The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

NBL announce revamped NBL.TV

Can Rob Beveridge lead the Illawarra Hawks to a Round 1 win over the Adelaide 36ers. (AAP Image/Travis Anderson)
Expert
6th September, 2016
0

Domestic Basketball in Australia has received a major coverage boost with the announcement by the NBL on Wednesday of a new and revamped NBL.TV package for the upcoming 2016-17 season.

While Fox Sports will continue to broadcast every match of the season, and free-to-air TV rights are yet to be revealed, the NBL took a huge step forward in announcing its digital offering.

NBL.TV and NBL Live in its old form were criticised by fans for their content offering and quality, as well as pricing but the new model, which will see every single game of the season streamed through the app seems to have hit a sweet spot with fans, media and players already.

By making this decision the NBL have been able to keep ownership of their digital rights, and while some details are still to follow there are going to be a number of subscription options.

Advertisement

The news only continues to get better, with the app being available on any device you may own – mobile, tablet, PC, Mac, TV. It doesn’t matter what you want to watch it on, you will be able to.

Along with every live game, the NBL will also add hundreds of classic matches to the service which date all the way back to 1979 for all access pass subscribers.

NBL Executive Director Larry Kestleman said his vision has always been to make the NBL one of Australia’s leading sports and entertainment products.

“Our focus is on ensuring as many Australian basketball fans can watch NBL as possible. Whether that is attending a game or watching via a TV, computer or mobile we want to ensure they also enjoy it at the highest possible quality.”

“We have partnered with the best provider in Australia, Telstra, for our live streaming offering and we have increased our broadcast production capabilities to ensure the product is a premium viewing experience,’” Mr Kestelman said.

The pricing for the app is also incredibly cheap, with full season ticketholders getting free access, and fans of clubs being able to watch their team at home and on the road for free.

The retail price for All Access NBL TV is $5 per month, which entitles the users to all content, live and on-demand.

Advertisement

NBL general manager Jeremy Loeliger said that the idea of being able to watch games on full size screens was a key part of the decision-making process.

“To ensure that it is a premium sports viewing experience we know people want to be able to watch on a larger screen than just being restricted to their mobiles and tablets. We have made significant improvements to our production and streaming products and we are confident our fans will be impressed by our new and improved NBL TV product.”

close