How does the NBL keep operating and staying professional without money from tv rights? THats where other leagues rely on for income..

really interesting comment:

"Hopefully with the owners at the helm of the NBL now the league can start climbing the mountain that the A-League started climbing years ago. "

Just a couple of points...

- of course, the owners were pretty much at the helm until BA took over, so previous efforts don't bode well for a better outcome
- the A-league's rise has happened in concert with the rise of football's recognition and hand in hand with the emergence of FFA as a major player in Australian sport

... and the involvement of a particularly rich individual with widespread influence.

That's pretty much what I was saying.

I realise loyalty doesn't count for much when it comes to TV rights and money, but is it really a good idea for the FFA to be considering "terminating" their A-League deal with SBS if 7 or 10 put together a higher offer?

See what 10 have done to the NBL, and what Channel 7 did to soccer many years ago. These channels are driven by ratings. If its not rating, you can bet it will be discarded, not promoted and relocated to late night slots.

At least with SBS, this channel isn't focussed on ratings as much, and is more dedicated to soccer. The A-League has "AFL" type status on that channel so it would be pretty dumb for FFA to move the league to 7 or 10.

Not that I care about the A-League whatsoever, so if they want to risk it by moving, then good luck to them. The A-League is a bit too hyped for my liking, so maybe a move to 10 would be good ;)

Some interesting comments indeed!

The fact the A-League totally re structured and worked towards creating teams with a tribal and cultural following, plus games that are truly considered rival games, is also very important to remember.

Now they are on Foxtel and Free-to-air, so they are flying, but they have proven to be careful not to over cook it in the past as they can spoil what they have worked hard for if they are not careful...

The NBL needs to create and build what the A-League did many years ago, but that would not be an easy task!

I think they need to be very careful.
They're talking about expanding the league, funded by TV rights, to feed the TV market. Dangerous.
Networks are driven by ratings, and as soon as something dips, they move it, then dump it.
I still recall in the 90's when 10 had the FTA rights for BBL, and started to move the games away from live prime-time to late night replays. That was the beginning of the end.

It also strikes me as somewhat ludicrous. The old NSL was dumped, in favour of a smaller league with single clubs in each city. So they could push the idea that if you live in say Sydney, then here is a single club for you to support. Then no sooner does that start to work, they start wanting to plant more clubs and split that support?

I guess its just that in my opinion, having clubs that only last a few years, is detrimental to long-term support and health of the league.

@Dazz, I think the plan was initially to establish stability with a one team per town philosophy, but as popularity and change developed the A-League so to it's owners and chiefs realised that cross town rivalry was essential...