how to fix the NBL?

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#26
Tassie is happy with our 3 teams in the SEABL.

It works better. We showed we just weren't suited to the NBL and a state team. The three different teams works well and I would want to change it.

I also cant see a resurrection of NBL basketball in this country. Just have to battle how it is.
they need another nbl team hey.
 

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btdg

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#27
The biggest issue for basketball in Australia, as far as I'm concerned, is that it is entirely concerned with children. It is marketed to children, games are entirely 'family friendly' etc.

Outside of limited representative basketball (ABA/Big V in victoria), there is no organised adult competition. The thousands of people who play basketball as juniors simply quit at adult level, or play domestically. Compare that to footy, where club football revolves largely around adult clubs with thriving social lives. Because basketball clubs are entirely focused around juniors, the NBL audience is focused entirely around juniors. There just isn't a link to the NBL through enough other sources. Attend an NBL match, and the crowd is 70% families with young kids. The problem with that is that juniors are at the mercy of their parents. If the parents don't want to be members, or go every week, then the kids won't. Plus, kids tend to play Friday night (VC) and saturday morning. What parents are going to want to attend a third match that night? Kids also aren't a great demographic for advertisers, because they don't have an income themselves, and their parents tend to be fairly financially pressured already.

Really, the target demographic for sport should be 14-30. At that age, people have developed enough maturity to engage seriously with their team, and to make a genuine financial committment. Older kids, uni students and young adults are the people who will go to games every week, for whom it makes sense to fork out $200 for season tickets. People aged 14-30 are the target demographic advertisers dream about - high disposable incomes, no kids or committments to worry about.

For basketball in Australia to survive, it needs a thorough makeover, right across the board. The many clubs need to somehow make a concerted effort to retain their juniors into adulthood, not just at elite level, but in retaining them in systematic adult competition for all interested players. As with footy, if you have a club of 50-60 adults competiting on a weekly basis, you can sustain a social club, which brings in additional money. It keeps those adults in touch with the wider world of basketball. The NBL needs to then market directly to those adults, the ones with the money.

Other sports do this already. Golf, motor sport, horse racing, Rugby union - all directed almost entirely at adults, and all financially successful in Australia. Its not that hard, really, basketball just needs to find a way to do it...
 

Alex99

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#28
The biggest issue for basketball in Australia, as far as I'm concerned, is that it is entirely concerned with children. It is marketed to children, games are entirely 'family friendly' etc.

Outside of limited representative basketball (ABA/Big V in victoria), there is no organised adult competition. The thousands of people who play basketball as juniors simply quit at adult level, or play domestically. Compare that to footy, where club football revolves largely around adult clubs with thriving social lives. Because basketball clubs are entirely focused around juniors, the NBL audience is focused entirely around juniors. There just isn't a link to the NBL through enough other sources. Attend an NBL match, and the crowd is 70% families with young kids. The problem with that is that juniors are at the mercy of their parents. If the parents don't want to be members, or go every week, then the kids won't. Plus, kids tend to play Friday night (VC) and saturday morning. What parents are going to want to attend a third match that night? Kids also aren't a great demographic for advertisers, because they don't have an income themselves, and their parents tend to be fairly financially pressured already.
Football and basketball are completely different via the culture inside the community. Football is engrained into everyone as a community event. Basketball is just a sport people play for recreational reasons.

I understand what you’re trying to say but I don’t feel this is an important factor in why the NBL fails to deliver its key message.

In Adelaide junior basketball is not scheduled if the Sixer play a home game on the Friday night, I guess this is different in Victoria with the Dragons and Tigers. Possibly something the different associations could look at.


Really, the target demographic for sport should be 14-30. At that age, people have developed enough maturity to engage seriously with their team, and to make a genuine financial committment. Older kids, uni students and young adults are the people who will go to games every week, for whom it makes sense to fork out $200 for season tickets. People aged 14-30 are the target demographic advertisers dream about - high disposable incomes, no kids or committments to worry about.
I disagree with this statement because the ‘family market’ is definitely the correct line to follow. Over the last 10 or so year the NBL have cost cut at every possible opportunity and it appears as if they do not have a marketing strategy in place. Any descent or even half arsed marketing strategy would look at all parts of consumer marketing and try and communicate that message to the user, buyer and payer.

You are correct in saying the child is the user but the mother in this process is normally the buyer (this is why the AFL is getting so finicky in it body contact and brutality) in the process and the father is the payer. IMO the NBL is dying or almost dead in this country is the fact the NBL has no advertising or marketing strategy in place to attract this line of consumers. You are right in saying older kids, uni students and young adults are the people who will go to games but by attracting them to the game as 8 or 9 year old you are developing brand loyalty.

As 14 - 30 year old move into that key demographic you are talking about they start to develop different interests but if they have that established relationship with the game as a child they are more prone to hang around and bring a friend. The mums and dads will continue to go or bring different people with them or as the kids get older they may bring the grandchildren.


For basketball in Australia to survive, it needs a thorough makeover, right across the board. The many clubs need to somehow make a concerted effort to retain their juniors into adulthood, not just at elite level, but in retaining them in systematic adult competition for all interested players. As with footy, if you have a club of 50-60 adults competiting on a weekly basis, you can sustain a social club, which brings in additional money. It keeps those adults in touch with the wider world of basketball. The NBL needs to then market directly to those adults, the ones with the money.

Other sports do this already. Golf, motor sport, horse racing, Rugby union - all directed almost entirely at adults, and all financially successful in Australia. Its not that hard, really, basketball just needs to find a way to do it...
I agree with what you are saying but you will find the adults who play are normally the one who already have kids who play. It sounds simply and quite logical but for some reason it doesn’t happen or not sustainable on a long term basis.

It comes back to the National Basketball League being able to communicate the 4 P’s of marketing to its intended target audience.

The NBL needs to find a strategy and implement that over a short and long term period of time. Aim for short term goals and have the same message married in with the long term one. Recreationally the game is healthy because it’s something like the highest or second highest participation rate between 9 and 16 year olds.

Marketing the game towards families is the way to go but they also need to have strategies in place to attract the demographic you have identified.
 

FFB1

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#29
Few points (and apologies as most of this is purely Melbourne based):

Issue #1 - Cost - Tigers game at the netball & hockey centre for the average punter - $35 (for an average seat) for a game lasting 2 hours. Cost of an AFL game for the average punter - $20 for 3hrs. I dont have kids so have never purchased one but I can only assume the cost of family pass to an NBL game is rather high?

Issue #2 (for Melbourne Tigers anyway) - the stadium. The growth corridor for families in Melbourne is most prominent in, arguably, the South Eastern suburbs - nowhere near where the Tigers play. Theres nothing that would encourage a family to make a trip that far - i would have though the NBL would be looking at promoting the sport to youth just like soccer has managed to do and they arent going to manage to do that where they play at the moment - theres no way families are brought up in Parkville/Melbourne Zoo area. Play some games for points away from the State Netball Hockey Centre - there are plenty of stadiums that fit the crowds the Tigers are getting.

Issue # 3 - Television... No control over this but (god love it) foxtel taking it on hasnt been ideal - besides that, we get 2 live games on per week. Hardly enough to increase the following. Hell, we get more Antarctican Soccer League and Worlds Strongest Man (which I wasnt aware was a popular sport in Australia nor have we ever had a parcipant in?) than BBall.

Issue # 4 - Funding - NBL is not going to improve while it receives the sponsorship it currently gets. I've mentioned in a previous post that if you asked Joe on the street which car company sponsored the NBL Hummer would be pick # 20. Nothing against Hummer, if it wasnt for them we'd have no league, but I'm picking that the sponsorship deal is sweet f all. I cant offer any suggestions as to what I think the NBL should do (they have marketing gurus for that) but perhaps some kind of survey conducted at local stadiums may assist them, however getting back to my first point why do people, especially families, want to travel 50km across town to follow the Tigers when they have their own 'team' ie Knox Raiders out my way? Perhaps the Tigers playing a game at KNox during the season could assist (ala Hawthorn in Tassie).

Issue # 5 - get back to you on that one, you've probably had enough of my critique and congratulations if you actually read all this!
 
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#30
Unlike the way Soccer capitilised on the success of the socceroos at the world cup. If Australia managed to win a World Champs or Olympic Gold it wouldn't really make one bit of difference to the sport in Australia. Really outlines the major issue. The sport is also struggling in the states in my opinion. The game is constantly looking for it's next savior. The root of the issue.
 

tandino

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#31
Unlike the way Soccer capitilised on the success of the socceroos at the world cup. If Australia managed to win a World Champs or Olympic Gold it wouldn't really make one bit of difference to the sport in Australia.
I think you are not quite correct there.

The FFA were very lucky that they were in the right place at the right time. There is no doubt that the World Cup has had a positive impact on the success of the A-League, but the A-League was pretty successful from the outset, before Australia even qualified, through competant management at all levels, a sound strategy on how to manage all facets of the competition, and a vision for the future, all three of which are lacking at the NBL.

The World Championships are not going to drag people through the gate. You will be hard pressed to find someone on the street that would know when and where the last one was held, let alone who won it or, more importantly I guess, how Australia went.

The Olympic Games, due to the heightened interest in all things associated with the Olympics, is different. If Australia was to get into the gold medal match with the United States, for instance, ratings for that particular match will go through the roof.

Win or lose, it would give the NBL a sound base in which to market and grow the league. If they are in any way competant, there would be easy money to be made.

At the end of the day, it's a long shot. The NBL could do a various amount of things to improve their lot in the Australian sporting landscape, which they actually have control of, as opposed to sitting back and hoping for a medal in Beijing.
 
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#32
I think you are not quite correct there.

The FFA were very lucky that they were in the right place at the right time. There is no doubt that the World Cup has had a positive impact on the success of the A-League, but the A-League was pretty successful from the outset, before Australia even qualified, through competant management at all levels, a sound strategy on how to manage all facets of the competition, and a vision for the future, all three of which are lacking at the NBL.

The World Championships are not going to drag people through the gate. You will be hard pressed to find someone on the street that would know when and where the last one was held, let alone who won it or, more importantly I guess, how Australia went.

The Olympic Games, due to the heightened interest in all things associated with the Olympics, is different. If Australia was to get into the gold medal match with the United States, for instance, ratings for that particular match will go through the roof.

Win or lose, it would give the NBL a sound base in which to market and grow the league. If they are in any way competant, there would be easy money to be made.

At the end of the day, it's a long shot. The NBL could do a various amount of things to improve their lot in the Australian sporting landscape, which they actually have control of, as opposed to sitting back and hoping for a medal in Beijing.
Yeah good points all round. I just feel that soccer has fans waiting in the wings. Large multi cultural country full of potential Melbourne Victory fans. They just needed a decently setup and ran competition to get on board. I hope basketball would have the same but I fear it's not so.

Magic v Tigers and 15000 strong at the tennis centre seems like a lifetime ago.
 
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#33
they gotta get rid of this 3500 seat stadium with Air Cond. crap.

Bring back a few more Foundation clubs such as Canberra, Newcastle etc. Along with the Geelong SuperCats, Nth Melb and Hobart Devils.

Make an exception 4 the 1st few years until they build a steady ground.
 

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#34
they gotta get rid of this 3500 seat stadium with Air Cond. crap.

Bring back a few more Foundation clubs such as Canberra, Newcastle etc. Along with the Geelong SuperCats, Nth Melb and Hobart Devils.

Make an exception 4 the 1st few years until they build a steady ground.
What??? Are you kidding? Apart from maybe Hobart none of those teams would be viable and thats why they failed. Canberra has little corporate support that is stretched to keep 2 rugby teams afloat, Newcastle don't have the crowds (Wollongong is going the same way the Falcons and Pirates did) and like Canberra had their corporate support stretched with an NRL team, the last thing we need to happen to the Dragons is for them to get lower crowds then now since the Giants would just take their numbers and don't even get me started on Geelong.

And a 3,500 seat stadium is much better then a 10k seat stadium that is half empty.
 

tandino

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#35
they gotta get rid of this 3500 seat stadium with Air Cond. crap.

Bring back a few more Foundation clubs such as Canberra, Newcastle etc. Along with the Geelong SuperCats, Nth Melb and Hobart Devils.

Make an exception 4 the 1st few years until they build a steady ground.
Can not, should not and will not happen.

Newcastle had two shots at the NBL, with the Falcons and the Pirates, and both failed in the end.

If the Canberra Cannons couldn't round up enough support back in the late 90's, no basketball team will in that town.

Same with Geelong

Same with Hobart

Melbourne already has two teams, adding another would be a extreme example of stupidity from those in power making these decisions.
 

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#36
The Problem with NBL and the A-League (to a degree) is that they are very low quality the difference is the A-League improves on it each season whilst basketball only seems to get worse each year. I recently got foxtel and I decided to watch a NBL game (I said I supported the Dragons because of Shane Heal) but as soon as I turned it on I watched about 2 minutes of it and turned it off and swore to myself to never watch another NBL game in my life...Coming from an AFL fan I would rather watch a NRL game than NBL game, if you think NRL is boring NBL is at least 10 times worse and it even worse when you have the NBA on the same channel and its quality is amazing and games are entertaining! I like Basketball I just believe the NBL is dying slowly and I would be quiet confident that Foxtel wont even want to renew its contract with the NBL when it expires letalone get back on FTA.
 

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Alberton_Magpie

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#37
Oh and my friend said he went to a NBL game this season and it was so boring he nearly fell asleep and would never go again...sorry to tell you guys NBL will be dead in 10 years!
 

btdg

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#38
I honestly feel like the NBL has probably run its race anyway. Time to push agressively into Asia with an Asian Superleague. Europe has a superleague, which allows it to sustain a high-standard competition. Australia, with a population 20 million, is never going to maintain a well-run, highly paid competition. But throw in the Asian markets, and its a whole new ball-game.

I'm thinking 4 Australian franchises - Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane. The Melbourne franchise should be a new one, not the Tigers; one of the major problems the Tigers face is that everyone hates them in junior basketball, yet is expected to support their senior team! The rest of the league would feature something like 3 Japanese teams, 3 Chinese, 2 based in the Phillipines, and one in Korea, Malaysia etc. No restrictions on imports or players; lets get the best in the world available, regardless of where they come from. If Aussie players aren't the best, then we should be able to watch something better.

In Australia, second-tier basketball should be state based only. As Big V improves, SEABL will eventually fade away anyway. Then, the top 32 teams in the country play in a March-Madness style 2-week double-elimination competition showcasing the top teams. I feel the Australian market is more suited to a passing interest in a big spectacle than it is in secondary sports on a home and away basis. We get massive crowds at the Melbourne Cup, golf, F1 GP, Tennis, etc - because these marginal sports culminate in a single large event. Double-elimination is exciting, its easy for scouts from the higher leagues to attend, and its perfect for TV. They're also more likely to bite on international competition than local.

State-based competition would run from April to September, with finals in early October. The national 2-week competition would be the last 2 weeks of October; the traditional 'dead' time on the national sporting calendar. Asian Superleague would run, say, December-April in conjunction with Euroleague and the NBA.
 

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cant watch the nbl (i only watched sparringly if nothing else was on). much prefer watching college ball (and of course the nba) rather than our league. to me the court seems so clustered with no room for the players to move. also something i noticed when watching a bit was how rushed it seemed. from the inbounds after a basket there would be a full court press by the defensive team, meanwhile its like a mad rush by the ball handler to get over the line.
 

mattdavies_03

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#40
I honestly feel like the NBL has probably run its race anyway. Time to push agressively into Asia with an Asian Superleague. Europe has a superleague, which allows it to sustain a high-standard competition. Australia, with a population 20 million, is never going to maintain a well-run, highly paid competition. But throw in the Asian markets, and its a whole new ball-game.

I'm thinking 4 Australian franchises - Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane. The Melbourne franchise should be a new one, not the Tigers; one of the major problems the Tigers face is that everyone hates them in junior basketball, yet is expected to support their senior team! The rest of the league would feature something like 3 Japanese teams, 3 Chinese, 2 based in the Phillipines, and one in Korea, Malaysia etc. No restrictions on imports or players; lets get the best in the world available, regardless of where they come from. If Aussie players aren't the best, then we should be able to watch something better.

In Australia, second-tier basketball should be state based only. As Big V improves, SEABL will eventually fade away anyway. Then, the top 32 teams in the country play in a March-Madness style 2-week double-elimination competition showcasing the top teams. I feel the Australian market is more suited to a passing interest in a big spectacle than it is in secondary sports on a home and away basis. We get massive crowds at the Melbourne Cup, golf, F1 GP, Tennis, etc - because these marginal sports culminate in a single large event. Double-elimination is exciting, its easy for scouts from the higher leagues to attend, and its perfect for TV. They're also more likely to bite on international competition than local.

State-based competition would run from April to September, with finals in early October. The national 2-week competition would be the last 2 weeks of October; the traditional 'dead' time on the national sporting calendar. Asian Superleague would run, say, December-April in conjunction with Euroleague and the NBA.
This isn't a bad idea, is it yours? You should go expand it into a full report :thumbsu:

Having a competition similar to the Euroleague and Super 14 where there are are a limited number of teams from different countries would be a great idea. With only 4 teams from Australia, there could be amazing talent on each team. Imagine Anstey, Saville, MacKinnon, Ingles and CJ Bruton on one team!

Also love the 2nd idea about a State Competition and a NCAA Tourney Style competition. There could be "conferences" where say 4 or 8 teams from each 'region' compete in a Tournament to see who is the best team in the country
 

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#41
The 32-team national title tournament wouldn't get media coverage - all of the top-line Australian players would be playing overseas so nobody not involved in the sport would have any interest in it.
 

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#42
lol the actual NBL will NEVER go under.
Really?

I wouldn't be so confident if I were you.

Sydney Kings - best team in the league - apparently on the brink of going out of business and being booted out of the league altogether!

Wollongong Hawks - Were barely able to continue into this season given financial problems, and their future must be in huge doubt. Huge doubt.

West Sydney Razorbacks - Again, barely made it into this season. Pathetic support and a pathetic record add up to not very much at all. Won't be around for much longer given all the financial problems they have.

Singapore Slingers - A joke. Hopeless team with no prospects. Does anyone in Sydney even know they exist?

Brisbane Bullets - Owned by ABC Childcare Boss Eddy Groves! Spells Trouble. Will soon be up for sale as Eddy tries to raise some cash to stave off bankruptcy - but who'd want to buy them? Rising Interest Rates, Rising Inflation, the invasion of SE Queensland by other sporting codes - how many new teams between the introduction of the Titans and all these new teams for Sunshine Coast/Ipswich etc. that we've been hearing about? Someone will buy them, no doubt, but would doubt how committed they'd be if things started to turn pear-shaped.

New Zealand Breakers - History shows that NZ teams don't last. Will hang around on life-support for awhile, but if a couple of other teams fall over, they'll not be long for the NBL.

South Dragons - There must be question marks over the future of this team. Essentially a vanity play, the death of John Ilhan has removed a major plank of their corporate and financial backing. In any coming downturn in the economy, I doubt they'll be viable.

Who does that leave?

Adelaide 36ers, Perth Wildcats, Melbourne Tigers, Cairns & Townsville.

Not sure about those 5 teams, but if the other teams start falling over as they well could over the next 3-5 years - and don't forget rising oil prices which factors into the huge travel bills all these teams have - they won't have a National competition to play in anyway!

Basically, by 2012 I doubt the NBL will still be around. Basketball will have retreated to the state level with the regional leagues.

The NBL's 30th Birthday is coming up - but I haven't heard a peep about it. That tells me that those involved don't see a rosy future for the sport and are occupied with trying to fix the myriad of problems they face at present.

Really, the NBL is sleepwalking into oblivion rather quickly. Being sponsored by Hummer says it all. Who? How many cars do they sell in Australia anyway? Wouldn't be many.
 

stmookeyj

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#43
Who does that leave?

Adelaide 36ers, Perth Wildcats, Melbourne Tigers, Cairns & Townsville.

Not sure about those 5 teams, but if the other teams start falling over as they well could over the next 3-5 years - and don't forget rising oil prices which factors into the huge travel bills all these teams have - they won't have a National competition to play in anyway!
Adelaide's stadium is also owned by Mr Groves....
 

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#45
I see the NBL as a brick wall with all the teams being bricks...each time a team dissapears a brick is broken and replaced with a new one but they stopped making the original bricks so they have to get a new design and try and fit it in...eventually as time goes on more and more teams fold and more and more bricks need replacing and with newer designs next to original designs as of 2008 you have a really dodgy wall that no one wants to look at and they should just destory it and start again.
 

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#46
Briging back a 'traditional' team as the 2nd melbourne team would have been better. If the Dragons were either the Saints, Spectres or Giants a few more people might be interested. Geez that decision to sack Price is looking real smart now too!!!!
 

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#47
Really?

I wouldn't be so confident if I were you.

Sydney Kings - best team in the league - apparently on the brink of going out of business and being booted out of the league altogether!

Wollongong Hawks - Were barely able to continue into this season given financial problems, and their future must be in huge doubt. Huge doubt.

West Sydney Razorbacks - Again, barely made it into this season. Pathetic support and a pathetic record add up to not very much at all. Won't be around for much longer given all the financial problems they have.

Singapore Slingers - A joke. Hopeless team with no prospects. Does anyone in Sydney even know they exist?

Brisbane Bullets - Owned by ABC Childcare Boss Eddy Groves! Spells Trouble. Will soon be up for sale as Eddy tries to raise some cash to stave off bankruptcy - but who'd want to buy them? Rising Interest Rates, Rising Inflation, the invasion of SE Queensland by other sporting codes - how many new teams between the introduction of the Titans and all these new teams for Sunshine Coast/Ipswich etc. that we've been hearing about? Someone will buy them, no doubt, but would doubt how committed they'd be if things started to turn pear-shaped.

New Zealand Breakers - History shows that NZ teams don't last. Will hang around on life-support for awhile, but if a couple of other teams fall over, they'll not be long for the NBL.

South Dragons - There must be question marks over the future of this team. Essentially a vanity play, the death of John Ilhan has removed a major plank of their corporate and financial backing. In any coming downturn in the economy, I doubt they'll be viable.

Who does that leave?

Adelaide 36ers, Perth Wildcats, Melbourne Tigers, Cairns & Townsville.

Not sure about those 5 teams, but if the other teams start falling over as they well could over the next 3-5 years - and don't forget rising oil prices which factors into the huge travel bills all these teams have - they won't have a National competition to play in anyway!

Basically, by 2012 I doubt the NBL will still be around. Basketball will have retreated to the state level with the regional leagues.

The NBL's 30th Birthday is coming up - but I haven't heard a peep about it. That tells me that those involved don't see a rosy future for the sport and are occupied with trying to fix the myriad of problems they face at present.

Really, the NBL is sleepwalking into oblivion rather quickly. Being sponsored by Hummer says it all. Who? How many cars do they sell in Australia anyway? Wouldn't be many.
You left out my team.:(

Go BLAZE:thumbsu:
 
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#49
More teams, smaller clubs, start from the ground up again.

Let these smaller clubs back into the NBL, let them MAKE some money, and get it back up to strength.

p.s. was it sum1 in this thread that said the A.B.L was the Baseball league that folded, and I was saying its 2nd div (nsw) is called A.B.A or A.B.L. currently?.

Me 1 , u NIL =


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Magnum27

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
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Victoria
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West Coast
Other Teams
WILDCATS/STH.FREO/CELTICS
#50
The NBL really needs to get back on FTA Television. I know they have that highlights show on Channel 9 but Sunday mornings isn't really the best time to promote your product.

This new television multi-channel stuff that has been going on really opens up an opportunity for the NBL to get back onto television. I know the NBL has an existing deal with Foxtel, but if that could be worked around so that (for instance) Channel 9 + Foxtel broadcast the NBL jointly, it might work out better for all.

Broadcast 3 matches on FTA (Friday Night, Saturday Night, Sunday Night), two of which on 9HD and a decent game on Channel 9 proper on Saturday night.

Foxtel can broadcast their usual 3 or so games a week, including Wednesday Night, Thursday Night and one additional game.

This is the only thing that will get the NBL back to were it once was. FTA will bring in sponsorship dollars to all clubs, which in turn will bring higher quality imports to the comp, you might even get some Australians coming back to the NBL.. But it has to be on mainstream not a second channel otherwise it might as well stay on foxtel.
 
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