I should also add that I will be a season ticket holder for my club and will watch it on tv whenever I can, but yeah.

I think a supporter of any NBL team would be aware of the finals series: there just aren't that many of them.

Disagree that the product is boring to watch, but it's definitely not optimal for the casual viewer.

For all the talk from Kristina Keneally regarding the progression of the NBL over the past few years, the 'NBL brand' appears (in my opinion) to be as weak as ever - even taking into account Perth and NZ.

Real, sustainable progression as a league will take sounds leadership and many, many years.

When I say boring, just watch games from 5-6 years ago. Much more enjoyable to watch.

NBL hasn't had a presence in Perth as big as it is currently since "The Glory Days".

Wildcats advertising up around the city.
Good coverage on TV, print and radio media.
People who otherwise wouldn't even have known their was a national league asking questions about it.

Sure not every city can walk into a brand new state of the art arena, but not every club could average 11k to their home games either.

On court success helps but behind the scenes marketing, presense at all the local associations, school visits etc definitely helps.

Unfortunately the NBL is a business and you have to spend money to make money.

Free advertising like social media should be taken advantage of better, especially I believe youtube. Highlights & Behind the scenes videos wouldn't cost much to produce other than time. Post them up via facebook and twitter and encourage the people who already like/follow the club to share the videos. The NBL themselves could even use some of their budget to do this alot better than what we get currently. Word of mouth is the best free advertising and I think via social media would be very beneficial.

It's in big trouble. The TV coverage is the biggest concern, followed by lack of progress with expansion into Brisbane/2nd Melbourne, followed by it's non-existence in main stream media.

It's going to take years to fix this the way these issues are being handled.

I am actually glad the NBL isn't rushing in getting a Brisbane team/2nd Melb team back.

Last thing you want is for those teams to come back, only to get into financial trouble and fold a few years later, just as South Melb. did.

Man, the South Melb. thing makes me really sad looking back. Because they were such a great brand, and those rival games against the Tigers were awesome in front of 10k people.

I also see an on-the-court problem.

NZ and Perth were so far ahead of teams this year it got a bit ridiculous.

Some competition would be advantageous to the product IMO.

NZ had a win % of 85 (Unbelievable 24-4)

Perth had a win % of 78 (22-6)

3rd place team, which was Wollongong, had a 46 % win percentage.

Hopefully the ladder next season won't be so lopsided. I also didn't enjoy the way this season panned out from a national point of view. Obviously I'm happy that the Wildcats did so well, but to have 6 teams out of 8 with losing records and 2 teams dominate so convincingly is not a very appealing one to follow.

local fans need to identify with the teams more.

need that mix of locals and imports.

maybe the season is too long - play less games - crowds may go up a bit.

important for team to stay part of the local sporting scene - when they fold - gone - fans find it too much yes / no if a team exists.

local basketballers need to be part of the local media - like rugby / AFl players etc

why are we playing some teams 4 or 5 times a season - should be one home and one away ?

shorten the season = shorten overheads - less chance for fans to go - may mean more numbers at fewer games.

will bring season ticket costs down.

depends what the crunchers are for the comp -

ie play 25 games @ 4,000 or 15 @ 5,500
less revenue from lower season tickets - ? maybe sell more though ?

puts more emphasis on game day being an important event.

double headers here in adel will definitely get a few more 100s in the door game day.

gets to be quite a drag if your team is losing and so many games

Boring to watch? Its almost the most PURE brand of Basketball played in the world.........
The NBA is an entertainment league and they admit that.
NCAA ball has some ridiculous rules.

So basically, Australia and most of Europe has the most PURE brand of Basketball around the world.

Teams play defense.

2 most successful teams off the court had the most success on the court and will both fill their stadiums for the finals.

., and will players accept less money? Doubt they'll be keen.

players will have to accept what the comp can afford.

so it will mean euro for some - but what are the priorities for the comp ?

players ?

crowds ?

franchise sustainability ?

"Going back to 40minutes has killed off the in game storylines as there is not enough time for teams to get down and potentially make dramatic come backs etc"

You didn't watch any of the Breakers games in the first half of the season?

If you look at basketball as a brand with the NBL as part of that brand one thing that is lacking are regular international series. We have a truly international sport yet the only time boomers seem to play is lead up games to WC or Olympics. We need regular series with NZ and other Asian teams to lift sport profile. I understand that all players will not be available all the time but soccer manages it with consistent games with what players are available. I guess my point is we need consistency to know there will be a NZ series every year around the same time. Will this help the Nbl , no doubt as all exposure is good.
I believe it is an under utilised aspect of our game.

The FIBA calendar is changing and qualification to the World Cup will be through home-away series in the Asia/Oceania region. These game will be played throughout the year ala soccer.

@Paul, if this is true I would be happy that it could generate some interest in the sport at the highest levels, sounds like a plan!

Who wouldn't want to take their kids along to watch the Boomers play...?

It's definitely true, quite a big change happening after the 2014 World Cup:

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/54422/arti.html

Paul while WC is already locked in and success important what I am talking about would be like the ANZAC test in league locked in every year. Best of 3 series with NZ it's all about sports profile and consistency.

I don't think the NBL is "in trouble" but I do think fans need to get used to the media ignoring all but the major sports and that for some time, the NBL might be quite stuck in that second or third tier. That is, outside the two current powerhouse regions.

And I do think there are a whole host of things the league get wrong and need to work on before they are taken seriously first by dedicated fans, and then anyone else.

Like many things, you can't bank on the news hitting you. You need to get out there and find it - visit club/league sites, subscribe to newsletters, follow/like on Twitter/Facebook, etc.

Im not talking about the WC as such, but the regular home-away qualification series that will be played on our shores throughout the year.

An Aus v NZ series would be great too, but having 6 series over 15 months with a WC spot riding on them will prob generate more publicity than a token series (that's FIBA's plan anyway).

"I do think there are a whole host of things the league get wrong and need to work on before they are taken seriously first by dedicated fans, and then anyone else."

This.

Further, many are easy things and closer to NBL control than things like hoping journalists/editors will get them column space, or crossing fingers about a TV deal.

"And I do think there are a whole host of things the league get wrong and need to work on before they are taken seriously first by dedicated fans, and then anyone else."

Absolutely, and this is the difference between marketing and advertising. While the league and some clubs cant afford to pay the big bucks to advertise during prime time of a weeknight, they can certainly market themselves a whole lot better.

We waited for years for the league to get so many little things right and its sad to see they have taken a massive backwards step this year. As Isaac said, if the dedicated fans dont take it seriously then no one else will.

Spot on.

I generally cut the league slack on some of these things the past few years because there was definitely progress being made, and progress is all you can really ask for on such a small budget and with only three (and now four) staff doing media/online in all of BA.

But the past few months have been woeful and just leaves me shaking my head. It's simply not good enough.

If the dedicated fans (and the players union) do nothing but talk about the negative aspects of the league then that's what the casual fans will pick up on.

NBL as a product is definetly weak atm
But it is still pretty in the minds of the youth
They might not remember the legends but they like to see the dunks , alley oops , all the street moves.
If there was a big tv deal like netball has the crowds would be destroyed, everyone would watch at home. Ticket pricing is abit higher then some events esp when the games only 40minutes long. Every other major code have a longer viewing period , and atm these rival codes are in the papers getn stomped by drugs allogations. IMO this is the time to make a mark in the sand. Be that clean, safe, fun, exciting code! Go The Breakers!

Personally I am getting very bored with the Perth/Breakers domination of the NBL. I hope it changes next year.

More focus on entertainment. Seriously this "teams play defence" might sound pure, but when it comes to bringing in crowds and dollars it does not work. The NBL needs $$ to survive, hence the current way of refereeing the games and the way they are played will not survive long term.

Pure yes, sustainable no and that's what matters.

Sport is about entertainment for the masses, if you believe otherwise your somewhat delusional

For starters

- Better grassroots development and marketing, not enough of the junior player base (and their families) go to NBL games
- Smart marketing as per above - they have a best in category example being set by NBA across video and social platforms (NBL is not NBA I know but a template of content marketing is there to be adapted and leveraged)
- Link WNBL and NBL more with double headers and joint promotions. One of basketballs best assets is its unisex nature (bigger crowds, families)
- Polish the on court product to what the "like basketball" (as opposed to the love/die hard audience) market want. If this means 48 minute games and season timing changes, do it

I'm not sure if it's 6ers being bottom or near bottom of the ladder for a number of years, Marty's game plan which I found same shit different game most games or the domination of NZ and Perth that's killed my passion somewhat for the game. I used to go to every home game, watch every game I could on TV no matter who was playing and talk about basketball 24/7 now i can't even be bothered watching this grand final series and only watched the Perth Wollongong semi final game 2because i was hoping Wollongong could muster a small miracle and make it through. I even found it hard to drag myself to the last few home games but i did because i am a true supporter who will still get sucked into renewing my season tickets because i know it has to get better someday.

NBL.TV provides, after each game, a cut of highlights. And The Foul puts this online and also uses it to make a cut of best plays of the round. None of that is especially hard, just time and effort.

I can't remember the NBL putting up video highlights this season. I can't remember highlights being showcased. That's a massive failing. NBL.TV is giving them these highlights packages on a platter. Get an intern to do it. Any monkey with the interest to stuff around in a video package and keen to work cheap or free for their CV could do it.

But the most infuriatingly pathetic fuck-up is that the NBL's official player stats misses seasons where a player changed teams. That is flat-out inexcusable.

Do the NBL and it's clubs realise a strong social media presence will instantly give them a stronger brand to push to the media? If channel 10 saw the 36ers had 200,000 fans online who are engaged, they would give them more notice. Until the social media is fixed and used as it should like any serious pro team or league in the world, they will continue to have problems in media and publicity.

The NBL is going to continue to be in trouble if the teams keep on signing players who later get injuries. Its just crazy, why dont they consider what may happen in two years time before they offer the a contract? I tell you, this just wouldn't happen in the NZNZBZBLZNZBZL because Kiwi's are so smart with the help of irrelevant hindsight.

^ still crying over an opinion you didn't agree with?

Your opinion doesn't make sense, thats my problem with it.

enjoy your problem, thanks for playing.

i'm just going to throw my two bobs worth in.

the split between the money teams,the community modellers and the inbetweeners is really becoming obvious now and if not addressed will destroy the on court product.

having been a cairns member for quite a while now i can see the on court skill is deminishing,more so when we play another community model or an inbetweener....getting very ABA ish.

maybe there should be a player points break for smaller population teams balanced by a slightly bigger salary cap for major city teams etc.

Ricey, the 36ers are not going to be engaging with 200,000 on social media. No chance. Even the A-League, a national league with a stronger presence than the NBL, is at 45-50k Likes on Facebook.

The Crows are at 103k and their brand is exceptionally strong and part of a dominant league.

The 36ers need to worry about doing social media right (or at all) first. Didn't see the MVP night plugged on Twitter in the lead up. Right now they supposedly have some renewals out and everyone dying to know the situation with coach and so on, and there hasn't been a tweet in four days.

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skull, is it really that bad? I think if Wollongong had stayed at full strength, they would be a legitimate third force. Sydney went into their series with NZ missing the better of their two imports. I am quite confident that Adelaide with a better coach could've been better.

Budget does come into play, obviously. Give Gordie the full cap and it'd be interesting to see what he could've done.

There's a bit of a gap, but I don't think the situation is too dire.

I support the advertising V promotions arguement...

Advertising costs so much more, but if you do the promoting properly you can generate enthusiasm and interest over a short period.

Does the NBL or BA for that matter, really use social media, the internet and all of our modern communication tools to best effect?

Teenage kids are all over youtube and the internet in general. What are they looking at???

Not the NBL, I can tell you, it is the NBA and anything slightly cool or freaky, entertaining and amazing that gets them talking.

Not the petty official bashing, 'why are the 6'rs crap', 'oh the Breakers are too good', which is the next NBL team to fold, 'did you see that guy trip his opponent', stuff we are seeing down here!

Promote the super stars we have and connect with the kids so they know who is playing and which team they are from, how good they are and when you can do this you will start them talking NBL too, not just NBA...

In trouble? No, just complacent, for far too long IMO...

isaac-maybe it isnt dire at the moment and maybe injuries etc played a role in it but when teams (other then money teams)cant afford to replace injured players then there is a risk.

i have noticed increasingly in the nbl,maybe not for whole games but definately whole quarters of very,very ordinary basketball.

First of all we have a coach sacked (woolpert) and STILL no mention of it on the MBL official website. That is not good enough.

I'm not sure what iinet bring to NBL but maybe they should teach them about the Internet, 20 articles a week if we are lucky and that includes pre-game and post-game write ups. I'm not criticizing the content but want a lot more.

Maybe special features on our imports and how they have settled in down here, where are they now? And more interviews with players/coaches would be a good start.

I think Ben Madgen is an out and out legend in the making, he plays his guts out every game and amazes us with his work ethic, leadership and desire. He would make a terrific poster child for the NBL and I'd love to see him on national broadcasts (I may support Wildcats and live in Perth) and I wouldn't begrudge him that honour and I think getting our players on fishing shows or celebrity shows could help too if for only a short time and hopefully NBL make most of this and run with it. I'm thinking a spot on Dancing with the stars for example (like Andrew Gaze did).

I would love more interaction between NBL and WNBL especially cities that have a representative of both with double headers and NBL.tv should include WNBL too.

Basketball gets lots of government funding through AIS and I think if we could include an AIS team coming from Canberra with government backing then I think that would be great, of course government funding can be fickle so it's a risk and the import situation is a concern, do you allow imports in at the detriment of a youths on court development?

Finally my biggest gripe with the NBL/BA is they really look from my perspective to have no money and no ability to help a team that's in trouble and dare I say it, it comes across like Perth Wildcats have more money than NBL/BA do. I know that's completely wrong but NBL/BA seem to sit on their hands so much and are scared to make a financial blunder that they seem too afraid to act on a good thing. I love the NBL but so often I feel sad thinking about the state it's in.

Oh and whoever thinks the NBA style is better is kidding themselves, why do we want to watch a player have 20 shots from the free throw a game because the opposition is too afraid of his speed and strength? Only to be helped out by the refs!
I would love to see our players get to the free throw line more as 4 free throws for a half is way too few but it keeps the scoreboard ticking over and I think we all want to see higher scoring games with more dunks and 3s and less missing lay ups.

Thanks for reading