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After two rounds of the revamped National Basketball League (NBL), new CEO Larry Kestelman’s renovations are working solidly.
But how far can basketball in Australia go, and what sort of a status can it get on our summer sporting landscape?
Focusing on the positives for a second, the NBL have absolutely outdone themselves based on past seasons.
Last season, the competition looked to be on its last legs. NBL legend Andrew Gaze even came out and called for the competition to be cancelled for a season so it could get itself together.
Just a few months out, taking a season off was not the worst idea.
There was no TV deal, no real sponsors, no money coming in, and only six confirmed starters for the competition, with more teams looking likely to join the Wollongong (now Illawarra) Hawks and Townsville Crocodiles in a state of voluntary administration.
It looked like the end of the line for a game that had spent the past couple of seasons in steady decline, aided by a TV deal with a network that didn’t care – there was no promotion and little advertising.
It all added to the pain felt by basketball fans around the country.
Fast forward just four months and Kestelman’s 100-day plan has worked wonders, well beyond even the most optimistic fan’s expectations.
Every game of the season is live on Fox Sports, the two clubs that were in administration have worked their way out of it, a free-to-air TV deal was locked in, and despite it being for only one game a week, Channel Nine’s commitment looks positive.
During their first broadcast – the Round 1 match between Melbourne United and Illawarra Hawks – Nine had their own studio set up, as well as a heavy presence on social media, really promoting that they were televising the game.
In short, Australian basketball looks to be on the way up. However, the NBL’s real challenges are only just starting.
Cricket and the A-League have a much stronger presence on the Australian sporting landscape than basketball, and their seasons are just starting.
However, despite the exponential growth of football and the A-League in Australia over the last decade, the NBL could well be following in its footsteps and basketball could challenge for the title of ‘Australia’s second-favourite summer sport’ somewhere in the next 10 to 15 years.
After the A-League’s formation, the first step was to get every game on Foxtel.
This is key. It allows frustrated fans to get into the rhythm of the season, and watch the majority of games. It also creates the opportunity to draw in new fans, or bring back people who once supported the NBL, but lost interest due to limited exposure and coverage (like myself).
The amount of content being produced – with four or five days of basketball per week – is enough to get anyone loving the sport, knowing the next game is just around the corner.
This TV deal is more than anyone could have hoped for after five turbulent years.
On-court content – what is being produced by the players – is the next most-important factor, and so far it has been exceptional.
Having watched nearly every game, I’ve seen first-class basketball. Every team seems to have a genuine chance of winning any game, and despite a couple of blow-outs, there have been some very close games, filled with quality action.
The NBL isn’t the NBA, that’s for sure, but plenty of imports have come back to the league this season and it has the potential to be an awesome competition.
Crowds look to be back up as well, right around the country as well, not just in Adelaide and Perth, which have always been traditional basketball strongholds.
The Sydney Kings’ opening game of the season had the Kingdome rocking, Melbourne United drew over 7000 fans to their season opener, and the game between the Perth Wildcats and New Zealand Breakers during Round 2 was nearly a sell-out.
The next key factor when determining what status the NBL can gain in the Australian summer sporting landscape is the amount of promotion and advertising. This has gone from absolutely nothing to something. While not over the top, billboards springing up around the country advertising the game have almost surprised fans.
Advertising and promotion, especially for a sport that needs to grow its fan-base, is massively important. If the sport wants to draw new fans in, to either watch it on TV or actually get to the games, people need to know about it.
The NBL could pick up a huge amount of fans is by having an annual All Stars game live on free-to-air TV. It is a huge success in the NBA, and needs to be done here in Australia. It has been run in many different forms over the years: East versus West, Australia versus America, Australia versus The World, South versus North.
The last time it was ran was the 2012-13 season as a South versus North format. The NBL needs to pick a format, stick with it, and let the action on-court do the rest.
It’s going to be a long, slow drag, and things won’t happen over night like they have during the last couple of months with the 100-day plan, but sometime in the next decade, if things are continually done right, basketball has the potential to become Australia’s second big summer sport.
In all likelihood it will never overtake cricket, which is undoubtedly Australia’s favourite summer sport, but basketball has the potential to be more popular than all the others. Basketball is such a spectator sport – it’s high paced, there’s always something going on, and it appeals to both males and females of any age.
At the moment you could well argue that it is not only cricket and A-League ahead of the NBL. You could argue that V8 Supercars, tennis with the Australian Open, golf, Formula One and MotoGP are all ahead of the NBL. These next few seasons are pivotal if the NBL is going to break away from the pack.
However I maintain that the NBL will become Australia’s second-favourite summer sport in the next decade.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde