HomokHarcos
Senior List
Discussion.
Do Australians care more about the NBA or the NBL?
- Thread starter HomokHarcos
- Start date
- Tagged users None
- Sep 26, 2012
- 34,933
- 51,826
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
Yes
- Aug 14, 2015
- 17,247
- 4,702
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
- Other Teams
- Storm, Knicks
lol does this actually need to be asked?
Matera92
Brownlow Medallist
What is this 'NBL' you speak of?
Upgrayedd
A Vote for Clive is a Vote for Justice
NBL is gaining momentum off the huge growth and popularity of the NBA in recent years.
- Jul 24, 2013
- 1,932
- 2,610
- AFL Club
- West Coast
NBA interest big jumping imports= NBL growth
didaksrightfoot
Premiership Player
- Sep 12, 2013
- 4,902
- 5,555
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
- Other Teams
- SA Spurs, Juventus
Overall numbers - probably NBA. But much more likely to have "casual fans".
Intensity of support - probably NBL. At least in Perth, the Wildcats have a pretty good level of support from the community, with high visibility and public promotion.
Personally I go through different periods. My intensity of support for the Wildcats was higher in the early-mid 90's (title years coincided with my early teens) and the mid-late 00's (the Challenge stadium years - personally I felt a much greater "connection" with a smaller stadium... haven't actually attended a game at the Arena - which puts me in a small minority given how good the crowds have been).
Intensity of support - probably NBL. At least in Perth, the Wildcats have a pretty good level of support from the community, with high visibility and public promotion.
Personally I go through different periods. My intensity of support for the Wildcats was higher in the early-mid 90's (title years coincided with my early teens) and the mid-late 00's (the Challenge stadium years - personally I felt a much greater "connection" with a smaller stadium... haven't actually attended a game at the Arena - which puts me in a small minority given how good the crowds have been).
- Mar 28, 2010
- 5,342
- 6,038
- AFL Club
- Essendon
- Other Teams
- Miami HEAT
If you can name more than five, you're doing well.
- Sep 26, 2012
- 34,933
- 51,826
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
Cortez Groves, Joe Ingles, Chris Anstey
BoxMatrix
Premium Platinum
- Jul 15, 2014
- 5,683
- 8,793
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
- Other Teams
- Los Angeles Lakers, Deontay Wilder
The huge popularity of NBA 2K17 really pushes the NBA above the NBL. However, the fact that the NBA has become the most popular American sports league in Australia has really increased the popularity of the NBL
- Apr 16, 2008
- 6,441
- 8,144
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- PHX
Ever since the Hunter Valley Pirates folded, the NBA has definitely gone ahead.
Cleavy
Hall of Famer
NBL is still a thing?
Why would you watch a crapper version of the NBA (NBL) when you could just watch the NBA?
I don't see too many caring about the NBL at all. At least not in my circles and at local level basketball kids are not walking around with NBL jerseys. The popularity of the NBA here is staggering to me now. It obviously got going with MJ in the 90s but from about 2008/2009 onwards it has really taken off. The availability of League Pass, illegal streams, Twitter and Facebook updates, Youtube highlights and NBA 2K has made NBA here massive.
It's weird in comparison to the A-League's popularity. The EPL is obviously popular here as is other European football but there's still a fair bit of support for the A-League. I think the NBA has been really smart in how easy they've made it to access NBA here on a regular basis compared to European football which continues to get harder and harder to watch.
It's weird in comparison to the A-League's popularity. The EPL is obviously popular here as is other European football but there's still a fair bit of support for the A-League. I think the NBA has been really smart in how easy they've made it to access NBA here on a regular basis compared to European football which continues to get harder and harder to watch.
- Aug 16, 2006
- 7,466
- 8,296
- AFL Club
- Geelong
- Other Teams
- Liverpool, Chicago Bulls
Bobby Locke, John Dorge, Ray Borner & Cecil Exum...
Look2Me4Guidance
Destination Club Supporter
I like both and watch both. Obviously the NBA is better skill wise but having gone to NBL matches when I was younger, when Magic v Tigers would sell out Rod Laver Arena, the current product is vastly superior in terms of crowd engagement. I love the game of basketball and particularly in an age where everyone wants things faster, eg T20 quicker, the NBL offers a quick entertaining game for families and the like. The NBA will always be superior but the momentum of the NBL resurgence is something I hope continues.
peternorth
Moderator
- May 6, 2005
- 127,454
- 75,573
- AFL Club
- Richmond
- Moderator
- #19
The comparison to the A League is a good one. Two local leagues fighting for a piece of the pie. Both supporters know the quality is inferior yes, and more people wear usa/euro merchandise than local stuff. in fact i dont know where nbl stuff is sold.
A leauge however you will find in rebel at least. it also helps that a league shirts can easily be worn around town and looks decent. wearing an nbl jersey with a nice pair of slacks maybe not so.
NBL is a pretty good time when you get down to a game. The Melbourne United games at The Cage this year had incredible atmosphere.
I care about the Jazz winning more than United though.
I care about the Jazz winning more than United though.
I know Perth is a bit removed from the rest of the country, but it's the complete opposite of your perception here. The Wildcats are very visible and have large mainstream interest and support whereas the Glory are basically an irrelevance. Obviously the passive interest in the NBA still clearly outstrips, but there is a lot of parochial support behind the Wildcats who seem to be a superbly run organisation that is in sync with the average WA sports fans psyche.
From what I've seen, the NBL as a whole plays it's role well, giving Australian basketball fans that opportunity to see a good quality product on their doorstep. Whilst hard to tell with stadium sizes etc. the crowds do seem to come out each night and support which can only be a positive thing. I think the one thing that would really start to elevate it's status here would be for it to be a genuine breeding ground for Australians ready to go to the NBA. With the college system so strong and successful in the US I guess that's unlikely to happen, but I reckon if it starts becoming a pipeline for talent coming through and people can really associate guys like Dellavedova, Makur, Simmons to local clubs there would be heightened interest.
Last edited:
YippeeYiYeo
Norm Smith Medallist
- Jun 21, 2015
- 9,087
- 14,295
- AFL Club
- West Coast
- Banned
- #22
well im from Perth and dont care much for the Wildcats or the NBL. Much rather watch some NBA games on Foxtel than go to a wildcats home game. I grew up with the 90's wildcats team as a teanager and loved watching Ricky Grace, James Crawford, etc but there wasnt as much access to NBA material as there is now.
splendidham
Team Captain
I wanted to say exactly the same thing. Just deleted everything I was about to say when I saw your post. Loved those 90s wildcats teams but I was always a big stat nerd, especially once I got to high school and loved the draft, even back then. I remember staying up late into the morning just to catch NBA games and never missing the NBA games on the weekend. My cousin and I would get pretty hyped for the top 10 plays of the week
Edit: was also far easier to get enthused about the NBA back then due to the over abundance of basketball magazine covering the NBA and my friends and I all collecting upper deck, hoops etc
The NBL stuff looked kinda lame in comparison
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited:
I did specifically say that there was more interest in the NBA, of that there can be no doubt.
But there is something that the Wildcats do that appeals to a considerable portion of the Perth market. They consistently sell out the arena, never have trouble finding sponsors and have devoted coverage by all of Perth's major media players - which is an achievement that has been beyond the reach of rugby and soccer. Again so there is no confusion, there is no question that people are under no illusions as to the superior product (out of NBA and NBL) which is reflected in viewership, but I wouldn't underestimate the support and goodwill out there for the Wildcats. When I was going through uni a few years ago it always surprised me of the amount of Wildcat merchandise you'd see being worn by guys.
splendidham
Team Captain
Yep. Especially the vibe I get from a few of my basketball following mates and from what I see on TV. I don't live in Australia at the moment so can't really say but it seems like a large majority of the support for the Cats these days comes from the uni crowd. I guess since Australian Unis don't really have their own school teams like their American counterparts, adopting a team like the wildcats seemed like the next best bet. It always seems a bit like a college basketball atmosphere whenever I watch the W'cats.
By the way, I really get a kick out of seeing the kids whose fathers who were the stars of the NBL back in the day finding so much success. I bought an NBL yearbook after one of the Wildcats championships one year and all of C Exum, T Pinder, D simmons and B Bolden were featured heavily. Just picked up an Exum and Simmons rookie card the other day. God I feel old
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Similar threads
- Sticky
- Poll
- Locked
- Poll
