The NBL have already confirmed the game will be live on 10 Peach.

The key feature of the new TV deal was ESPN holding exclusive rights to the playoffs.

(but good to see some of it has made its way onto FTA.)

Which they don't, Game 2 Sydney vs Illawarra was live on 10 Peach as will be Game 2 Tasmania vs Sydney.

This sounds like an absolute nightmare to put together. Good luck to the broadcast crew.

"Mini games" in all sports across all platforms are super hit and miss. ESPN's attempt at these for NBA games is laughable. Doing one while the game is on and trying to get it edited together on the fly like that seems like a recipe for disaster.

Not only that, but you have to have it finish at 3QT, which is a moving target. And means you're doing highlights for Q3 during Q3.

I remember watching a behind-the-scenes of the WrestleMania highlights video WWE does at the end of the event, and that was absolute chaos. That's a four-hour, semi-scripted event, they'd already know 90% of what they want to put in that video and just need to wait for it to happen. Doing it for a genuine live sport would be an absolute nightmare.

Which they don't, Game 2 Sydney vs Illawarra was live on 10 Peach as will be Game 2 Tasmania vs Sydney.

They don't hence why there are also playoff games being shown live on 10 Peach therefore by definition the playoffs are not exclusive to ESPN/Kayo.

It's a bit of a wonky idea but I see the silver lining. This is channel 10's main channel who, for whatever reason, have given the NBL a concession to show the game Live and in HD on their main channel. The viewing experience may not be A1 for NBL fans but it is good exposure and a sign that the league must be meeting and/or exceeding certain metrics that made this step a possibility. Moving forward we could see highlight packages run throughout the season on Channel 10s main channel, which is an easily consumable format for casual fans and people who've never actually bothered to watch an NBL game before. This is where growth is. It's a small step but it speaks to a growing confidence in the broadcast product, Channel Ten and their relationship with the NBL

To follow up on my comment the NBL released a graphic that said that NBL viewership for Game 3 of the Melbourne/Tasmania semi final was up 105 percent on the most-viewed game of 2021 and up 74 percent on the highest viewership from 2022. Reach was up 52 and 45 percent respectively. I am not sure how the viewership numbers look across the rest of the year but in that one game there is a steep climb between most popular this year and most popular over the last two. This is clearly the power of the Jack Jumpers and the underdog story.

They don't hence why there are also playoff games being shown live on 10 Peach therefore by definition the playoffs are not exclusive to ESPN/Kayo.

Do you have a link to back up the claim of exclusivity in the playoffs? Because the evidence suggests that is not the case.

Are you serious?

When the new TV deal was announced before the season.

Obviously some time before the playoffs the NBL got ESPN to yield a tad. They really are shrewd operators.

Keep in mind that a lot of viewers these days can't watch something for more than an hour. Attention spans have reduced.

Why does it matter?

It wouldn't surprise if finals/playoffs was an exclusive part of an ESPN deal - and if the NBL became more of a draw card, you shouldn’t expect ESPN wouldn’t take advantage by it being behind the paywall in future seasons.

Similarly, it’s not surprising that one or two of the games would end up on FTA to reach more interest in the hope of drawing people to Kayo to watch the rest of the series, or even draw greater attention to the NBL - because at the end of the day those that see it on FTA and say "I want to watch more NBL" as a result can only be led to ESPN. It’s effectively a marketing push.

Kayo Freebies is another way for them to really peddle and compel people.

Whilst for the NBL, they benefit because they aren’t purely behind a paywall for some of the biggest games of the season.

It’s fantastic that they’ve got the full game on peach and managing to get a semblance of coverage on the main channel. The Sprint is a weird and whacky idea - I don’t know why Ten wants to do it, but it sounds like either 1) they kinda had ideas of the NBL being on the main channel and baulked at it, so 1 hour was worth a test, or more positively, 2) Ten and NBL came up with an innovative idea to get coverage on the main channel as a sign of confidence.

I’d love it to be #2, and I’ll optimistically say it is. I think it’s a savvy idea that I’d love to see become a more regular thing if possible.

How does putting the entire series on Kayo Freebies entice people to subscribe to anything?

Seems Foxtel is moving to streaming-only from next year, too, making them all the more obsolete. The quality bump over streaming is really the only thing they have going for them.

It wouldn't surprise if finals/playoffs was an exclusive part of an ESPN deal

"How does putting the entire series on Kayo Freebies entice people to subscribe to anything?"

Do you really need to ask how a freebies marketing strategy works, particularly for the benefits of even having people drawn into and engaging with a platform?

Kayo aren't putting their entire sports offering for free - NBL plays a part of an overall strategy in enticing engagement.

I feel like you’d be one of those who walks into IKEA and goes “how does making people go through the entire store entice people to buy anything?”

“Huh? It was a part of the deal and the means in which NBL finally got paid for the rights so how can it be a surprise.”

I’m sorry, I can’t answer how something can be a surprise when I said it wouldn’t be a surprise.

I don’t really know why you’d ask me to explain the opposite proposition to what I wrote.

Ah, I misread that. My bad.

Recently on here I've been dealing with posters surprised that most of the playoffs are ESPN-only when it was announced as such last July when the new TV deal details were released and even discussed about on this very site!

Do you really need to ask how a freebies marketing strategy works, particularly for the benefits of even having people drawn into and engaging with a platform?

People register for Kayo Freebies because its the grand final, they now have the Kayo app and are on the Kayo database. The company has direct access.