They tried Mondays a year or two back, and promptly gave up on it. That probably answers the question.

Reminds me of the plan Fraser Neil had before he threw it all in. He wanted to run the NBL as a boutique league with more clubs sprinkled across the country, smaller stadiums, lower salary caps, playing every night of the week and made specifically for TV. I think it's a bit dangerous to specialize the league to TV alone while the NBL and basketball in general has never been a ratings winner. Clubs need to have a good attendance to stay affloat so generally I wouldn't put games through the early part of the working week. I think it is something to dabble with only when you can prove that the NBL has a decent TV audience, which for now, it doesn't.

There's a bit of a "spend money to make money" element to it as well, though - if midweek games helps them get a better TV deal and start to build that audience it's worth doing even if there's initially some downward movement.

Great point, would love to something to watch during the gap between rounds but crowds would take a hit. Would be interesting, the NBL promote to Nine to have games on these days during summer as ratings aren't counted and most other channels just rerun movies these nights, could pull in a few more fans?

With a 3 year deal the NBL is sure to try a few things out but I am guessing there are a lot of shows that rate well that they'd be in direct competition with at those times. Prime time is still prime time.

There are 10 Monday games this year, with 6 of them outside the ratings period. I would like to see more midweek games during the school holidays, but I suspect TV wants predictable fixturing through the whole season?

I would like to have more games on, that's for sure, not so sure my family would agree!

I believe that viewers need predicatability, not a fan of the league having games on Thursday one week and not the next. There was no Saturday night game which was ridiculous last week. 3 games on a Sunday to me was overkill. A bit of consistency please.

As to predictability, they had one game on channel 506, one on 500 and the final on 503 I think. That needs work!

Loved it when it was on mid week a couple of seasons ago. Should be moving to this in Summer Holidays as it keeps momentum along the lines of the Big Bash. You get to the point where you expect it to be on every night and are disappointed when there is not a game to sit down and watch.

Would hurt attendance but surely boost tv audience?
I'd be in, anyway.

I would say give Perth some Monday night games instead of some Saturday noon games to reduce the sooking ... except the time difference kills that plan.
The next thing Larry Kestelman should buy is daylight savings for WA (on the assumption that cancelling it for SA, Vic & NSW would be a lot more expensive)

With expansion games on a Monday become more realistic.
Perth games are a bit more of a logistical problem due to time difference. 9pm start for Eastern state viewers is not ideal.

Consider the many volunteers who have to work - week day games will reduce that pool. Not because volunteers don't want to support but simply becomes harder. Less volunteers means higher costs.

Ask Andrew Bogut.

Are you really a man if you wouldn't watch sport at any available time?

I would definitely watch in on TV.
Not as flipped with going to the games, but would work well for those in the City.
As somebody mentioned, it would beat the hell out of the Saturday morning games.

As somebody mentioned, it would beat the hell out of the Saturday morning games.

My current viewing is following live stats or via NBL TV. I'd happily follow more games or games dispersed through the week.

But whether it got crowds in stadiums is a different question, and I don't think it makes for great TV if the stadium is empty.

I also go with live stats. Rarely watch TV. I don't think TV ratings or crowd figures would necessarily increase with mid week games.
Plenty of other events on eg Big Bash to compete with.

Looking at this weekend's TV schedule, it seems the NBL has the least possible competition when playing at that time slot. I wouldn't try to force NBL prime time yet. I mean, this way it is only competing against re-runs and horse racing. I think this is the best opportunity the league has to get eye balls.

@ Kobe
If it quacks like a duck...

I travel to Perth on Saturday Morning
I queue up on Saturday Morning
I'm in my seat on Saturday Morning
The TELECAST starts on Saturday Morning
The Players & Refs are on court on Saturday Morning
Depending on precise alignment of timepieces the game may or may not tip-off on Saturday Morning.
The league delayed tipoff by 10 minutes just so they could claim it's not Saturday Morning
Everybody knows exactly which games I'm referring to by saying "Saturday Morning"

Then, chances are, Kobe is just being a duck

If you can't figure out why I made that comment, I can't help you.

Saturday and Sunday are the best days for Basketball.

I'd love to have NBL on TV during a weeknight.

With that said, going to a game on Mon-Wed night isn't ideal, that would equate to low crowds and it would look empty and amateur on TV.


If you're a Perth fan, and it's a Sunday and you want to wake up a bit late, still have things to do, then have to travel to Perth, it's not ideal having a midday game. Essentially you have to have your shit together on a Sunday morning.

If you want lunch, before 12 is a bit early, after 2 is a bit late, eating at the game probably isn't ideal. Probably needs to be a brunch type situation.

When you consider these things, and you understand you are in a competitive market saying "tough luck" or "get over it" isn't a good business model. The NBL aren't the AFL, they don't have the breathing room to do what they want and crowds will come anyway.

Next year, optimally we see an increase in Saturday night games, and Perth afternoon games are pushed back an hour. You'd imagine on Go it's less of an issue than on Nine's main channel.

"If you want lunch, before 12 is a bit early, after 2 is a bit late, eating at the game probably isn't ideal. Probably needs to be a brunch type situation."

Surely you could fit a feat inside your A4-sized bag?

Going 2 whole hours without eating must be horrible. Oh the inhumane things that Perth people still have to put up with in the 21st century! Oh wait it's Perth they are still in the 20th century right.

Eat up before you leave home and go somewhere after the game its not that hard.
As for a good nights sleep I'm sure people could harden up these midweek games if they happen won't be a common occurrence.

I think the TV schedule as is is the best possible situation for now (yeah, sorry Perth fans).

Luckily for the NBL, it doesn't have a lot of competition at 2 pm on the weekend. Sure, some minor sports may be playing, (the W league, equestrian, and yeah maybe racing). But other than that it's reruns of Everyone Loves Raymond and The Block and some obscure midday movie from the 1940s.

I am not going to say it is completely without competition at this hour and day, but the competition isn't so overbearing that it will get lost among it. It is probably the best place and time for the NBL to catch casual eyeballs. It is simply not ready for weekday primetime TV.

So if an NBL is hiring out a venue then would they be charged less on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday because if that can be put into the equation then that could be a big carrot being dangled for clubs.

I don't care when my Wildcats play, I'll be there but running trains every 30 minutes on a Thursday night after a game is horrendous for the kids that are lucky enough to attend, fix that up and go for it.

The one problem with 3pm on Saturday is often the NBA is on ESPN at the time. So, as an example, you can have 30-40K watching the NBL on GO, 15-20K watching on Fox, then another 30K watching the NBA. Add to that the WNBL on SBS and Fox and there's just way too much basketball competing against each other. Even just shift the NBL an hour later and I think it would work better.

The NBL to this point has focused on filling the stadiums as the key driver of support as they had no TV deal so could try and schedule games at times when they'll hopefully get the best attendance.

The counter issue is people are doing other things at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon and even AFL doesn't get great ratings at that time.

If the NBL want rating a mid week shift into prime time might be the go but it would effect crowd numbers particularly in Melb/Syd where traffic is a major issue