The NBL has made tremendous strides into the hearts and mind of the Australian sporting public and the only way for it to continue is to explore new innovations like Sunday’s successful open-air showcase at Hisense Arena.
For the last decade, the NBL has taken a conservative approach to its presentation and the competition has fallen off the radar of the majority of the Australian sporting community.
That has especially been the case in the country’s three biggest cities with the powerful Melbourne Tigers losing their way and only now regrouping as Melbourne United.
The Brisbane Bullets were a success on the court, but not off it and now they have almost been gone a whole decade ahead of their return next season.
The Sydney Kings spent a couple of seasons in the wilderness due to the Firepower fiasco and they have never really made their mark since returning.
While Perth and Auckland have been the key basketball hubs with Adelaide, Illawarra, Cairns and Townsville firing on occasion, the league has largely been chugging along without growing for too long.
Something had to change and that has happened enormously over the past six months since Larry Kestelman took over the majority ownership of the NBL.
Immediately, the NBL has taken an approach of looking to be innovative and willing to take a chance to be successful rather than sticking with the status quo.
The change in scheduling to accommodate the wishes of new broadcast partner Fox Sports was the first bold move.
The NBL has been a league of one game a week per team with games played on weekends. That’s a far cry from up to five games a week for a team in the NBA.
Somewhere in between lied the answer and when Fox Sports wanted games Wednesday through Sunday, it opened the door for the NBL to shorten the season to avoid clashing with the start of the AFL and NRL seasons.
While it’s taken some getting used to the short turnaround from game to game at times for the NBL teams, ask the players and they much prefer to play games in a short space of time rather than gruelling weeks on the practice court between games.
More importantly, ask the public and having just about every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday feature a live NBL game helps to open up the league to a potentially new audience if they are flicking through Fox Sports.
The action on the court needs to be worth watching and the standard of play in the NBL this season undoubtedly has gone up a level that it hasn’t been at for years.
With most teams playing up-tempo and high octane styles, scoring is up and so have been the excitement levels.
The awesome shooting of a Kirk Penney, Corey Webster or Jermaine Beal, the showmanship of Jerome Randle or Chris Goulding, the moves of Kevin Lisch or Cedric Jackson, the energy of Charles Jackson, the sheer size of Nate Jawai or the underdog Townsville Crocodiles surprising plenty, the NBL has something for everyone.
Bold steps do need to be taken though and that means thinking outside of the box if the new NBL is really to make its mark.
The first move took place at a sold out Hisense Arena on Sunday in a hugely successful open-air contest between Melbourne United and the Perth Wildcats.
Obviously the weather has to play its part, but playing with an open roof as the Melbourne sun set provided an incredible spectacle.
Even a non-basketball fan would have got caught up in the sight with the skies above, the 10,000-plus crowd and a tremendous contest between two title contenders.
Melbourne and Perth are the only two cities with venues capable of pulling off an open-air game, but based on Sunday’s success it should continue to provide an experience the fans won’t forget.
Playing on New Year’s Eve is nothing new and once again the NBL has fixtures in Cairns (against New Zealand) and Townsville (against Illawarra) this week and in regional centres, it’s a terrific idea to schedule games.
For TV, it’s a good night to be broadcasting because not everybody is out and about celebrating the end of 2015 – giving them some live sport will be much appreciated.
There is also the opportunity for the NBL to take the initiative and beat the A-League and Big Bash League at playing a game on Christmas Day.
It seems inevitable that it’s going to happen across the sports so the NBL can get ahead of the curve by playing a game on Christmas Day in 2016.
Personally, Christmas Day is a time I wouldn’t want overtaken by sport because every other day of my life. But that’s me.
I have no question that enough people will attend a game live to make it worthwhile, but more importantly it has the potential to be a huge ratings hit for all those sitting at home on Christmas night as they nurse their full stomach and reflect on the day’s celebrations.
Being bold and innovative is what this new NBL is all about.
It has all proven tremendously successful so far this season and by continuing to push the boundaries, the league has the chance to earn a place right at the top of the summer sporting landscape once more.
Round 13 NBL fixtures
Wednesday
Sydney Kings v Melbourne United (Sydney Olympic Park Centre) – Fox Sports 3, 7.30pm
Thursday (NYE)
Cairns Taipans v New Zealand Breakers (Cairns Convention Centre) – Fox Sports 2, 7.30pm
Townsville Crocodiles v Illawarra Hawks (Townsville Entertainment Centre) – Fox Sports 3, 7.30pm
Saturday
Sydney Kings v Cairns Taipans (Sydney Olympic Park Centre) – Fox Sports 3, 7.30pm
Johnno
Guest
Maybe outdoor isn't the way to go, we don't wanna see the guys shooting bricks.
James
Guest
Sorry Mark, what did you mean by this: "Teams talking about going back to their roots on courts not gymnasiums or Entertainment centres."?
Johnno
Guest
Mark the open air contests were cancelled in the past due to wet weather man.
Chris Pike
Expert
That's a great comment. There's no question that kids seeing NBL players come to their schools or junior clubs is a great way to build up a relationship where them and their families come to games. Having less time at home during the season does hurt that. I know the Wildcats have a huge community program that the players have to meet and it's written in their contract. It's something every team should do even if it means sticking around in March or April once the season's over
Mark
Guest
Sorry Chris the open-air contest is not a new concept for the NBL and has been played previously at Melbourne in this time of year. It was discontinued because the Melbourne teams downsized venues and it hadn't been possible. I remember the roof open games as a roaring success. Teams talking about going back to their roots on courts not gymnasiums or Entertainment centres.
The Plainsman
Roar Pro
Thanks Chris great article As a basketball tragic it is great to see the game get back some dignity and presence in Australia this year. The next step in my humble opinion is to capitalise on the tremendous number of youngsters playing the game and to get them involved. The four games a week is great but it leaves little time for community interaction, schools clinics etc. This is probably best left to the off season but will we see this occur? A groundswell of juniors seeing their NBL favourites turn up at school from may to August in anticipation of the NBL season might very well transfer into a well attended Christmas day game - who knows?.