...

Why would Foxtel do that?

Also, with the amount of adverts on ESPN it's insufferable

So will Fox Sports televise the rest of the games?

https://www.espn.com/nbl/story/_/id/27283849/espn-signs-two-year-deal-broadcast-prime-nbl-games

I would have thought Fox Sports get better reach than ESPN but I can see how they go for the NBA then NBL market.

I wonder how this affects 1) the rest of the games - we don't want some games not televised or only online; 2) Magazine type shows

Best case scenario/dream: Nine shows the rest on their main channel/on Go during AusOpen; Sunday Nine has a highlights type show, ideally with the Overtime folk

Well this...seems like terrible news, to be perfectly honest. Is there any guarantee all the ESPN-broadcast games will be on TV, and not streaming exclusives? And what of the non-ESPN games?

"We had a red hot go on that, and we found, while Larry Kestelman is doing a fantastic job, - they're getting full stadiums, it's going to take a while for viewership to build. So that's something that we couldn't continue with, but I'm glad it's still on the (Foxtel) platform."

Fox sports said no to the NBL lol

Where did you find that quote, KET?

https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2019/7/29/exclusive-foxtel-boss-warns-aussie-sports-its-time-to-cut-costs

His ass.

Okay, not his ass. lol.

Jesus, okay things look a bit up in the air for the league now outside of these primetime games.

The NBL has deals in place for 5 games a week to be shown live between NINE and ESPN, that leaves on average 2 per week, will be interesting to see whether they find a place for them on TV or rely on digital and what the digital offerings look like.

This is bloody disaster

The quality on NBL TV is atrocious, FTA coverage has only ever been in SD...this is not good.

Not to mention what it says about the long term prospects of the league if they can't even give the TV product away for free. That big-money deal isn't coming. What's plan B?

I'd say wait and see what the coverage is this year rather than going all chicken little!

"The move by Foxtel to cut costs will likely see more marquee sports codes take up the option of producing their own match-day coverage, and supplying the vision to local broadcasters, a move already embraced by the National Basketball League who supply vision to Fox Sports and NINE.

"We had a red hot go on that, and we found, while Larry Kestelman is doing a fantastic job, - they're getting full stadiums, it's going to take a while for viewership to build. So that's something that we couldn't continue with, but I'm glad it's still on the (Foxtel) platform.""

The full excerpt from the article. Sounds more to do with NBL taking over their own production than Fox Sports dropping them.

Were Fox ever covering production in the LK era though?

First two years, actually. And Fox have been getting the NBL for free ever since. So no, this article has nothing to do with dropping the NBL.

4Mbps 1080p streams are a complete waste of everyone's time so if they are going to have exclusives that needs to change dramatically.

ME, listen to the podcast - the context is clearer to them dropping NBL.

The point about NBL supplying was added out of context by the website

And FYI costs were shared, evidently that minimised cost was still too much for Fox given poor ratings.

This is what happens when Fox pays majority of the billion afl nrl and cricket gets

What makes most sense to me, in light having read the article, knowing what I know, and the ESPN deal, is Fox Sports picking up the non-prime time games, ESPN taking prime time, and a FTA presence taking something that is yet to be disclosed.

I get the FTA presence insight from a comment Olgun made in reference to the article where he says to look out for a FTA announcement tomorrow. Josh Liddle from the Facebook NBL groups said that Fox Sports would air the remaining games, and while I am not sure what his involvement in the NBL is, he is often correct and has been the first to know a lot of stuff lately.

The reason why I am heartened by this situation is because it occurs to me that ESPN must be paying something for these rights, or it wouldn't make a great deal of sense to give it to them and not just continue to give it to Fox Sports for free.

As I have already said, a more indepth and knowledgeable reading of the article brings someone to the conclusion that this has to do with production cost, and not screening the NBL. If anything, Fox Sports is looking for the cheapest possible content it can find an the NBL is ticking that box.

I think ESPN is either paying the NBL, or is helping out with production costs, and Larry has more or less said that Fox Sports can have what remains.

I expect that to be the result that is confirmed tomorrow.

Ok I posted that before reading what you said. I'll listen now.

4Mb looks fine IMO

People pissing and moaning about nbl tv. It's $5 per month you twat.

Olgun knows his stuff, it will be very interesting re FTA, hopefully better than initially agreed upon deal but hopefully not a "two live on go, the rest shown on 9now" situation

The quality is awful. I'm happy to pay more for better quality, I'd be unhappy with their current streams if they were free.

I think it hurts the NBL is reaching expanded viewership and gaining more sponsorship dollars. Television is the way to be mainstream at the moment for sports.

Some like Premier League would have the pull where if they go full streaming so does their large base. That's where sheer benefit of streaming capabilities works nicely.

NBL doesn’t have that benefit, they are looking to actively grab market- a lot of that needs to be through visibility of flicking through channels or the tv at the pub, bar etc

Fox Sports HD (1080i MPEG4) channels run at around 7.5mbps.

So I am listening to the podcast, KET, and it's a bit inconclusive whether he means cutting NBL completely or whether he means not funding it.

In HD as well...

9 probably weren't willing to do 67 games Live in HD.

I would say ESPN got involved due to Ball and other Next Stars playing here, to be aired on their ESPN+ streaming service in the US. They have been really active in picking up the rights to niche sports and leagues as it is an additional service to the main linear channels which are under threat in future due to cord cutters. It's been a strategy at present to cover themselves for the move away from TV to streaming without cannibalising the traditional service as yet since it still brings in a lot of revenue.

Bottom line is no Next Stars no ESPN interest. Well done LK. Fox Sports are a mess paying billions to AFL, NRL and cricket yet don't want to pay a cent for any other content as they are bleeding. At least ESPN would be paying some contribution you would imagine.

Terrance Ferguson and Joey Wright should get the credit for next stars. It is their risk taking that led the way for others to follow.

ME, they corrected the context in the new article

"The move comes after previous rights holder Foxtel made the decision not to continue with the sport"

https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2019/7/30/sbs-becomes-home-of-australian-basketball-in-shock-new-broadcast-deal

It definitely makes sense for ESPN to have access to these games for their ESPN+ service in the states as well as offering live sport in a timeslot they don't normally cover here. Win win for them, especially considering the lack of competition likely making it a very cheap pick up.

I've got FTA (obviously), Foxtel, Telstra TV (easy access to SBSonDemand, 9Now etc), and NBL TV.

For me, as long as every game is broadcast somewhere, accessing has never been an issue.

My concerns lay, and has always been of interest to me, is the strength of the NBL and the direction upward.

While there is a positive that the NBL will be on the same channel after NBA - I think more NBA lovers may inherit coverage of NBL which is a good thing, I think there are two worrying aspects: #1 restaurants etc. tend to show Fox Sports over ESPN, #2 it's a step back FTA viewership wise, i'd say SBS Viceland gets far less viewers than NineGo. It's also a step back in respect of the aim to get main channel coverage (even if it's in the afternoon).

The question to be asked is: if you're an advertiser/sponsor of the NBL, is this broadcast deal going to give you value for your dollar and the reach you want?

The lack of viewership on Fox and Nine probably made it a very easy decision for them to let go, which hinders NBL's bargaining position (not to mention Boomers games that became considerably less interesting to the mainstream).

Those are my initial thoughts - it's a deal that seems a step back in many ways, even if I can easily flick on SBS/ESPN/SBSonDemand and get live HD coverage.

Any hate should be directed to the Cadee thread...

Perhaps they can use the NBL.tv platform for WNBL

WNBL.tv and broadcast every game online free and live.

They haven't mentioned if that kills of NBL TV?

NBL TV would be nice for those who are international plus the existing library

The actual ESPN in Australia. ESPN+ in the US (which is their streaming service).

5 years ago we had one or two games on tv anywhere and we were all watching box scores to find out how our teams were doing (or tiny windows on gambling sites).

ESPN+ in the US

No.

I'm not sure why the interest in whether it kills off NBL TV or not. You either pay $5 a month for all games and on demand, or you get all games and on demand from SBS On Demand? Kind of splitting hairs on whatever the outcome is there. NBL still owns the rights to all its production so I'd be surprised if NBL TV didn't still exist.

As for the deal, there are pros and cons for sure. For one, to get all your NBL reliably in one place, as was the deal with Fox, is definitely convenient. You wouldn't have to figure out what time the game was on as to what channel you're going to switch to. That kind of thing probably only matters to die-hard fans, as fans with either one or the other will probably be content watching what they have.

I also think that Fox Sports is known for Australian sport, and is probably a stronger brand in Australia than ESPN. There is probably going to be less incidental coverage of the NBL in different public places as already discussed. But if we're talking about bringing over pre-existing basketball fans there probably isn't a better platform than ESPN, and there will be plenty of opportunities at cross promotion between the leagues which will surely increase interest in the NBL for those already watching the NBA. No doubt the basketball fans who already exist are probably the fans that the NBL are most concerned with.

As for FTA, is 9Go really that much bigger than SBS Viceland? As far as I know the NBL received only a modest increase in TV views when switching from SBS to Nine in the first place. The main thing I take from the FTA deal is that this is going to be the most NBL games shown on FTA TV, possibly ever. That has to be worth something.

But in the end, you have Fox Sports literally dropping the NBL, and the NBL being good to make lemonade out of the lemons. The Australia vs. USA games, which were meant to be the feather in the cap of the deal ended up underwhelming, and he was unable to make a lucrative deal when packaging them together. The NBL will still not get a direct payout for their product. But they've been good enough to extend their FTA coverage and to bring basketball to the only other available sporting network - one which may yet prove to be a success for the league given its status in the basketball world.

This is the best the NBL could do given the situation and there are unique upsides to exploit. Sport on FTA in HD on SBS is probably a win over FTA in standard definition on 9Go. And half of the games on ESPN probably draws even with the Fox Sports deal given its ability to cross-promote.

This is a modest win for the NBL, but it does show that they're not out of the woods yet. Fox Sports dropped them and Nine, although they were interested in working with the league, certainly weren't going to give them 67 games. The struggle continues for the NBL. But they've done enough to stay well and truly in the game.

Yeah, everyone complains about NBL TV, until of course there's a chance it might go away. lol.

"Five years ago we had a mid-afternoon game every week on a primary FTA channel with every game broadcast on NBL TV."

You've said yourself that NBL tv is not a great product.

Jesus christ koberulz all you ever do is whinge and nitpick. NBL TV was/is a great product and for $5 month I hope it continues it was always fantastic quality on my PC.

And yeah if you couldn't work out who the new Breakers coach is it's Dan Shamir.

ME, agree with your post.

I was a little too optimistic hoping the NBL would come up with largely the same deal as last year except the arvo games on GO being on Nine for before/after tennis season.

I think there is an element of sponsor dollars being reliant on good media coverage - i'm not sure whether this will achieve that.

Having so many games on FTA, live and in HD is wonderful no doubt for the average NBL fan who will be connected enough to know where the coverage is and that is absolutely one key aspect to the deal which is a big win.

NBL TV was/is a great product and for $5 month I hope it continues it was always fantastic quality on my PC.

Outstanding result with over half the games live and HD on FTA, then the rest live and HD on STV. Also away from being obliged to have 2.30pm Saturday games. Pretty happy with all that.

There are still some 3pm games by the look of it though?

No 3pm games on Saturday. Earliest each Saturday is 5.30pm eastern time, so there is one Perth game at 2.30pm and a small number of 4.30s in QLD.

There are 3pm games on Sundays, though.

There have been for years, Sunday arvo has been the NBL's major TV timeslot for a long time now.

This deal is MUCH better in terms of scheduling than last year's farce. Good to see they can learn from their mistakes - eventually

The NBL have done a terrific job with trying things out and adjusting.

I do wonder if we will see some/a basketball show on SBS or ESPN.

I might just keep my Foxtel subscription for a few more months now.......... LOL

This is a fantastic deal with free access for every game, but I think I'll keep Foxtel for a while too so I can access ESPN HD. I was just reading the article on the NBL website and it says ''All SBS VICELAND and ESPN games will be broadcast in HD'' but doesn't specifically mention if SBS On Demand will stream HD.

Successfully series linked the upcoming NBL season on my Foxtel IQ4 set top box a moment ago as it lets you navigate two weeks in advance. The feature has correctly detected the first two lives games on ESPN and the third on SBS Viceland.