Do people live in Disneyland? Do you expect someone to snap their fingers and sprinkle fairy dust and fix everything in a few weeks.

We went from having 2-3 teams about to bail to having almost all recruiting impressively. I think that's been the biggest turn around. More clubs are doing a better job with their marketing, at least from what I've seen - Melbourne, Sydney and Illawarra for example.

The lack of naming rights sponsor isn't new. The old TV deal was on the way out and you could tell Ten just didn't care, so the lack of change there is no great change. I'll believe there's a TV deal when it's announced - bored of the "closing in on a deal" press.

The branding is the first step towards marketing. I'm sure they'll be pushing that campaign at the right time.

Really only comes down to TV and naming rights. Best to wait and see on TV, and I can't imagine they'd be in a strong position to get major sponsors in the absence of TV.


The recruiting has impressed me after that horrible early off-season. Who isn't interested to see the new import crop, how Kings and Hawks go with their upgrades, etc?

"So why should we believe it will change now?"

Because they got a new ball deal which wasn't with Dunlop. Thats basically like winning the lottery.

Neither do I.

Rome wasn't built in a day. I like what LK is doing so far. It's the little things like New website, logo, Patty Mills as ambassador, greater presence on social media that show he will do well . Give home time.

The foolish thing is that there were a LOT of stupendous claims being made when LK's "proposal" was first rumoured. All the stupendous things he was going to achieve, and all for just a few million dollars. NONE of those claims came from LK, but unfortunately people swallowed them, and are now holding him accountable.

At the end of the day, injecting $5M into the NBL will provide some financial stability, and that's always a good thing.

The part I would be critical of, and have always been, is that this is the guy who thought rebranding the Tigers as MU, was the answer to THEIR problems, so he was always going to try something similar.
And who knows, maybe telling some people its a "new" NBL, with a new logo, etc, will have some benefits. Personally I find the the new website to be a PITA, but I'll get used to it.

I'm surprised he didn't change the name to "Australian Premier League Basketball".

Patty Mills has league ambassador is good. Not much he can do for 8+ months of the year though.

League stability is good, but far from assured. This off season has been no different from every second off season in the NBL where one or more teams look like they'll fail and then just manage to push through (alternating with off seasons where they do fall through).

TV, naming rights etc are things that do take time. You can't expect these things to be done overnight, that would be stupid. But so would talking up your chances of getting that sorted better than anyone else. So theres that.

How was it successful? Is a huge amount of money pumped in and crowds half full of free tickets a success?

It may yet be a success, but calling the MU branding a success at this point is completely absurd

the recruiting for this season is certainly a vote of confidence from the clubs and their sponsors.

hope it is sustainable....

There were benefits to the MU change, but significant losses too. There were some very worried people at the club until the last two games of the season when some people who had received in-kind memberships finally rolled through the doors.

The jury is definitely still out on the MU change.

It was encouraging seeing a sold out Hisense for the last game, but that was one game.

I will say that LK has shown his willingness to pour money into the sport. Whether that actually translates into success ultimately for MU and the NBL in general remains to be seen.

Boti has alluded on Twitter to a TV deal being announced in the coming days.

Sounds promising. Fingers crossed for a good deal.

Fingers crossed for something -anything- on free to air.

I really hope that at least every game is shown on a live streaming service. While NBL TV had quality issues I enjoyed having the option to watch every game.

Are SBS out of the equation??? Aren't they losing soccer at the end of the contract.

Agreed Train

NBL TV had it's detractors but I enjoyed having the option of checking out any game, any time.

The ultimate package would be games on FTA TV like the last few years, with an upgraded online subscription service- like NBL TV but better quality.

The NBL needs every game, or at least most games produced in high quality and in prime time to start cracking the mainstream media market. Fox with a game a week on FTA would be a bloody good result.

Fox with no FTA though would not be a good result.

Fox effectively keeps the league cornered in a small segment of the market- not many people have Fox with the sports package.

I'd be happy with that result also.

I would of thought the majority of people buy Foxtel to GET Foxsports.

I think all games on Fox with no FTA would still be a very good result, provided Fox took it seriously. It would put the NBL back in front of the mainstream media, particularly with midweek games on TV.

LV, most of the highest rating shows on Fox are sports shows, and the ratings the NBL got on Ten and ONE would certainly be attainable and beatable on Fox.

My question is: Who will be paying who? What kind of money is going to be put into the production? If the NBL can be made attractive on Fox, and sustain decent ratings given their situation, they could eventually barter for an OK TV deal.

At least if it goes to Foxtel then its more likely that we will get a good chunk of games live.

I'll take your word for it Paul but I find it odd that NBL on Fox would get the same ratings as One HD. How many people actually have Fox with the sports package? Everyone has a TV though.

I've never had Fox and am unlikely to ever get it, but I watched NBL on FTA all the time.

The Fox Sports channels regularly get bigger ratings than ONE, which is a poor performing channel.

I know a lot of people who got Foxtel purely for the AFL channels and sports channels. Having the NBL on one of those sports channels would be a big boost for the NBL considering what they have got previously.

The thing is, people specifically go to Fox for sports, so you are keyed into one of your target markets. People who like sports will happen across the NBL. That's a lot less likely to happen with GEM or ONE.

Of course, you'd like some sort of FTA presence to attract young fans who don't have STV, but there is the whole beggars and choosers thing, and for exposure I'd prefer every game on Fox than only two per week on FTA, unless that was on a main channel and heavily promoted, but I can't see that happening at this stage.

Fair enough- I can see the logic behind your statement that Fox Sports would still be good for the league then, Paul.

For me personally then, fingers crossed we have a good online solution.

Yeah, for us tragics, having every game available online is pretty hard to beat.

I'll take your word for it Paul but I find it odd that NBL on Fox would get the same ratings as One HD. How many people actually have Fox with the sports package? Everyone has a TV though.

I've never had Fox and am unlikely to ever get it, but I watched NBL on FTA all the time.

It was encouraging seeing a sold out Hisense for the last game, but that was one game.

A truly bizarre definition of "sold out" LV!

United s last game was full unless my memory is off

Yep, but if I am hearing correctly, from lots of sources, not that many 'sold" tickets....