I agree that a Christmas day game could be beneficial. Lot's of families having lunch and being out and about which would probably be a good timeslot for casual fans to catch a game.

The simultaneous games is definitely something that needs to be looked at. There were times this year with 3 friday games and 2 sunday when ideally it would have better to split it 2/1/2 or 2/2/1 over the weekend. Die hard NBL fans would find it pretty hard to watch 5-6 hours of straight NBL on a friday night in cases like this.

WNBL/NBL double headers could help. Didn't they do this a few years ago with some select 36ers games? One concern would be the price of a ticket for thos only wanting to attend the WNBL game. Would it be bolstered up because of the following NBL game?

no xmas game for me - NYE ok though.

agree with timing and AFL

agree with double headers with wnbl - will get a few more courtside to me and women and keep operating costs down a little - but some franchises will have to sit around a table - i.e. would dandy and bulleen go week / week with tigers ?

no worried either way about the all star game

agree with junior games etc at half time - allows for a connection.

agree with music lyrics - worth a try - but some music / songs really set the mood as well.

All fantastic idea there, i hope this brings the game to where it should be :)

would really like to see the league go back to 48 minutes. I think the NBL should look at a few minor rule changes to go back to 48 mins but keep a 2 hour time slot for TV. Some ideas are

* Reduce Half Time
* do not stop clock after made baskets until last 2 mins of 4th qtr.
* For side balls after turnovers, out of bounds calls, no need to give ball to ref. Take ball and directly throw it in (They had this in the 80's)
* Team penalty option. Basically if a team is in the penalty the coach of the team shooting FT's can decide if they want 2 shots or a side ball, eliminating the deliberate clock stop tactic when trailing.

all good idea's by difabrizio

While I am not in favour of regressing to the 48 minute game format (don't bite), moving back to it is not the answer to the problem in and of itself.

The game needs to be officiated in a different way to get the outcomes everyone professes to want (higher scoring, higher individual scores, more stats).

Other rules could be changed to achieve this within the current game timing.

My point is, leaving every rule the same, and the officiating the same, will make moving to 48 minutes almost redundant.

Love pretty much all the ideas that were mentioned in the article. Just adding to the music suggestion; can we ban Gangnam Style from being played even during timeouts?

Going back to 48 minute games might help open up the game from the defensive grind that its become. Hopefully teams might not be able to sustain the defensive pressure for the longer game.

Also, have the duration of the season so it doesn't conflict with better leagues around the world.. it will be easier to entice high calibre players to play here in their 'off season' if they want to maintain their game or for extra income.

Bring back the "jump ball" rule !!!

FWIW, I think very few of the suggestions will have much impact.

The issue for the NBL is avidity and tribalism. You have to make those things count. Adelaide is one of the towns that have had this, as were Townsville - unsure how you get that back.

48 minute games, jump balls, kids at half time are all ideas. They are not strategic responses. They are all tinkering.

While I think the A-league is struggling, in some pockets they have created this tribalism and avidity. What that means is that Melbourne Victory are always going to have a core of 7-8k who turn up to every game, rain, hail, shine or opponent. My guess is that this number for the Melbourne Tigers might be 500.

Most of the ideas have been spoken about in past threads I believe, but none the less he has some interesting points.

Ho is on the money to a degree as well, many of the ideas are not that strategic, they are quite easiy implemented and could be done without major structural changes.

How we can instill tribalsim into the NBL, now that is a point worthy of consideration and action!

Along with more exposure, improving the officiating (maybe playing to the rules would help), changing the season and length of games would be an improvement IMO...

But what is a sure thing? A sure thing is where you have a core group of supporters who hate their neighbouring team so much they would go and watch them just to see them lose, but also follow thier own team when they play away!

Now, how do we instill this? It already exists at another level, under the NBL and is there among juniors at Association level, but how do we bring this up to the NBL??

This is the challenge; if we can fire up the core supporter and give him/her a reason to go and watch the NBL with fire and passion every week, we are half way there.

Yes, Breakers and Wildcats fans appear to have this, but they are too far appart to generate local tribalism, I am talking about the Tigers v Dragons type of atmoshphere and rivalry we had a few short years ago!!

Lots of ideas worth considering, and I'll add two more.

All kids below 12 get in for a $1, free if you're wearing some of the team uniform. We need to capture the fans early in their lives, and we want basketball to be part of the family tradition so that fans keep coming back after they leave school and when they have their own kids.

Also, follow rugby's lead and give a bonus point when the team scores 100 or holds the opposition to 50. That way, you encourage high scoring but also reward great defence. When things are tight close to the play-offs, I think you'll find teams will go all out for high scores in order to get the bonus to put them ahead of the pack.

Hoopie, getting kids to games is not he problem. I think you will find all the teams have engage promotions about getting young kids into venues.

The kid comes to the game, does the Tigers/kings/Crocs camp, gets a freebie for another game etc. But by the time the kid is 14 it is just not that cool to be going to the game anymore, because they are not part of it - that is, they have no ownership.

I would reckon that a membership breakdown of the typical NBL club would be a scary thing. My guess, very few in the 16-29 demographic, compared to what AFL and A-League are claiming.

HO, I haven't seen a lot of kids at the many Tigers games I've been to, sorry to say, apart from the obvious club or team groups.

I agree with you about the membership breakdown.

I don't understand how we can have so many teenagers playing the game but so few going to NBL games because they "don't have ownership", though. I would have expected them to be hard-core fans if they'd started when they were young.

Maybe the problem is the Tigers, because every Dragons and Giants fan I talk to is still passionate about their teams after all those years.

Anyone that suggests bringing back the jump ball during a discussion on what the league needs to do to improve should be banned from the internet for life.

People want excitement, people want players to be long term so they can identify with them. Value for money,
I'd look at bringing in a points discount for long term contracts.
48 mins as can then pull more highlights for a weekly roundup show.
Monday or thursday night games as nothing on tv so people will watch.
Cut some of the ads during timeouts and show the cheerleaders
But mainly clean up the games so there are more clean plays,dunks, players crossing each other over without being bumped so there is highlights. Currently unless you are a basketball nut the highlights won't get your attention.

Interesting question would be how many dunks were there this year compared to previous years?

^ Monday night games wont work if its for TV reasons - Monday is a huge night for TV stations to put their best shows on (eg new episodes) and everyone is watching these shows. They wont care for NBL on that night.

Agree with your other points though.

The Situation, come cut my internet connection...

Bring back the jump ball, if only because it will take one step to redemption with hardcore fans. The league isn't going to reliably win new fans if the current ones aren't doing part of the job spreading the word. Same with 48 minute games. TV's shown the game no respect and I'd rather see a successful NBL than the Boomers place 1-2 spots higher, if 40 minutes does have any effect at all on preparing players for an international game.

Hoopie, I quite like this idea:

Also, follow rugby's lead and give a bonus point when the team scores 100 or holds the opposition to 50. That way, you encourage high scoring but also reward great defence. When things are tight close to the play-offs, I think you'll find teams will go all out for high scores in order to get the bonus to put them ahead of the pack.

Like it! Could do similar to Super XV-bonus pt for 100+/bonus pt for losses <5. MUCH more gripping for new fans!

@hoopie, it's how they market their team as much as tribal ownership and love of your local team.

Giants had their local area identified and did a great job of marketing themselves to the people in those areas in the suburbs of North Melbourne, Coburg etc...

Dragons were called 'South' and extended their tribal connection all the way to Geelong where supporters got on board and they also had a great merketing campaign IMO.

Melbourne Tigers are the team everyone else loves to hate, other than Tiger fans of course and they don't have a suburban feel about them, no tribalism and they don't connect with the people like the Dragons or Giants did, they are seen as the big fish (and often a smelly one at that)!

If you want to observe tribal and intense basketball live, go and watch SEABL...

"The Situation, come cut my internet connection..."

Saucy!

Rewarding a team for high scoring is a good idea, although when Redhage hits a shot towards the end of a blow out, it will still see the standard knobs whinging about him not respecting the game.

Free hot dogs for every kid at the game wearing the home team's singlet if the home team wins and scores 100+ points...

Anyone else thinking 'Tropics' here??

The Situation it was merely a light hearted comment representing my dislike for some of the rules and how they affect the visual aspect of the game for me personally. It would take much more than that obviously to improve the state of the NBL.
What's most important is every fans opinions count and there are some people with very good ideas. We are all here talking about the game because we're passionate about it so collectively we could hopefully make a difference.

Thanks Isaac you got what i meant

Clutching at straws but anything worth a try. Big hole left in our lives without this game!

+1 to the 100 point plus extra ladder point idea. In Rugby in ensured that teams played out the whole 80 mins and kept driving for the line (rather than popping 60m penalties) - we are rewarding the aspects of the game we enjoy and which make it marketable.

Surely there's another night of the week where TV can fit in a mid week game like Tuesday or Wednesday.

While we should consider TV when reviewing rule changes, it shouldnt be the be all and end all - otherwise we'll end up with two teams coached by Manu and the other guy.

More representative basketball tours is a must - you can garner a lot of support for an Australian team of any sport by casual observers. At least an annual series (Boomers and Opals) against the Kiwis seems "easy" to organise.

#414003

I'll help you....

http://research.smeal.psu.edu/news/avid-sports-fans2019-passion-for-the-team-often-translates-into-revenue

No one knew that the NBL had started when they started in the AFL grand final week .
Here double headers were a full house and unable to help those that wanted to watch Lightning amd leave before 36ers.

Aw message added , anyways - I kinda think it's really weird they have team meetings before sideballs and timeouts , I just wished they'd hurry up and play the game . Just throw the ball in and get on with it
without the ref haven't to hold the ball to things are ready , speed the game up a bit , I just get bored .

The bonus point for 100+ is a great idea, although it will kill my team- Perth Wildcats :)we don't have any decent shooters and will only encourage Bartlett to throw up more shit shots.

The killer for the NBL is the lack of money within the clubs, back in the old days clubs could keep the young Aussies and entice some quality imports to OZ, which made it a quality product.

Unless NBL can get back into prime time TV it is always going to be a struggle, sponsors won't part with money for the limited exposure they get.