bigboy
Years ago
Petition for NBL FTA.......
Is that how you spell pertition? Doesn't look right, but oh well. I have been a huge fan of the 36ers since 1986 and basketball in australia in general. What got me hooked and going to all the games was i was seeing it on free to air, even though it was later at night. I just don't understand why we don't get the respect of the channels to get our beloved sport on tv. I sincerely believe that it's a chicken and the egg type scenerio. Was basketball popular in the past already or did f.t.a tv push it that way? Or did tv jump on board because it was popular? Whatever the reason it seems logical to me that if we want new fans and our sport to boom again we need f.t.a.
I understand the arguement about tv stations feel that it is not worth their while and that they feel it doesn't rate. But why not put it on at 10.30pm? Surely it would rate better than a re-run of the news on ch9 or cheaters on ch7. It could even be shown following sports tonight on 10. As long as it is on!! How can clubs attract good sponsors with good money if the sponsor will not get their name or product attention other than a rotating court sign or a decal on the court which only would get noticed by the same 3,000 - 5,000 people that attend a match each week? Even then you would only pay attention to a sign perhaps pre-game. It just does not attract attention and is not really good advertising money for a business unless it gets good coverage on tv. Sponsors just do not have the same interest in paying big dollars if their product does't get on tv. Therefore the dilema, barely a naming rights sponsor, the nbl doesn't have the funds to push the league out there. But if you don't have coverage it won't get out to new fans. Ask yourself when you go to a game next time, is it the same faces you see every game/every year or are there new fans coming through the turnstiles?
I passionately believe that boom times are ahead if we can attract new fans via tv. No tv no growth!! The NBL needs to bite the bullet, PAY THE STATIONS if needed. They will get the money back by showing the public that basketball is entertaining and attracting them to come to a game and watch it live. I love AFL but going to a game at footy park oops I mean aami stadium with the spectator being so far from the action in the freezing cold rain does not come close to the atmosphere at the 'Dome' when the crowd is in full voice! Half the time at the footy you end up watching the action on the big screen because you can't see whats happening at the other end, its so far away. Not a problem at the basketball.
Why can't we as fans jump up and down, make some noise and get the big wigs at NBL headquaters to give the fans free to air. Foxtel doesn't even cover all the games anyway so it's not like i can just pay for fox to see my beloved sixers when they are playing away. I would be lucky if they had 2-3 away games all season.
Sorry to rant and rave I'm just sick of the nbl not getting off their backsides to promote the sport. How will it grow if it's not marketed well? How will it boom without free-to-air? Does anyone know the email address of the CEO? Do we even have one at the moment? Perhaps we as fans could bombard his email telling him we are sick of the procrastination GET IT ON FREE TO AIR!!
After all they will be the ones getting the big pay packet when the sport booms again, surely that is a good incentive. Everyone wins. Sponsors will jump on board as they get value for their advertisng dollars, players salaries will increase with more money in the sport therefore attracting our aussie stars to stay rather than going offshore all the time, we as fans will love the ever increasing level of talent and especially being able to watch our team every game whether its at home or especially on the road.
Your thoughts?..............
(Mod: Fixed the title and your spelling ;-))
