Just when you thought Foxtel couldn't get any worse........

yeah not good at all for the NBL, BUT if fox actually do this, what are they going to pick up? Snail racing? Fox is crap as it is, some very boring programming at the best of times!

The word is more A League - the most overrated pile of steaming crap that's ever been foisted upon sports watchers.

well it's extra bad news for the bullets, seeing that investors want to (naturally) know where the league and coverage stands for viability before they invest, and the free agent's list is lodged next Friday, so the time that we have to find a buyer really, is by next week, not next month like it was reported- otherwise we might end up with a club and no players..... man, this whole scenario sucks a$$- we're all getting very pissed with it!!!!

Rumour is that the Bullets have a new buyer already.

Smart E Pants - is this in the news yet so we can read more, or still a rumour/leak at this stage?

says who isaac?
where are you getting this from?
technically eddy said that abc will still be a sponsor- not sure how.
who are you referring to?
and does it cover the $3million they need?

i need details- lol!!!

Found this article that references the Bullets ownership situation (at least, what's public) and negotiations between the NBL and Fox.

Any word on the potential changes of season or was this idea never really floated by anyone important. But if the NBL move to a June/July start and December finish will the NBL still pick it up.

I wonder where Foxtel priorities are, with the new netball league between Australian and New Zealand that will be broadcast on Fox or the low rating NBL.

Decisions need to me made.

Joe, I think that decision might come through Stage 2 of the Big Change Thingy™ BA/NBL are currently undertaking. If it did occur, it would be for season 2009/10 rather than 08/09.

Dear Sir
i write to inform you that your use of our trademark Big Change Thingy is in breach of law 427 a and parts c through d please remove your use of Big Change Thingy from your website

Thank you for your assistance

© Bugger™ Off!®

Isaac, it is in today's Advertiser as well.

No Fox = No league...

The NBL will be nothing but a half rung above ABA
with no imports next year, without Fox.

NBL needs Free to air TV in order to prosper.
Fox Sports keeps the league afloat.
Without one of the two, the NBL is doomed.

Hang on two seconds everyone. What is with all the doom and gloom. Fox is only "discussing its coverage with the NBL". Nothing more at this stage. It's all very well to speculate but let's not write off the whole NBL just yet.

I wondered if the publicity of the negotiation via that Brisbane article could've been the potential buyer trying to drive the price down with a bit of negative info?

Sorry Isaac; cant help you on the Bulletts. I do know that the "ratings" (if you can call them that)for NBL have been very poor for Fox since it was 1st telecast.

I was wondering the same thing Isaac....

I believe a buyer is in place and final numbers are just being nutted out. Eddy isnt in a good negotiating position at all and the new owners are 'going for the throat' so to speak to get the team for as little as possible

Smart, doesn't surprise me, unfortunately.

Is it all bad for the NBL, or would it allow regional teams (including Perth and Adelaide) to try and negotiate independently with local networks? And also allow teams or the league to put highlights online or try live streams via the net?

Terrible news and speculation right now. The NBL needs promotion and television coverage to grow and generate interest in the game.

If no coverage is shown on the television, the NBL is pretty much doomed.

Why is that The Champ33? Why cant teams try and generate their own interest by going out to visit schools? Go to a shopping cente for a couple of hours in school holidays and have a foul shooting comp? Conduct an open training session at a local stadium? Maybe the time has come for the league and individual teams to stop thinking a game or 2 a week on TV will make people come to games and save the league. It wont!

IMO teams need to get more people to games and make sure they enjoy the product and have a great night. In turn they then want to come back and might bring more people next time. Start with the basics and get them right and the rest will follow.

As a sponsor (a very small one at that) of the Blaze my company isnt there to get national TV exposure, rather we want to
1. Support the team
2. Have a place to entertain clients
3. Be seen to have a local presence
A fleeting shot of a banner or billboard on Fox or FTA TV isnt going to do squat for my marketing whatsoever. Having my clients come along to a game and have a great night out that they enjoy and remember however will do wonders.

Here's my conspiracy theory:

1) Maybe Fox has told the NBL that they're considering other sports;

2) the NBL is saying that that they're not really sure they want to continue with TV coverage - or maybe they do, they don't know;

3)Fox encourages the NBL to reapply for a coverage deal with no intention of it actually happening, publically saying 'it may the best sport out there, we don't know'

4) Coming soon to a Foxsports channel near you (pick one): Curling Wednesday! Hurling Wednesday! Sheep Trials Wednesday!

Fox wonders why there ratings are low...hrmm the most supported team in the league gets little to no coverage, and when we do..its a freaking home game. Foxtels absolute lack of coverage is why they are failing.
That and there over priced shit product, 800 channels, 6mb internet and phone connection per month, $60 in the usa. Here foxtel gives us 100 channels of shit at what, $120..WOOOO to them.

statman, these are the sorts of things that have been mentioned for a while now.
brian kerle reiterated it a few weeks ago in his 3 point plan.
unfortunately the people that ACTUALLY get to make decisions like these, aren't even listening, let alone acknowledging the importance of taking action now.....
the players need to get back to basics.
no more training for 9 hours a day and showing up once a week to a game with that being the only contact the public has with them.
it's ignorant and delusional.....

Most clubs make a number of appearances at schools and the like. Most players are also very good at talking with kids and all that. Always room to do more, but it's not as though they do nothing.

yeah i didn't eman nothing as such.
we had the bullets involved in mchappy day and stuff like that, but other than that, i can tell you for a fact that there isn't much else promo stuff for the game that they do at all.
most of them are facebooking their frequent drinking habits! lol

LMAO!
How true

All the appearances etc are valueless if the public doesnt know who you are.

Lets face it, do you want the stars of your local...umm...hockey club at the school?

do you care if you get your mcfat burger handed to you by the leading exponent of... fencing in SA?

No! you (as a wild generalisation) are impressed by celebrity so...you care about who is on TV, who is in the paper, who is on the radio.

Without national TV coverage (preferably FTA) the NBL will die...refer the national baseball league of the 90's

The managers of the NBL, must get on to bended knee and crawl into each FTA station..plus ABC..plus SBS..Plus Fox and ask..."what can we do for you"

All of thie above doesnt even touch on the sponsorship issues without TV.

Me, put a 6'10" guy and an African American who can jump in front of a group of primary school kids and see what happens....the kids go nuts and just love it.

I see your argument as ignoring the actual problems and instead of trying to fix them just covering it up by grovelling for whatever scraps the TV networks would throw the way of basketball and hoping TV coverage makes it all work.

Isaac - agreed - not saying that clubs do nothing - rather there is always more than can be done - and its cheap and easy to organise. The Blaze this year were everywhere and it showed in the ammount of people who you spoke to out and about who had no previous interestin the game but asked what was going on, when the next game was etc etc.

Fair point Statman..i well remember the televison reports of school kids when Krudd and Coward visited during elections (lets face it..if people get excited about those 2...we are in serious trouble)

Quote.. Homer Simpson.."look..a blue car",

however...that wont get more people to the games and wont put anymore money in clubs pockets.

therefore....the clubs will be hard pushed to pay any Afro Americans to come out.

This truly comes down to money..the money comes from sponsorship...sponsorship only occurs when you can guarantee a sponsor a certain number of "eyes"

Therefore..TV is the answer.

how about, now that we know the situation.,... quit bitchin like its completely out of your hands and start doing something!

heres the address to write to

[email protected]

start threatening to cancel subscriptions. do whatevers neccesary.

Have just sent my email to Fox....

"Good Afternoon,

it has come to my attention that Fox is contemplating cancelling the coverage of the NBL, I will be very disappointed if this is to occur and it will certainly have a bearing on my decision as to whether to continue my subscription.

Given the excessive amount of advertising I am paying for ....it wont take much more to make me cancel.

Please do not cancel NBL"



People power can change everything

The whole NBL is in trouble. The game needs to be promoted. More needs to be done. Expose the game more. We need people to know the player is such and such and they play basketball.

basketball is the 2nd biggest sport played in the world behind soccer. It's time the leagues showed this in Australia.

If the NBL is changed to Winter, what will happen to the ABA, Will that simply swap places with the NBL and be moved to Summer, or will it stay in Winter and run at the same time as the NBL?

If its at the same time as the NBL, then the whole level of the ABA would decrease because teams wouldn't be able to have NBL Players in there. e.g Troy Devries played ABA last season before the NBL, but if it was changed to the same time then he would only be able to play NBL.

The NBL needs to have a big decision on everything from the little things to the big things. They might have to make some sacrifices e.g Have the NBL run at the same time as the ABA, which would just completely wipe the ABA out of the public attention, but would im sure, increase public attention in the NBL, because sports like Cricket would have finished and not been played

Please dont even mention a move to winter for the NBL. The "powers that be" are so desperate for a quick fix that they just might do it.

It would put us back into direct competition with the all powerful AFL again - just what a strugling NBL does NOT need.

IMO the NBL is better off fighting with cricket & soccer for air time than battling AFL & NRL.

This was the original reason for the switch in the 1st place.

We may have to admit that our NBL may not be around for much longer

"Most clubs make a number of appearances at schools and the like. Most players are also very good at talking with kids and all that. Always room to do more, but it's not as though they do nothing."

Isaac, I have a question for you, in the last 12 months, how many school have the 36ers visited?

No idea - I don't hear about it any more. When Oscar was there, he'd have mandatory appears to meet a quota and would mention it from time to time.

Word out of Foxtel HQ is that they are just playing hard ball with the NBL. They want to show it juust as much, but don't want to pay as much for it. Think they are looking at reducing the payment by half.