this would be horrible, basically ABL being the highest quality of basketball in Australia. One thing i wonder is how does the sheffield shield cricket survive and NBL cant? i see a lot of them cricket games on flicking trough Foxtel and nobody is there. A 4 is hit an it sounds like 5 people are clapping. They get a heap of live coverage on fox, plenty of sponsors and a healthy competition. can someone fill me in I must be honest and say i do know much about cricket, and how it manages to survive when NBL is struggling.

#18363

Interesting last comment.....Everytime someone attributes a problem with an NBL club or with the NBL to "basketball" they do the sport a disservice.

As the NBL has been on its 10-12 year downward spiral, basketball has flourished...

Since the NBL went on its downward run we have won a 22 and under world championship, we have won a women's world championship, we have come top four in a number of other world class events, we have seen participation thriving at local stadium level, we have pumped hundreds of kids into US colleges and plenty of players into leagues around the world.

Thats what "Basketball" has been doing during this period. It may not be what the NBL and its clubs have been doing in the same time.

Sigh.

Apparently the "NewBL" is to enforce stricter control of ownership, yadda yadda.

But to the average Joe Punter, there needs to be more agressive marketing. The Sixers ad on Channel 9 is almost painful - the only Sixers footage it shows is a tip off of one of their training games?!

From the public's perspective, there's little to hook them into going to a basketball match. Few real superstars, rivalries that don't mean much to anyone who isn't already a fan, a playoff system that has been changed so much even fans have trouble keeping up with it. Of course, the biggest problem of all is it's not on free to air, so they can't even get a taste of it without having to shell out money.

Is that the footage where it's 5 on 6?

Good to see all the great evidence from a great source...not

People embrace that which they see, touch & feel.
If the powers that be do not get Free To Air TV, & the clubs don't make a bigger effort to reach out to the local clubs, it's not going to improve any time soon.

ever since it went to fox it started going down hill, when the kids see it on tv they get intrested then they want to go see it live.I would say most people who go to see the 6ers now are people who are some how involved in the game eg.there kids play or they do, free tv is what the nbl needs and not just highlights once a week

i call bullshit...it will be there as sure as your ass points to the ground!

Andrew Gaze actually had an interview on PTI last week, or the week before, where he was alluding pretty strongly to an NCAA college conference-like system. I was pretty intrigued by the comments considering this guy is a big deal on the reform board.

I could only see this move, if it were to happen, strengthening the game at the grass roots level.. but would clubs have the resources to afford the calibre of import that we currently attract (i.e. Hodge?)

For that reason I couldn't see an end-of-season tournament attracting much of a TV audience, although attendances could be pretty solid.

All in all, a pretty interesting idea. But I think I'm too attached to the 36ers to fully get behind it.

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It would seem (at least to me) that the A-League seemed to take basketball's legs from under it, in a sense that it is now the #1 "minority" sport in the country. I don't think that simply following their model and saturating the market would have seen much increase in interest for basketball.

Also, to respond to vanexel31, with regard to Sheffield Shield cricket... I would suggest that Cricket Australia puts in a decent amount of funding. Not to mention, all of the state association memberships e.g. Adelaide Oval membership would go towards funding the state team. That's a serious amount of money every year.

Could we see both? NewBL with 8 teams and then a stronger conference-style ABA doing a better job of uniting the WA league, QABL, SEABL, etc?

Considering someone took a worse league that was completely defunct (incase you don't remember, it was called the NSL) and turned it into a multi-million dollar league that is now starting to become a "world renowned" (that means it's popular enough to warrant international attention) then the NBL revamp is more than capable of doing the same.

The legaue should focus on its flagship players the same way the NBA does. Need to lure in major sporting sponsors like Nike or Adidas and get them into league advertising and financing.

Probably the only way the league can expand.

Considering someone took a worse league that was completely defunct (incase you don't remember, it was called the NSL) and turned it into a multi-million dollar league that is now starting to become a "world renowned" (that means it's popular enough to warrant international attention)

That's also losing money just as quickly as the NBL. The only thing keeping the A-League going is some particularly deep pockets.

I said it from day one, I'll say it again.....

Deckchairs -> Titanic.

Until someone with a solid overall view of the sport gets in control, this is just rubbish.

Derwin is looking after the interests of BA, Harmison is trying to look after those of the NBL, Seamus is looking after those of the Melbourne Tigers, etc.

The Foxtel deal was forced on people at the worst possible time. They need to get the product right BEFORE they commit to any media deals.

Total Farce.....they expect owners to tip in millions of dollars to a "New" league, where IMHO, not much has changed. Administratively, a little has changed but who knows if there's even any benefit to those changes.....what about MARKETING the damned sport?

Again....having a report that says our goal is to be in the top 3 sports in the country is admirable, but HOW are you going to get there?

Having a goal that says they want to generate so many dollars and have a league that people will want to be part of? Again, nice idea, but HOW?

I think they should have invested the consultancy money in marketing, and the league may already have been in better shape.

Dicko....your Derwin comment is interesting..... here's a different view.

If Derwin was looking after the interests of BA, then he would never have taken on the unification of the sport as a project.

BA have far more to lose in the new structure in the short term than they have to gain.

The risk to BA and its modest financial base is very large. The sport now carries the risk of the newBL, not just the owners....if thats not an overall view of the sport, I am not sure what is.

Interesting comment about pathway after U/18, Seems like an area that needs work.

SA and WA want no part in the National ABA due to high travel costs which clubs can't afford. That is why it has been pulled from the BA agenda as of this year.

this is only a little note but i hope the nba on the new ten digital channel will help somewhat in getting exposure to kids etc that maybe the new nbl cannot get on FTA. i used to like watching nba action and the game when i was younger maybe this will help in getting some of the kids looking at bball and the local league more.