A positive and confident media campaign appears to have begun. It will be crucial to get the right FTA Network and/or Foxtel on board.

It will be just as crucial to provide these fans with regular, high quality highlights and exciting plays to promote the NBL.

I don't mean nice lay-ups and scores, I mean great angles, crash and bash, huge dunks and something we can all talk about, but more importantly something the commentators at games can talk about in passionate terms, not robotic (ho, hum) and boring...

he new digital platform hub will accompany a complete overhaul being undertaken by Publicis Mojo and Fox Sports Pulse of the NBL's website and digital customer interface

They are starting to see the merit in mixing the NBA with the NBL from an internet content stand point, which is really good.

If and when a broadcast deal gets over the line, and we can see more of what this rebranding means, I think we will be pleasantly surprised

My thoughts exactly, KET. SportingPulse or whatever they are called now should not be involved whatsoever.

Btw imagine an "On the couch" style basketball show over the summer, 70% Nbl and 30% nba discussions.

For me, it has to happen, the press release is leading people into an expectation that the NBL is going to provide something not too long and not boring.

So, it would be very, very important to get the pre-game interviews and pre-game build up right, then end that game with an immediate review and highlights package during post game interviews etc...

But, (and a very big BUTT) pardon the pun, there needs to be a weekly show of some kind to tie it all together!

The NBL isn't easy for everyone to follow, so we need to get it right and present the whole league properly and with some points of interest, even links to the NBA, why not add a little BNA news into a show about the NBL?

Wouldn't hurt, however it must be a quality show, IMHO...

...NBA news, sorry...

Even if the NBL ends up with just 1 or 2 games on Fox, I would love to see a highlights show that talks about all the issues on Fox on a Tuesday night.
It would be both a review and a preview show.

An hour long package show with stories from all leagues - for example a NBA Aussie watch segment - would be awesome.

I have seen my share of NBL "on the couch" shows and most of have them have been horrendously terrible.

The best one I remember was way back in the early 00's, and I think it use to play on a Sunday morning on Channel Ten. Had some token cool black guy presenter, and it found a way to make NBL players and their lives seem interesting. I am not sure if anyone else remembers this one, but it was by 100 miles the best show the NBL has run in my memory. It ended by 2002 or 2003 I believe.

I think for such a show to work the presenter has to be 'cool', the content needs to be fresh, the conversation needs to be light and lively, and they need to have an eye for the eye catching. Having Andrew Gaze and Grantley Bernard waffle on amongst eachother isn't going to inspire anyone to watch a full game.

We have had some great personalities come into this league, I don't see why we must rely so heavily on the Steve Carfino's and Andrew Gazes. Gaze will always have a place as a spokesperson of the sport, but lets keep him away from fun half hour package shows.

A couch show will need to temper analyticals with entertainment.

As someone who doesnt have fox but loves the 36ers/NBL i hope they have any games not on FTA TV available to watch live/on demand online on a nbl.tv type website.

Does anyone know if thats likely to occur??

Sounds good to me.

Im happy with mid week basketball too. It works in the NBA and other sports like Cricket so dont see why it cant work.

Why don't they just get the game night presentation spot on first instead of worrying about these extras?

Will there only be one game per day?

I can only hope from a Sydney standpoint they play the SEC games mid-week and the homebush ones on the weekend.

Get the games, etc right before worrying about a panel show or NBA content. People will head to League Pass or ESPN if they want good NBA content.

I think comparing Basketball to other sports is difficult. It is payed with less players so more teams for the same numbers to play still over a comparative time. So that said, it is played on many nights of the week unlike footy, cricket and so on. The likelihood of sub groups of players and families being able to attend weeknight matches is debatable. Will the product be exciting enough to entice the non basketball crowd. Maybe, but I'm not sold. Didn't renew my membership this season as it will clash with my kids school sports, trainings and late school nights too often. Thats 6 members gone from my family with 4 kids... How many more ???

It was around 2007/8 where we had:
》A couple of games on Fox Sports
》Midweek games including Wednesday
》No major sponsor for the league
》Teams were going into VA
》Crappy NBL website
...but we still had Brisbane and second Victorian team.

Holy crap! As of this offseason we'd begrudgingly accept the TV deal knowing we probs can't do better, accept the Weds again, we have no major sponsor, Hawks and Crocs were just in VA, the website still sucks and we don't even have Brissy or a second Vic team.

So much for the 'reformed NBL' 5 years ago. It seems that literally the entirety of the NBLs future is based on a good tv deal. There was one very good year when ONEHD started with the NBL including sponsorships.....

It's been an extraordinary wasteful last half a decade and I suspect that the frank reality is that a lack of money/capital makes it near impossible for the NBL to dig itself out and compete in a pretty competitive sports/entertainment market. In the absence of rich people willing to invest capital in an investment which shows zero signs of profitability or growth or general return on investment, Larry Kestelman is our only genuine opportunity, we need the capital injection badly and we need the almost radical business reform.

Isaac, I agree.... ;-)

would be a good idea to make midweek games half price entry to begin with.

Gotta hope a benefit of this is that the salary cap is now better value -ie a player can earn $150k over 20 weeks instead of over 25 weeks, which is effectivley a payrise.

This "payrise" should put teams in the market for even better players. Players that want to play more and train less.

For teams it means depth is important. A 2 week injury becomes a 5 - 6 game injury instead of a 2 - 3 game injury. Also less recovery time between games will challenge players fitness and energy levels with quick turn arounds.

Sounds exciting - but disappointed it will all be over in just 20 weeks ( plus play-offs)

Teams should do as much as they can with regard to season tickets for specific nights to cover losing those who can't make mid-week games. And as suggested, consider a reduced price for mid-week games.

"Gotta hope a benefit of this is that the salary cap is now better value -ie a player can earn $150k over 20 weeks instead of over 25 weeks, which is effectivley a payrise."

I see your point but those extra five week should be then put to good use with community and school visits.

Anon - I'm not sure bums on seats is the primary objective. None of the AFL, A-League, netball, cricket and rugby leagues rely on bums on seats. To cover just the players' salaries, AFL would have to generate around $900,000 clear profit per game. Then there's all the other staff, infrastructure, travel, marketing, etc etc. You can do the same sums for the NBA and the disparity is even clearer.

The profitable professional leagues all rely on advertising income (sponsorship) and media rights. Rugby historically has had gambling income from their clubs, but I'm pretty sure that's not as big a component of their income as it used to be.

I have no idea how this new NBL model is going to go, attendance wise. It won't get me to games for reasons another poster cited above BUT it sounds like it will give me more opportunities in a week to be watching NBL on some medium - at least streaming media and maybe also FTA or pay-TV if a deal is put together. I can record the game(s) and watch them after I get home from kids' sport. So that probably will lead to more eyeballs per game and a more attractive proposition for potential sponsors.

Maybe this model will also be more attractive to a media buyer looking for high volumes of live (sport) content? That may make a TV or high profile (Netflix, Stan etc.) streaming deal more likely?

The reduction in direct competition with footy and rugby appears to make NBL more attractive to sponsors looking for some sport related exposure.

We can no longer talk about the past as those days are vastly different.

We now have social and electronic media on tap
We now have families who are doing everything known to man and over scheduled as it is.
We have to compete with Big Bash and other modified sports with money on tap and already lucrative markets and sponsorship to tap in to that we need to compete with.

We need fast transition basketball and I believe we need a 3 second defensive ruling to open up the key to some specky drives and more dunks to bring in the crowds. We need better media presentation in the the Arenas/Stadiums such as new score boards with capacity to show footage. Better announcers and systems (not radio announcers please as they just talk to bloody fast and too much echo you can't hear them). Better entertainment and integration with local comps to bring in casual members

Regarding the above discussion of an "on the couch" type show.

Michelle Trewatha would be a good fit on that panel.

The idea of mid week games and some form of pre or post game show plus a weekly show can work. Yes, we need to get games right first, their entertainment factors is crucially important, but I think crowds will be fine during the week.

I think we all need to consider the season and the fact that day light savings in most States will give everyone reason for staying out a little longer, with or without kids.

Air time is crucial to maintain and foster growth in attracting new fans and the game itself is attractive to people going out at night who then may want to party on elsewhere afterwards.

If done correctly, I can see some light at the end of the NBL tunnel, but for me we do need to get this whole TV/Foxtel/Live/Online thing done properly...

People hae no problem taking their kids out to Big Big Bash, AFL, even visiting socer teams ( when they usually have no interest in socer) to mid week events.
Its a matter of the event being promoted as special, specatular, etc. etc. We really haven't seen any more than token gestures at promoting NBL games for years.
Even if you want to go to a 36ers game, its hard to find the stadium!

The only people who know about the NBL is you and me so it will be interesting to see how much money is thrown at promoting the NBL.

Midweek games will impact on country fans, people who may have to travel 2 hrs or more to get to a game, but the league will 'happily ignore" those few if it can generate more income through sponsorship dollars thanks to increased TV exposure.

As a Wildcat member I love the Friday night games just after work. (maybe 6pm). Ive attended a few wed night games in the past... that wasnt bad.

The great thing about Perth Arena is that its about a 4 minute walk from the Main train station here.

Its actually weekend games I struggle with. Anything on Sunday particulary as their there are less train services etc.

Another good thing to come on workday week games is the Red Army striding through the city heading towards the game. Feels really good seeing them all out there.

so paid up season tickets are what now? we are paying more per game, some pre paying.

Small market teams can host midweek games, big market teams can host weekends. There should not be an even spread just for the sake of it.

When it comes to distribution of weekend games I think whatever makes Larry Kestleman the biggest chance of getting back monies he's invested.

I think saying "Townsville is a small market so let's only give them Wednesday/Thursday games" then that is silly as they should get many games on those days but Reptile Rumbles and other rivalry games (perhaps Blanchfield and Markovic returning for the first time) should be given a more epic feel and time slot.

I'm wondering who owns NBL games of the past as I hope NBL.tv can become a WWE network/major U.S. Sports networks type situation where we can have classic matches and rivalries and biographies of hall of famers and yes even panel shows (including Breakers if Sky do something for them).

It certainly sounds like things are trying to be sorted out after lots of disappointment from fans so good luck to the powers that be and I hope we don't live to regret dealing with Fox Sports

How about NBL TV subscription to give us some NBA games as well.

Jumpshot, that would just complicate a situation they already struggle with. If people want NBA, they can get League Pass. If they want NBL, get the NBL equivalent.

It's not as though the NBA would just let them broadcast NBA games for nothing. It would just be a distraction for the league.