Great news. Will be strange seeing the Crocs singlet with the big M on it though.

Makes it hard to secure sponsorship when the league so generously gave Townsville a grand total of ZERO televised home games for this season, so this is great news.

The local Maccas have been with them since day one so it is the end of an era somewhat.

It's brand new and looks fine on TV.

The reasons why it is poor have nothing to do with how it shows up on tv. There aren't great catering facilities and corporate rooms, and there are no seats under the baseline.

I tell you what looks poor on TV: watching the Sydney Kings get their ass whooped fifteen times a year in an empty stadium.

I suspect Townsville and Cairns don't really generate sponsorship based on national TV coverage like bigger centres, although I could be wrong.

The local businesses that sponsor them would want local exposure and in smaller communities the clubs can deliver that in much better ways than through the occasional, lowly-rating TV game.

It would have been nice to see a few more of their away games on TV though.

"I tell you what looks poor on TV: watching the Sydney Kings get their ass whooped fifteen times a year in an empty stadium."

aint that the truth.

They don't for the most part, Paul, but it's still something that sounds nice that the front office can tout as a benefit when seeking out sponsorship and would no doubt help a great deal when negotiating.

There is absolutely no reason why Townsville should have zero games televised, and it's a very poor form from the NBL to allow that..

I understand that big markets draw bigger viewing numbers but there is no reason why we couldn't carry on as per last season, with Townsville and Cairns getting only a couple of games while the rest of the league gets 10+. This year Cairns has one and Townsville has none.

Wollongong has 11 home games for christ's sake, and it's not much bigger than Townsville. Obviously they can just drive a crew down from Sydney to make it happen on the cheap but you can't tell me Townsville should be without a single home game televised all season long, especially when they look to have one of the most exciting squads in the NBL this year.

I'm not saying it should be equal, but 2 or 3 would be fair for everyone

I definitely agree, 100%, but I don't think it's necessarily a huge financial issue for those teams.

Wollongong is close and also plenty of financial influence coming out of there at the moment. Hopefully they can pump up their crowds because I really enjoy watching games from their when there is good atmosphere, but it looks bad with only 2000 in the stands.

I have no problem watching the Crocs and will make sure I watch them live when they play in Auckland. Great lineup and good Coach, after the Breakers, the Crocs are the other team I'll be supporting this season.
Pretty poor form to have 0 home games televised.

I agree with the sentiments expressed so far. Its hard to grow a brand when you have 0 home games televised. NBL need to have a long hard look at themselves.

I doubt the NBL can do anything about it.

I would say that the NBL don't really have a say in what gets televised as Koberulz said.

Wollongong is one of the best stadiums to have on TV when it is a good crowd and hopefully they can still get decent crowds with a large amount of their games being shown on TV.

I think another factor for moving was they couldn't even rent the Entertainment Centre because the ownership wasn't conformed?

As a matter of interest only - since this discussion has turned into one about their stadium. If they were to make the playoffs, or even somehow make the grand final (anything is possible), would they still play those games at the RSL club, or would they consider going to the TEC - especially for a grand final.

Not suggesting that they are going to make it, but you can't rule them out. Plus would hate to see a GF being played in front of only 2000 people!

Whenever two businesses are working together (as the NBL and Channel Ten are) both parties have a say in how things proceed. Even if there is no contractual obligation for Channel Ten to televise a Townsville game, you can't tell me the NBL couldn't have made it happen if they wanted to.

Of course Channel Ten would want to have nothing but Melbourne / Sydney clashes with the occasional Perth game thrown in for good measure, it makes sense for them. That's why I don't blame them. They are in the final year of a contract they don't want to be in and are just mailing it in. It's up to the NBL to suck it up and tell Ten that this isn't fair.

Yeah, it's really only a footnote in terms of issues this league is facing, but it's not hard to get right. At the very least give them one lousy game.

And as for the stadium: I am criticising it for a different reason...the price point.

They are asking the same prices for equivalent seats compared to the old venue, which has pissed off quite a few season ticket holders.

With the way they have it set up it's looking quite good (I haven't seen it in the flesh though). It's about the same size as the Cage in Melbourne, if you got rid of all the baseline seating (there is just a wall under each hoop, which is my only gripe with this venue, and it's a biggie. If it had those baseline seating sections it would be a perfectly sized venue for this club).

The amenities / catering / food / bar etc. aren't really up to par either, but that stuff is more easily fixed. The baseline seating is inherently limited by the structural walls of the venue.

I imagine if the stadium could only hold 2000 people then they would not be able to reduce the ticket prices and still break even. It's still a business, they still need to make money and that's really hard when you can only sell 2000 tickets a game. Townsville fans should quit their whinging and get behind their team....sell out every game and give them every bit a chance of moving back into a bigger venue.

"you can't tell me the NBL couldn't have made it happen if they wanted to."
What could they possibly do? Channel Ten don't give a damn, and BA appear to have negotiated the most horrendously one-sided contract in the history of the universe, in Ten's favour.

If they give up all their power when negotiating the next TV deal, you can criticise them. But under the deal BA negotiated, there really doesn't seem to be much they can do.

Was the contract one-sided or is it just too risky to enforce it? Push 10 on it and they phone it in even more and you potentially ruin future deals with other media partners.

Plus the NBL wants big numbers and if the big teams give it to them, so be it. As long as the smaller teams understand that and are OK with it.

Also with Townsville's possible plan to build a new stadium for the Cowboys a Entertainment/Convention Centre would most likely be added onto the new Cowboy;s stadium. It would most likely be in the CBD.

This would give the Crocs more options and maybe the TEC would reduce its prices significantly.

BA negotiated the deal with 10 when they had control of the league

Does every team now have a naming rights sponsor?

"And now they don't."
That doesn't magically make the contract invalid.

Even in the NRL ch9 has a big say in the draw and what games are televised. That's why there is a QLD team playing and televised every Fri night. I don't know the details of the NBL ch10 deal, but CH9 paid big bucks for the right to telecast and have a big say in which games are played on what days so they can capitalise on advertising/ratings. The same probably happens for the AFL. It might suck, but that's business

"In the Townsville Bulletin yesterday, Ch10 put the blame squarely back on the NBL for poor scheduling as the reason there will only be 1 game in North & Far North Qld. They state their simply isn't enough time to get their gear to games."
WTF? They're televising Fridays and Sundays, just as they have every other year and just as they agreed to. Hell, there were more Townsville home games on TV in 2012, when they were doing all three days of the weekend.