijan Krslovic contracted going into the 2026-27 NBL season. ESPN's reporting is that five-time Olympian Joe Ingles plans to join United once his NBA season with the Minnesota Timberwolves is complete.
United was one of five teams to spend over the salary cap during the 2025-26 season - a soft cap, meaning they were forced to pay a luxury tax - and Knipe didn't rule out the prospect of being a willing, albeit thoughtful, spender.
"I grew up in a family business where we were very disciplined about where we invested money... but we were not afraid to invest money," Knipe said.
"I see opportunities for us to invest on and off the court, in order to get to a really sustained level of success. That doesn't mean burning cash for the sake of it, or trying to outspend everyone else... I'm pretty thoughtful about looking at where we may have gaps, in terms of resourcing or skills, and thinking through what the most logical, thoughtful investment we could make to get a really strong return out of it."