The people at the top in Australian TV just aren't big on basketball and the NBL over the years has done nothing to help that.

The fact that Jarred Hayne a former NRL star is playing in the NFL and this is the reason 7mate is airing those games makes this a poor example to begin your argument @Cute Man.

I would have thought that a decision like this would come down to costs.

More people would probably watch the NBL than the NFL but the NFL would probably give 7mate the rights to show it in Australia dirt cheap as a form of promotion. The match itself is already being filmed so the costs to have it in Australia is just a satellite feed to start with.

Anyone who wants to show the NBL would have to pay production costs to start with which would be much more expensive than what 7mate would be paying.

And the other important factor is that they 7mate dont care about the ratings on a Monday morning anyway when the NFL feed come in. Not many people are watching anyway.
The NBL however want prime time Live at 7:30 which is the massive timeslot and no station is going to drop their shows to put the NBL on instead.

Guys, things would have to go wrong with some other sports for NBL to ever come to dominate prime time again.

@Henry, yes good points about production costs and timeslots etc - but hence why I used NBA as a comparison for NFL - there is no FTA NBA coverage and the same positive factors for NFL would apply. Hence my query whether its more of a sport-related thing against basketball as opposed to just NBL.

I thought One HD was supposed to become the prime sport channel but it is far from it. This is the platform NBl and WNBL need to be on.

NBA is uneconomic to broadcast in Australia because lots of people watch it - the NBA can and do make real money out of its subscription service. It will only broadcast on Free to Air for fair value.

NFL on the other hand has maybe a tenth (or less) of the interest levels of NBA, and therefore the broadcast rights are dirt cheap. NFL make no real money out of it but have an interest in it being shown on Free to Air to raise interest levels in Australia (like the NBA did 30 years ago).

FTA announcement coming very soon. One game a week, possibly on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday afternoon would probably require games to be pushed half an hour earlier, because 3-5PM AET won't cut it if there's overtime. Also, Rounds 2,6,8,13,14,16,17 don't have any Sunday games either.

Wednesday Night seems most likely if it was to happen, as they have a game every round (although Friday night would be another alternative)

Henry, I think you're right about cost and timing. Also, the NFL is a professional operation and the purchaser can bank on getting the right information at the right time, hassle-free. The cost would be the cost, no unexpected dramas as you might get with the NBL.

Nah, I think its two separate questions really.
The problem with the NBL is the cost of actually producing the show. It's simply far cheaper to buy "MASH" re-runs or some other "already packaged" sport.

The issue with the NBA, is that I understand Australians are big subscribers to the NBA's own service? So the question would be whether they can get more money selling subscriptions, or selling their packaged games dirt cheap to FTA.

Having said that, there might be something in what the OP says. The BIGGEST sport in NSW & QLD IS Rugby League, which is the most similar to NFL, so potentially it easy for League fans to identify with.