Perth data skews the figures, but if you take them out then a league average of 6,411 is still very healthy!

Pretty sure Perth has been in the league the past few seasons as well.

Lol I should know that, I've been at most of the games! Just for the statistically minded who enjoy looking at data without outliers :)

And 20 years ago there were three Melbourne teams all playing at Rod Laver.

Slightly off topic, but watching some of these classic games it's interesting to see crowds in the smaller venues during the boom times.

Geelong, Gold Coast and Hobart despite having small stadiums struggled to fill them. Gold Coast was especially bad, rows and rows of green empty seats in a stadium that despite it's inadequacies seemed to be a good place to watch basketball. And by 96 the Giants only one year removed from a grand final series couldn't pull 4,000 people a game. I know that crowds started to dip after 94 but it was interesting to see just how much these teams struggled. The Hawks were packing out a small venue which was good for them, surviving until a decent mid size venue was built.

What cities were booming? Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville and the Tigers/Magic. Other than Townsville these franchises/cities are still with us. It seems the less than ten teams in big cities model is inevitable when you go back and look at how much some of those teams were struggling even then.

I rather think we have the depth of talent coming through to well and truly support eight teams in the NBL these days.

The questions will always remain, do we have the money to sustain some form of expansion and where does the league see this suited best in the future?

On topic, great crowd figures, healthy early signs...

The Giants played out of the Glasshouse, capacity 6,000. The Magic and Tigers played out of Rod Laver.

Actually glass house held 7,200 according to wiki. Not my recollection but yeah, def nothing like Rod Laver.

Even in the best days of the 90's though, I don't think the Tigers or Magic were filling RLA, except for perhaps the odd Derby or grand final

Hey LV, other than derbys no they weren't filling it up. I have an old one on one magazine which I was quoting the less than 4,000 figure for the Giants from. Tigers and Magic seemed to do alright though, the whole lower bowel filled for some games looking at video, which I'm guessing would make about 7,000 people a game at least? The problem there was too many teams in one city and two teams playing games at a venue far too large which I'm guessing cost a high sum to rent. Then each subsequent merger killed some of the fanbase.

Re Anon, the Hobart v Tigers at the Cage comparison are different eras so not like to like. The Tigers were at the Cage in the mid 2000s, probably the worst era for attendances since the league went professional. The Victoria Giants and Razorbacks were bottoming out at crowds lower than 1,000 people back then. The Wildcats struggling, same with Adelaide, Sydney etc. I think the only team healthy then was Townsville.

While on the subject, a good game to check on NBL classics from the mid 2000s in 2004 Giants v Breakers.

Wow is all I can say. Looks like a totally different league in terms of crowd figures now.

Bullets have sold out the Convention Centre for their next fixture. It's a small stadium and not the best for basketball (but much better located than the existing entertainment centre), so hopefully the proposed inner city entertainment centre at Roma Street is on horizon.