Anonymous
Years ago
NBL Booming: AFR
Overall a positive article about the NBL's progress in the AFR.
"Two months into the 2017-18 season, just about every metric is trending positively.
Crowds are up 5 per cent after record attendances last season, and the Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United regularly sell out home games. Perth has almost 12,000 members, an NBL record, and cumulative audience on television has increased 37 per cent while page views on the NBL website are up 98 per cent on last season. Average engagement on Facebook is up 65 per cent and average engagement on Twitter has risen 43 per cent."
However, some indications that progress is slower than anticipated, especially with regards to TV ratings:
"While the league's free-to-air presence has increased with two matches on SBS each weekend and a late-night game on SBS, ratings for each match telecast on pay-TV network Fox Sports have remained stubbornly at about the same level as last season.
"We need to look at what is the right mix for our television coverage. Television is still the biggest platform out there, and we respect that, but we but need to look at how people engage with us, what over-the-top services there can be and so on.""
Note in the first quote it talks about cumulative TV audience, so that number might be up just because more games are being broadcast on SBS? On an average basis it seems to be stagnant. I maintain that people in Sydney or Melbourne aren't particularly interested in watching Perth or Cairns, they want to watch their own team.
Read more: http://www.afr.com/business/sport/how-larry-kestelmans-nbl-is-booming-20171206-gzzzyb#ixzz50xgHAR3d