All I know is at the United vs 36ers brawl game a big wig from the Seven Network was in attendance being wined & dined by the NBL. So without having seen the article there are obviously talks happening.

FWIW, the Seven Network have just signed some sort of partnership with Fetch TV with a new 7plus app and a new channel too 7+ Showcase, exclusive to Fetch TV.

https://tvtonight.com.au/2024/12/fetch-tv-adds-7-app.html

Also DAZN are currently in the process of buying Foxtel inc Kayo & Binge which is expected to be finalised by Christmas.

Given all the choppy waters on the way it might be pertinent to sign an exclusive deal with a FTA network like Seven who are in the process of expanding their streaming.

Do you have a link to the article?

Ok nothing noteworthy - 7 showing unprecedented levels of interest in the NBL, 7 10 and 9 all interested.

ESPN currently pays $17-18 million for their contract which is up at the end of this season (from the rollover).

Nothing else

IMO the Australian Open and the Cricket and racing makes 7 and 9 somewhat untenable

The precedent is the lowest of bars, so "unprecedented" levels doesn't mean all that much.
But if there is interest all round that's still nice to hear of course. Any type of competition for broadcast rights is a plus.
I think for expansion to succeed it requires more of that type of money coming in such that some can flow back to the clubs.

So 7 don't have the rights to Saturday night BBL, horse racing and test cricket doesn't tend to go that late either (excluding a couple days a year for the day night test and Perth test).

Could be a good slot to get on 7 (or 7mate).

If the money is good, grab it, but I don't trust any of the commercial networks. Maybe set up a team in Papua New Guinea, the government is keen to sponsor the nrl there, you know that sport that is played in so few countries and even in Australia isn’t the top code.

I personally don't trust any Australian free to air tv network to treat sport properly. Coverage will be dumbed down and integrated with reality tv cross promotion types. ESPN do a good job.

Acknowledge its about the money, and that the above it more a hardcore fan view, and for the game to expand we need more eyeballs though.

After close to 2 decades of not needing watch the drivel that is free to air commercial tv in oz it would be disappointing if it became the only way to watch NBL. Great for the league, $$$, etc but oz tv is abysmal, ads are intrusive and abusive and there are other mediums that are just far superior for coverage. As long as Kayo and /or VPN youtube still works I'm all for it on channel 7.

If it's on an HD channel then that would be watchable (if not then they shouldn't even bother. eg. the WNBL on 9Go! is abysmal picture quality, and the 9Now streaming service is kinda trash too because the quality is better but there is no pause, no rewind, just a live stream. Sad for a supposed major service 2024)
I'm ok with ads though if it gets more eyes on the product.

Be wary of Channel 7. They have a never ending commercial obsession with AFL and AFLW. At least on Channel 10, they promote the league reasonably well without having another sport that they totally give priority towards.

Cash is great but the coverage has to be good too. I like that 7 is a big network player and its nice for the NBL to be noticed again by them, after what 30 years?

No FTA channel screwed the NBL harder than Ten did back in the day with it's One HD channel and the "near live" clause in the contract that saw games shown on 3 hour delay.

Then again perhaps the worst of all was Fox Sports who knowing they had the NBL over a barrel refused to pay anything for the rights, made the NBL pay production costs for them to broadcast just two games a week and sacked Casey and Carfino and made their AFL commentary teams call the games, lik Dwayne Russell and Anthony Hudson.

I suppose Seven being all about their AFL and cricket coverage there is a danger of something like that happening again but I think LK is smart enough not to let that happen. The NBL being back on FTA full-time and on Seven too would be great exposure for the league rather than being locked behind the Murdoch paywall and with 7Plus there would be the likelihood of all games still being streamed and free.

The picture quality on 9Now is abysmal.

9Go! is technically in HD on channel 99 in metro areas. Nine just waste so much of their bandwidth duplicating their channels that their HD channels have less bitrate than ESPN SD on Foxtel (and two fifths of Fox Cricket HD).

There's no such bandwidth limit on streaming and 9Now is lower-bandwidth than most SD television, so I'm not sure that's the actual reason.

No Ciabattoni tonight, still out with "had a wedding." Not sure that should take a week?

...and with all the 9Now discussion I forgot this wasn't the WNBL thread.

The worst broadcasting act was by Ten when it changed over from prime time coverage on a one hour delay to replays after midnight.

Which was the FTA channel which was basically 'controlled' by AFL interests which took on the fast-rising NBL in order to bury it? Was that 7?

Two of the three stints that Network 10 have had, haven't been good. The mid 90s when they first removed live coverage for late night replays, and then even later from 1997 when games started to be shown at 1am. Then the second stint when they had One HD, then got rid of One HD, then moved their live games to "near live" 3 hours later...

This version of 10's coverage has been far better and more consistent. They've been pretty good this time around with their Sunday coverage. Id say LK's involvement and the improved product has something to do with that. That's why I'd lean towards 10 these days and wouldn't mind seeing them stay on.

Channel 7 I can't trust. It's all AFL (and AFLW) with them. They haven't taken notice of the NBL in what 30 years?? BUT - its great they're taking notice now, and will be good for negotiations with more competition for the NBL.

AFL don't like competition, as last time with the help of 7, on memory here they certainly didn’t help it, quite the opposite.

TBH, I really liked it when it was on SBS. Their streaming service was excellent.

Agreed every game live and free on SBS on Demand and it worked flawlessly.

Agree 100% sbs, I had a dig about the government funding nrl in Papua New Guinea, let them fund a world sport on sbs. They do sports coverage great.