The NBL have recently announced their pre-season tournament, to be played in Brisbane from September 23-26 but in a change from tradition, it is no longer called the NBL Blitz, and will feature non-NBL teams.
The creative new name that the NBL have come up with is the Australian Basketball Challenge (ABC) and there are a number of points to take away from the announcement.
Apart from the glaringly obvious – that two teams from the China Basketball Association (CBA), Zhejiang CB Golden Bulls and Tianjin Ronggang have been included, it seems to go down a general path NBL boss Larry Kestelman and his team have been implying – that expansion into Asia is the end goal.
And dollar wise, you can hardly blame them.
The profit that could be picked up from planting the NBL in Asia is huge. It’s an expanding sport throughout the continent, with a large amount of opportunities available through advertising and the media industry – including that of digital media.
While the NBL authorities made it clear in their announcement that teams from Europe and the Americas have shown interest in being part of the tournament for years to come, there is no coincidence that two teams from China will rock up on our shores in this first season.
“In the future we see the ABC being a competition that involves teams from around the globe including the United States, Asia and Europe. We already have very strong interest from all three regions for next year’s competition, which is already in the works.” said NBL General Manager Jeremy Loeliger.
However, there is just a fleeting suspicion that Asia are going to be involved more often than they aren’t until such time as the NBL actually expands into the continent and China in particular for their regular season.
The ABC will also be streamed into China (as it will here in Australia) allowing the country to get a look at the quality evident in the Australian Domestic League, and not for the first time.
The NBL sent an ‘all-star’ team to China earlier in the season for a couple of exhibition games against the Chinese National Team, playing in front of sold-out arenas and receiving a massive TV audience right around the nation.
Again, it all comes down to money. It’s no secret the NBL have been through some hard times trying to maintain a domestic league in Australia, with teams folding regularly and the struggling against a lack of publicity.
Last season was a step in the right direction, but it’s a long road for the league to get back into the public spotlight, and for it to happen long term then sustainable plans have to be made.
Personally, I am against the idea of expansion into Asia, but there is no question that long-term sustainability for the NBL could be the result of a foray into the region.
The potential for a full blown competition with more teams, and playing in front of larger crowds on the road has to be appealing for the NBL.
The Chinese league is not of the worst quality either, with a number of imports in both of the teams that will arrive for the ABC, in a similar structure, albeit weaker one than the NBL.
Regardless of what we may all think about the potential future expansion into Asia, there is a huge potential there and opening relations in this way, and that of the all-star games earlier in the year show the NBL is committed to making it happen sooner rather than later.
It would have to be assumed that broadcasting dollars, whether from Fox Sports or Free-to-Air TV networks could also be easier to come by in a league with more teams, talent and a bigger global reach.
It is this global reach that can put basketball back on a wider-reaching map in Australia, with a large contingent of the population from overseas.
Between permanent residents and those who are here on study or work related visas, it could increase local crowd sizes exponentially if there were Asian teams participating in the national, or continental league as it may become on a regular basis.
All roads seem to be pointing to an Asian-based expansion for the NBL somewhere in the future, but whether it is the right option remains to be seen.
The domestic game is nowhere near in order just yet, but the ABC announcement seems to suggest the NBL have plans that don’t involve that.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
News from on and off court around the NBL.
The Cairns Taipans' NBL season is still alive with an important 73-69 win at home over Queensland rivals Brisbane.
After a 28-match 2019-20 NBL season, these are my player rankings for the fifth-placed Brisbane Bullets. Lamar Patterson: 9.5/10 The initial narrative from the…
Andrej Lemanis is left looking for answers as the Brisbane Bullets' defensive woes add to a tough week for the former Boomers coach. Brisbane…
The Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United look set to provide an NBL grand final series for the ages. Though the vanquished Brisbane Bullets and…
They will have to buck history to bounce back successfully from losing Game 1 in Perth on Thursday night, but the Brisbane Bullets have…
