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The saga of the NBL TV deal has finally ended, with the league and Network Ten renegotiating to deliver a much-improved deal. Live games and being on Ten’s main channel are the key features.
It was announced today that next season, the NBL will have a live Sunday afternoon game on Ten and a 9.30pm Friday game on One each weekend. All finals will be shown across both networks.
Importantly, the online, IPTV, mobile and subscription rights for games not shown on TV have been transferred from Ten back to the league. Already, an impressive livenbl.tv site has been set up that looks like it will show games.
With games this season delayed until 10.30pm – and sometimes later – there has been plenty of disillusionment among fans. It was clear something would have to change.
But, as I wrote last October, it was always going to. Ten were locked in to show more games after this season, at a considerable cost, which meant some form of renegotiation was a near certainty.
The return to decent coverage comes at the perfect time.
The NBL’s TV ratings are far from impressive, whether live or delayed, which suggests there are other issues the sport needs to confront. However, in recent months, plenty of groundwork has been made.
Examples of this include the removal of the authoritarian Seamus McPeake from the Melbourne Tigers, the decision of the Tigers to move games to Hisense Arena next season and the emergence of Basketball Australia chairman Kristina Keneally as a strong voice for the sport.
With the Perth Wildcats set to move into a new arena and the Sydney Kings, the team in our biggest market, hoping taking a step forward in their development next season, a lot is seemingly falling into place.
Certainly, fans will no longer be able to blame poor coverage when deriding the league.
Being on Ten’s main channel will be a significant step up for the game. A fact many found amusing was that the WNBL attracted better ratings than the NBL on occasions this season. A large part of that can be attributed to the different audience size of ABC’s main channel and One.
Plus, while it may not seem like much, fans should also appreciate Friday night games being on at 9.30pm instead of 10.30pm. The difference means that an overtime epic – exactly the type of game you want showcased – won’t nudge 1am in the morning.
The new deal is clearly a win for fans and a win for basketball in Australia.