The reason bball is not on free to air is because it did not rate, pure and simple. Tv stations wanted the NBL to pay for their time on air; something they could not afford to do.In the end it was the Kings Vs whoever every telecast, normally at 11.30pm or past. They tried to appeal to their "potential " biggest audience in NSW, what they didnt recon with & I feel what they still dont get is NSW as a majority dont give a damn about Bball. Give the Kings as many crowns as you want, NSW still dont give a damn. Crowds have confirmed this

As for the outdoor stadiums bit. Fine if you are playing miniball or maybe junior school ball. As long as there is a saving to the parents I cant see any problem with it, good idea; however I wouldnt want to watch my son or daughter play a district game in the hot sun or rain.

As for the church & school comps, I would hazard a guess that it is because all parties might not want to relinquish there personal turf.

Getting more kids through the stadiums has to be a BSA agenda. The important bit is what happens once they are thru the doors. I dont think anyone has the right formula to tackle that one & get it right yet.

afro man,

i must applaude you on what is one of the best post i have read in a while, its objective, constructive and not negative, simply you have gotten your view accross in a great objective manner

whilst its easy to be negative, you have turned it into a positive statment,

i dont know what constitutes getting a little Basketball but isaac if you read this i rekon afroman deserves one

I know this is a chicken and egg thing, but is the reason basketball doesn't rate because they put it on too late. It therefore becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that it won't rate late at night, so they don't put it on at all.

I always thought if basketball got the same media coverage football got, it would rate highly.

Mott, I don't think it would. Certainly not for a fair while anyway. It doesn't have the success-vibe that AFL does, the big identities, the 40,000 people going to games each week.

If a TV network got a chance and put NBL on FTA, I think it would struggle, get canned, and we'd be further behind than we already are.

I'd try a weekend or late evening timeslot with a paid, long highlights package and see how that went.

What's really hurting basketball is this "poor, struggling second-rate sport" mentality. If NBL made it on TV and then got canned, the general population would see that and the perception that the sport is struggling would increase.

I remember (yes I am that old) back in either the late 80's or early 90's channel ten did experiment with Saturday nite prime time in 1 or 2 games. They took a big hit as far as ratings go.

I also remember Bill Woods & Steve Carfino hosting a wrap up of the weeks games approx 2 or 3pm on Sundays. I think they even had a sunday game live as I seem to remember Dean uthoff (sorry about the spelling) getting ejected in his final game for the Kings & Im sure it was live on Sunday arvo.

I am a Bball nut and would love to see it on prime time free to air, but it just doesnt rate.

What about when the ABC used to show a game of the week? Surely that would rate higher than sports liek Lawn Bowls that they show these days - but I could be wrong. (Nothing against lawn bowls!)

I didn't mean just plonking it in a prime-time slot, but generating the interest by having numerous pages in the paper every day, lead stories in the sports on TV even in the off-season. A complete media package. I'm thinking across all levels of basketball. After a while the interest would pick up, IMO.

Seating capacity is a major drawback here, which hasn't stopped the popularity of the NBA on a pro-rata population comparison between the two countries.

It might help if club basketball was able to accomodate kids who also play other sports.

There needs to be a bit of thinking outside the square and try some approaches that are a little unfamiliar and risky.

(in relation to BASA basketball and not social comps) There are some very multi skilled juniors who could bring a lot to basketball. Having just said goodbye to Winter and football, cricket training has already begun for some clubs. How many of these kids and their families are not walking through the BASA basketball doors because it is just too hard to slot in club basketball which is an all year/ 3 times a week commitment.

Whilst there is social basketball, there is a lot to be gained by opening up the CLUB territory to those who can't in the present circumstances, access it.

A future vision could be for district clubs to be involved in a domestic competition that not only gives these outside kids a taste of club basketball but also puts some bums on BASA seats. Yeah it's a big vsion I know but the game has such a wide appeal it is not an impossible one.

This thread comes up every so often, that's a great thing, it reflects the passion and concern that a lot of people have for the game, hopefully the people in the right places will do the right thing.

michelle... good call!!

i think west adelaide did something similar, or at least certain people in west adelaide, by forming like a sub-club and running it through social ball (st clair i think)... west adelaide cubs? i think that was/is their name... where they had a semi-relaxed club situation, mainly for juniors... was also a nice way to pick up some talent at a young age and to give a little taste as to what a real district club would feel like...