The future is bright for NBL despite Covid-19

COVID -19 has struck hard and fast.

It controversially shortened the NBL grand final series from five games to three, resulting in another Perth Wildcats Championship and has now created one of the longest off-season periods in the leagues history.

We all know of this already and under the circumstances, I don’t see an issue with what the NBL has chosen to do. But where to now?

The NBL product has grown exponentially over the past five years, with crowds now in excess of 900,000 over the course of the season. It is a number that has grown from around 670,000 only three years ago. With two new teams, one verging on their second season, the South-East Melbourne Phoenix and the other one season away from their debut, the Tasmania JackJumpers, the NBL has grown from strength to strength.

The international stage has been arguably the biggest focus for the NBL during this period of growth as they have looked to firmly emerge as the second most competitive league in the world behind, of course, the NBA.

Between the ESPN broadcast deal that includes the upcoming 2021 season and the NBL x NBA games played in the last two years, the NBL has been seen by more eyes than ever before.

Young and emerging stars were choosing to come to Australia (or New Zealand) to play their final season before the NBA draft, over the likes of NCAA College Basketball, the G-League and the EuroLeague, led by LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton, who were both drafted in the first round.

LaMelo Ball (Cassy Athena/Getty Images)

Everything was looking up, but then 2020 happened.

The league has had to cut pay, reduce the size of rosters and cut the number of imports a team could have from three down to two. Teams have been fortunate to hold onto their stars as it looked, for a short time, that the league would be without stars Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats) and Scott Machado (Cairns Taipans).

That may speak to the quality of the league and how much they have enjoyed their time in Australia, or it may speak to the fact that they couldn’t find a contract elsewhere and had no choice but to return.

Crowds will have to be enticed to return to NBL basketball this season, after seeing the poor numbers in pre-season play.

The NBL needs to get on the front foot. There will not be a young NBA superstar named LaMelo playing in Illawarra for the league’s marketing team to lean on. So where will the excitement come from?

Australia’s premier basketball league has shown its willingness to grow fast and make tough decisions moving forward. It has beaten the AFL and NRL into the sport hungry audience that is Tasmania and will look to create some sort of stronghold there this year before the introduction of the JackJumpers in 2022.

Another of these aggressive decisions came in the form of the NBL Cup which was announced just over a week ago.

The NBL Cup will see the teams play a total of 36 games starting on February 20 all in a Melbourne hub, with the winner of the cup to receive $300,000. These games are a part of the regular season and will count towards the standings.

It is an interesting concept and evokes the thoughts and feeling of junior basketball carnivals. For the league however, it also gives them the best chance to meet their broadcast deal and get through more than enough games, should another COVID-19 outbreak occur.

The NBL must continue to make these sort of calls moving forward, it’s a flexible league with both sponsors and momentum behind it, grassroots basketball is making strides forward and the NBL1 continues to grow with the addition of NBL1 West next season.

The league will continue to grow out of the shadows of COVID-19, perhaps better than its AFL and NRL counterparts, because of it’s aggressive leadership, and I for one am looking forward to seeing an exciting league reach new heights.