I think it will constitute the most games the NBL has ever had on FTA to my knowledge.

As for progressing the relationship with a bigger FTA network, that was always going to be hard once Fox Sports dropped off. And to be fair, Fox Sports doing that is a sign of a much bigger internal issue with Fox Sports moreso than it is the NBL.

Basically, the NBL needed a FTA channel to take a whole lot of games - 67 to be precise. And Channel Nine sure as hell was not going to be able to do it - and if it did, they'd be splattered over some back up channel, not in HD. For all we know Channel Nine may have been willing to expand their coverage, but 67 games was always going to be beyond their scope.

9Go vs SBS Viceland? I don't think there is too much difference between the two, but at least Viceland is in HD, and in sport, that matters.

A League has made a successful home on SBS before so I think the NBL can make it work.

All things considered I think the ESPN/SBS deal is a 20-30 percent upgrade on the Fox Sports and 9Go deal due to the fact that ESPN can cross-promote the leagues, all basketball fans pretty much watch ESPN, it has global reach, and as for SBS, it is in HD and there are going to be far more games on FTA.

Getting coverage on ESPN is no small feat. There are no other Australian shows on the channel. Larry has basically made ESPN do something they don't do, and that is take Australian content. The closest they come to doing that is the adds which tell you what time in Sydney a game will be broadcast. This indicates that despite not being a ratings winner, the NBL has impressed. ESPN didn't have to take it up. In fact, no one was obliged to. The fact that he has maintained All games Live in HD across two entirely new channels given the circumstances of his main broadcaster dropping out is something to admire.

What will be interesting to see is how coverage will change with ESPN. How different will the league 'look'? Who will replace some of the terrible Fox Sports footy commentators?

Nine network dumped the NBL a year in?

SBS has better rural and remote coverage. Saves me when internet drops out

The deal with Nine Entertainment was originally set to run for three years; however, NBL owner Larry Kestelman said a 2:30pm time slot for games on Saturday was the main issue.

"Nine Entertainment accepted that if we could find a better home for the NBL, they would make it work," Mr Kestelman said. "This agreement is much better for us."

"Getting coverage on ESPN is no small feat. There are no other Australian shows on the channel. Larry has basically made ESPN do something they don't do, and that is take Australian content."

ESPN does do limited Australian content - have seen an Australian-tailored edition of SportsCenter on there and they occasionally show specials for the Australian viewers (the Ben Simmons Year One doco comes to mind).

I gotta say, well done to LK for accepting that the "landmark" 9 deal was actually a turd all along. This deal is much better.

The league needs games on FTA and having half of them live on FTA tv is good. But the league also needs games at times that fans want to attend, so having the other half of games in prime time slots (assuming mostly Friday and Saturday nights) is a great move.

I obviously don't know how the economics of this deal works (I assume the league will continue to take a loss) but this deal should see more people have access to games both on TV and in person. That has to be a good move.

" "Getting coverage on ESPN is no small feat. There are no other Australian shows on the channel. Larry has basically made ESPN do something they don't do, and that is take Australian content."

ESPN does do limited Australian content - have seen an Australian-tailored edition of SportsCenter on there and they occasionally show specials for the Australian viewers (the Ben Simmons Year One doco comes to mind). "

Pretty sure there was also Aussie versions of ESPN shows like PTI at some point and they...er...weren't good. That said I think getting on ESPN is a good thing.

I think the ESPN deal might revolve specifically about a lack of live sports for that prime time slot on ESPN due to the fact that its predominantly american content. The deal is a win for me.

So what happens to the live coverage of the World Cup?

I thought Fox Sports had exclusive coverage of all Boomers games for the Cup?

SBS On Demand to broadcast every game live and free replacing NBL.tv

Pretty sure Fox Sports are definitely covering the Boomers games at the cup. I expect there'll be a further announcement soon of what happens with the other games. Would be disappointing if there were no way for Australians to (legally) watch the other games.

The whingeing about this and the ESPN news has been deafening. Anyone remember when there were just highlights of a game once a week? It wasn't that long ago. Foxtel is going down the drain so having ESPN jump on board is actually good. Also look how many games are on FTA, who cares if it's not being hosted by Larry Emdur.

I agree with you Curtley.
Of course we'd all love to have every game live in HD with nice production and all in the one place (which even the AFL does not get), but at some point the financial realities probably need to be acknowledged.
Not a lot of people are tuning in to watch NBL games and until they do, we're not going to get sustained premium coverage.

Is this why I have seen any new episodes of overtime recently? Are those boys employed by Fox or nbl?

NBL haha, they're back next week mate.

They only just returned from Vegas

Nine was pretty keen to show them the door!

Poor ratings, high cost of production....this appears a "good result" but its really a last resort!

main FTA will not touch the NBL as its a major loss maker and no one watches it!

Summer in Australia equal people being away and outside on the weekends!

"Yes, constantly. it's fantastic, far better service quality than nbl.tv (which I subscribed to in previous years). I'll be chromecasting everything to my TV, can't wait."

Not to mention that SBS On Demand is pretty much available everywhere you can think of from mobile apps to being on some smart TVs so the NBL will be far more accessible than it has been

"Nine was pretty keen to show them the door! Poor ratings, high cost of production"

Nine paid $0 for production.

No HD makes it look average on tv.

The Nine deal was based on the NBL getting a revenue of broadcast and online advertising. I believe Fox was making a contribution to the production costs (call that a rights fee if you want), but there would be others who'd know more of the specifics or indeed if that's correct.