It's ok, found it 5246

I wonder if that's a concern to them or if they expected that. I mean, Adelaide has 1/5th of the population yet managed over 6K in a smaller venue.

Got 26k viewers on Fox Sports 3 ( for anyone that is interested)

Surely those Fox viewing numbers are a disaster?

People not from Sydney don't know how much of a hassle it is to get to that venue.

Fox ratings mean nothing anymore now that the NBL is producing its own content and (probably) paying Fox to show the games. And with NBL.TV now in place and available to a lot more people, Fox ratings will become a redundant statistic.

Re Kings crowd of 5246 - Probably a good turnout considering they lost their home opener in front of 8000, they finished bottom last season, have a history of mediocrity, and therefore have a lot to prove to their fans that they are worth watching again. Also, Sydney is notoriously fickle with sports. This is probably the typical fan base of the Kings right now - which isn't too bad. Hope it improves though,

NSW people just don't attend sport. Their numbers are woeful for all sports.

To say the stadium is hard to get too is a poor excuse. I know supporters that attend the Sixers game after a 2 hour drive, watch the game, get something to eat, then drive the 2 hours home.

Yeah but that's a great day out in Adelaide :)

"Fox ratings mean nothing anymore now that the NBL is producing its own content and (probably) paying Fox to show the games. And with NBL.TV now in place and available to a lot more people, Fox ratings will become a redundant statistic."

Say what you like about NBL.tv but without proper Television coverage (Fox Sports at the moment) the League would be screwed.

Sponsors will show no interest etc.

Television broadcast is the life blood of any sport. Make no mistake about that.

Those Fox Sports viewing numbers are an improvement on earlier years. As for NBL TV, it is not yet a good enough streaming service to take over for TV.

I still think TV numbers are relevant. If you want to try and sell the coverage on FTA or to Fox again for more money or actual money (if NBL is paying them) you still want to have good viewer numbers to point to as a reason to buy the rights. Sure you can speak to a mix of the ways to view but TV numbers sill hold value, especially if a lot of the NBL.TV views are free.

I agree to an extent there. Ratings have some relevance for sure as it does for every sport. However the NBL has never rated particularly well. As long as the NBL continue to make inroads into their revitalisation (e.g. game night experience, increased professionalism, better streaming of games, improved attendances), more people will watch. And more money will come.

Don't forget TV networks have never been kind to the league. They put in next to no effort with promotion, research etc, its now up to the league to take over. Which they have. And so far its looking good.

At the moment its all LK's money. With continued perseverance, ratings should go up as the league gets bigger, and more money will come from outside sources.

26K on Fox sounds reasonable. Would be interested to know how many are tuning into SBS, considering they don't advertise it.

Sydney gets shit crowds for most Sports, compared to the rest of Aus. No surprises there.

Anybody who thinks Television ratings are irrelevant, honestly has no idea

I have an idea mate. Im just saying its not everything. Its never rated well. The league is doing great things right now in many other areas.

I just saw the ratings from last year, and this years ratings are an improvement so far.

For instance, all games of the season have rated over 20K, whereas this time last year only one game had rated that high.

We were getting averages around 11K, sometimes even dropping as low as 5K.

It's a modest improvement but an improvement nonetheless.

Also where are you guys getting the NBL Fox Sports ratings from?

As much as I was going for Cairns, my immediate thought after the result was that it's good that Sydney won as since their return every 'biggest crowd of the season' game they end up getting beaten so that has to scare off some supporters let alone the fickle Sydney crowd so I'd love for them to have a good start to the season and grow their fan base.

I'd be interested as to how many watch games on their NBL.tv compared to Fox or SBS

Good start to the season so far

Agreed on the venue location being a poor excuse, FM, to a degree... A 2hr trip where you only have to worry about dodging the occasional roo is one thing, but the same trip in Sydney traffic is a much larger deterrent...

That being said, we got over 8000 to the home opener on the same night that there was the Sydney FC/Wanderers derby on next door, that didn't put people off... It might have actually got more people there, really...

There are a lot of factors going in to getting fans to games, not the least being those that were mentioned above by Haz... The new management/team have taken on a big task of having to prove to the Sydney public that they're a different team and deserve the crowd turning up...

They've made a lot of strides in this though, lots more marketing around the city (some very sweet advertising on trains, etc) and a HEAP of work on game night, commencing family activities and such 2hrs before tip off, really pumping the game night stuff, getting that giant block of screens in and actually using it (although that could be better), but have also taken a few steps back... Fan engagement after the games has dropped off, the fans being unable to go out on the court after the game for a meet and greet I think is a huge thing, especially after a loss as it allows the fans to connect on such a wider scale than having to wait around and only meet four players after waiting in line forever... Being able to get fans that are only coming to their first game but still being able to meet a player that might not be the top player to meet but someone they like is a good move to be able to get them to come back...

Having to share fans with Sydney FC and Wanderers fans, a lot who prioritise the soccer over the basketball is tough as well... After walking past a stadium where over 60,000 fans were chanting and cheering after the first Kings game, I don't blame them for choosing to attend those sorts of games over the Kings...

When all is said and done, Sydney is still very much a Rugby League city and struggling to fight the mentality of the more hardcore NRL fans is tough... Even trying to get on sports updates on radio and tv shows is tough... I was watching a random Sunday morning rubbish show where they were updating the previous nights sports events, and the Kings didn't even get a mention... They REALLY need to get more visibility on mainstream shows, both on radio and tv to be able to make any inroads to getting more people to games...

Getting the footage of Cadee getting super pumped up out there with a highlights package of some Whittington alley oops would be awesome as well... Sydney loves a winner and if the wins keep coming, then the bandwagon will fill up...

I don't think there's any issue with Homebush as the venue. It's not really considered as "out of the way" now as it probably was back when the Kings/Spirit were there last time. Everyone would love a 7-8k seat arena in the CBD, but alas. It's the best we can do.

Bullets v 36ers got 27k viewers on Fox Sports 3 yesterday (for anyone interested)

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