In a massive boost for Australian basketball fans, the NBL has struck an exclusive free-to-air TV deal with SBS for the 2016-17 season, which starts on Thursday, October 6.
The deal will work in a similar way to last year’s broadcast agreement, when one game a week was by the Nine Network through high definition channel GEM.
The difference between that deal and this new one – both of which run alongside the pay-TV agreement between the NBL and Fox Sports, which allows one game a week to be shown live on free-to-air TV – is that each and every game shown by SBS during the 2016-17 season will be live.
One of the major problems with last year’s deal was that there weren’t games every Sunday, and Nine only showed nine out of a possible 19 games live, with the rest being on delay in a ‘game of the round’ replay scenario.
The matches, which are currently on the NBL schedule as ‘to be confirmed’ will likely be played at 3pm (AEST), as the limited amount of matches were last year.
NBL executive director, Larry Kestelman, said, “We are excited to have a national public broadcaster, SBS, on board with us for this season. It’s great a new demographic of fans who may not normally watch through either NBL TV or other broadcast partnerships are able to watch our great game.
“Our goal is to reach as many Australian basketball fans as possible through our coverage and showcase the quality of the NBL to Australian audiences. Having a free-to-air broadcaster that also loves and understands the business of televising sport is of huge importance to us as we continue to grow the sport.”
The NBL’s first match on SBS will be Sunday, October 9 between Melbourne United and the Adelaide 36ers.
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