Anonymous
Years ago

NBC bail out, what does this mean for the new NBL?

Don't like the idea of this Tony Cochrane guy. What does he know about the NBL?

What does this mean for the new NBL?

Is it a backwards step?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Every chance he knows more about the NBC than BA does.
The former NBL is far away from being a done deal as is Townsville being involved at this stage.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Why did the original board of NBC pull out?

It worries me that with further investigation, that they may see them losing too much money and don't see a great future for the NBL.

Slepoy and Kestleman are great (and wealthy) businessmen and for them to pull out is of genuine concern IMO

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FYI  
Years ago

NBC didnt bail out they knew Cochrane was the better option

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PeterJohn  
Years ago

The Perth Now article says the clubs didn't like the model the NBC proposed: "Several NBL clubs were unhappy with the new structure for running the league as recommended by NBC"

Pure speculation by me, but maybe the clubs without rich benefactors or with smaller markets (of spectators and sponsors) were nervous?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Chocrane is a massive achievement if true, if he is involved we can be sure of a future for the NBL
What he did for V8 supercars is very impressive.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

V8 super cars is very different to NBL basketball

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The Situation  
Years ago

More jump balls in V8 racing.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

NBC didnt pull out, they were businessmen brought in by the clubs to run the league, but the clubs didnt like what they were proposing.

It is getting late in the piece for this to being sorted out tho.

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Young Gun  
Years ago

"Don't like the idea of this Tony Cochrane guy. What does he know about the NBL?"

It's like my Business to Business Marketing Lecturer said...anyone can learn a new product most times in 6 weeks. You need to have the Skills & Character to succeed.

I reckon our best years in the NBL were under Mal Speed & he went off to do pretty well in Cricket. I think Cochrane has the potential to do well in Basketball... unfortunately I've thought that for every incoming CEO/Commissioner/whatever they want to call themselves.

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Ricey  
Years ago

The NBL doesn't need a passionate basketball person, they need a passionate businessperson who loves MONEY. Only then will we be able to turn the league around. Success breeds success!

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The Situation  
Years ago

Providing they listen to the passionate basketball people who they employ, so that they don't gloss over the little things that long time fans notice. (eg terrible stats on the website)

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Melbourne Boy  
Years ago

Young Gun... Malcolm Speed!!!

The guy rode the wave of the basketball boom and sat on his hands and did nothing for the NBL.



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paul  
Years ago

Passionate basketball people are good in lower roles because theyll put in extra hours to produce a good product, but the decision makers need to be prudent business people first. If you can get both in the one person, great.

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The Situation  
Years ago

Correct, which is why calls to put Gaze in charge of the league are always laughable.

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kr  
Years ago

I think we all agree that Basketball being a global sport and a high participation sport in Australia has a lot of potential. We are also producing a lot of good basketballers through the current development pathways.
Even the level of basketball played in the nbl is at a fairly high level internationally.

What we have lacked in the past is the ability to create a consistant (across all teams) exciting game night experience. Then be able market the begeezzes out of it, to attract larger regular crowds and commercial dollars to grow nbl brand in Australia and overseas.

There would have to be only limited people in Australia with the skill set and track record to make that happen. Given that Tony Cochrane has achieved such huge success with the V8's here's hoping he is the man for the job to take the NBL to a whole new level.

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Ricey  
Years ago

The entertainment experience hasn't been an issue. People will sit all day watching cricket in the 10s of thousands, so there's no reason why a basketball game at its purist can't do 6-10k. The problem has been consistent marketing at a high level, and the fact the league has never really been stable and had a consistent routine and all that. Once the fundamentals are in place in the business structure the league will thrive!

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HO  
Years ago

Can we put aside this "good business people will make it work theory"?

With very few exceptions, the groups backing clubs over the last 20 years, and therefore often influencing the league as board members and leaders, have been successful business people. In some cases very successful business people.

Demetriou has done a brilliant job with the AFL, few would have suggested he was a great business person when he got the top job - similarly Gallop.

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paul  
Years ago

Personally, I think the TV product is the biggest issue. It is the league's biggest marketing tool and it is amateur.

I have taken many non-NBL fans to games and they have almost all enjoyed it and come back. It's hard to get a non-NBL fan to watch more than a few minutes on TV, however.

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paul  
Years ago

HO - the description of good business people relates directly to being able to run a sports league, not to someone who has run an unrelated company.

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The Situation  
Years ago

Maybe the Carfino Experiment needs to end. I don't even know why its a given that he is a commentator on every broadcaster.

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Ricey  
Years ago

Everybody wants to worry about the TV product. It's useless if there is nothing to televise. Get the in house issues fixed and the live product, then you'll have something worth a TV companies interest. The instability as a business is what has caused the TV problems. Would you back a business that doesn't know if it will be around the following year, and has this issue every year? No you wouldn't. So why expect 10 or Fox to go all in without any confidence in the leagues presence and professionalism. Until we give people a reason to respect the league, nobody will.

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paul  
Years ago

Fixing the TV product will create stability. I think the owners need to invest some of their own money getting it right this season (or next) or else it will be very hard to get a decent contract next up.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

It's useless if there is nothing to televise. Get the in house issues fixed and the live product, then you'll have something worth a TV companies interest.


Exactly. Serious issues behind the scenes that go to the very fabric of the professionalism of the league need to be addressed first before worrying about Carfino saying something stupid or Ten/One not putting up a correct graphic etc. Non diehards couldn't give a shit about that stuff.

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paul  
Years ago

It's much bigger than that stuff when it comes to TV, but no doubt there are other big issues for the league too. The answer to a some of them is money though, and the best way to get that is to get people watching on TV.

The league wont grow without getting that right. Had it got this right at any point after 1991 it mightnt be in the position it is now.

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kr  
Years ago

Agreed that inconsistency of TV coverage is a huge part of the problem, V8's, afl and nrl all have good free to air coverage.
I found last year with nbl tv it was a step in the right direction, but it really only appeals to basketball fans, and would give little exposure to business.

Two games live or slight delay like this season gone is also great and would probably attract the most commercial exposure for businesses looking to invest in the nbl.

But I still wonder if we might need all other games to be picked up by fox sports, with nbl tv there for diehard fans that missed games or don't have fox sports.

Even with nbl tv last year I still found myself not bothering to login to most non crocs games, yet if the same game was on free to air in the comfort of my living room I would be unlikely to miss it.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Never heard a non diehard NBL fan complain about Ten's package. Might have a bit more to do with the product on the court.

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paul  
Years ago

They dont watch it, that's why.

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The Situation  
Years ago

While incorrect graphics and gaffes are only minor, its indicative of the poor "that will do" attitude that has always been associated with basketball coverage. That is something that needs to be fixed.

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Ricey  
Years ago

Why are people still thinking if you fix the TV product it will save the NBL. It won't. It will go to shit again in a matter of a few years if even that. It's like me and my business promoting a concert but not having the artists flights and visas sorted. It may look like a good concert, but who knows if its going to happen on the day. Not the best analogy but you get the drift

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paul  
Years ago

For those who think Im talking about graphics, Im not, Im talking about the bigger picture which generates ratings, which generates revenue, which allows clubs to be more sustainable and the league to be more professional.

Something along these lines is why it is so important for the NBL in particular:

- The NBL is rarely mentioned in most cities' mainstream TV, radio and print media

- Therefore the official broadcaster needs to be promoting through their news so people know it's on. This isnt happening

- One alternative is ads to let people know the broadcasts are on

- CH 10's ads are rare and when on show generic highlights of players most people dont know and simply say something like Adelaide v Sydney, this Sunday. ie they dont give casuals any reason to watch

- So we get to game night and most people dont know the game is on or have been given little reason to watch

- The broadcast starts and we get 10 minutes of talking heads and ads, with no/very few highlights to bait someone into watching on. It's like starting a novel with a long conversation between two peripheral characters the reader has never heard of

- The game starts and most of the few replays we see are of fouls, while much of the commentary is about the said fouls

- We reach the TV timeout and get an ad followed by more talking in the timeout

- By this stage we are 20 minutes into the broadcast and casual viewers have been given very little reason to watch on. It might turn out to be a great game but theyre long gone

- As the game wears on we continue to see lots of replays of fouls, and hear commentary where the research, knowledge and fluency is poor compared to other sports' broadcasts

- We see very few replays of good plays from this game, no clips from other games to give context to the broadcast nor any of the best plays from around the league or features of players (which will also cant see on the league website FFS)

- At the end of the game the promo of the next game is often wrong or non-existent

- There is no consistency of when a viewer's home team will be shown next

- There is no magazine show highlighting the best features of the week's play and helping form personalities, and when Ten tried this it was done so poorly I still cringe thinking about it

From the first post to the last Ten and the NBL have failed to produce a quality TV product, and that is shown by noticeable increases in attendance amongst 6 of the 8 teams since late last decade, memberships and web traffic is up, but TV ratings have been stagnant since the NBL moved to Ten.

If the league cant get a decent TV deal once this one is up its very existence as a pro comp is in doubt, so getting the product right has to be one of the main priorities, even if it costs the league some money. Invest in your No1 marketing tool.

If they can do this, it will help the clubs capitalise on the good work they have done increasing their supporter bases.

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Anonymous  
Years ago


They dont watch it, that's why.


Try asking them why they don't watch it. You'd be lucky if 1 out 10 said it was due to Ten's commentators/graphics department.

Most non diehards I talk to say it's because the NBL isn't worth watching not the amateurish presentation of the broadcast.

Plenty of footy fans put up with shit commentators/silly graphics from TV networks yet continue to watch because they like the product.

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paul  
Years ago

See the post above yours, Im not talking about graphics.

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Wildcat Fan  
Years ago

Great post paul. Telling it like it is!

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Melbourne Boy  
Years ago

The NBL needs the NBA to increase the sports overall exposure and find a way to get more NBA on our TV. The NBL Boom in the early to mid 90's was due to the increase in NBA popularity, i mean there were more Larry Johnson jerseys being worn by kids who barely follow basketball than there were total combined NBL Jerseys. The NBL cashed in on the era and had their TV deal with Ten due to the sport in general, not just the NBL product.

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HO  
Years ago

As good as Paul's post is above its only a part of the answer.

As are:

- cracking the divide between those who play the game (including the majority who play it socially or play at is their second sport) and those who care about it enough to watch it
- engaging those kids who do aussie hoops as potential attendees of the game from that early age
- building avidity for teams
- developing generational support for the league (you are born in Victoria following an AFL side)
- making the Boomers relevant so when we call eight guys into the team from the NBL it means something
- making the clubs (not franchises) as indispensable to the communities they represent as other sporting clubs are
- capitalising the league properly
- challenging the peripheral noise from the league from contender and pretender leagues such as BigV and SEABL.
- ensuring government is backing the clubs in the same way other sports codes are receiving handouts for training facilities
- improving venue deals for all teams, so that the game night event is affordable for all

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