The NBL and why has it gone to the dogs?

[Heardy_101]

This is about the Australian NBL.

Some of you may be old enough to remember that the original Australian NBL started off in 1979 with 10 teams, including Brisbane, Newcastle, Glenelg (!), Canberra, Bankstown, City of Sydney, Nunawading, St. Kilda and West Adelaide.

Over the years, many teams including 3 (!) Tasmanian Teams, various Sydney/NSW teams, various Melbourne/Victorian teams and Singapore.

The 80s and 90s were clearly the halcyon years of the NBL, where crowds and number of teams competing were at a high and Basketball could be spoken in the same breath as Cricket and Aussie Rules in terms of the respect the league had as well as the number of people who were interested and participating. It was not uncommon to have many NBL matches on Free-to-air TV as well as to see NBL results in mainstream news and sports news, eg "Hawthorn smash _______, such and such retires from Cricket and the 36ers defeat the Magic in a thriller".

By the end of the 90s, the NBL was still enjoying success however many, if not most, of the teams had folded by the end of the 90s and now only has 9 sides, a few years after packing up and starting again all in the same year, and in many senses is in the same box as the A-League, wondering what will happen next year and wondering if Basketball has a brighter future in terms of a proper professional competition.

The question is, what can be done, and how?

Media coverage?
Participation?
More (or less!) teams?
Another complete re-shuffle?

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

I actually enjoyed the few games I watched last year, it's better than most the shit on TV and the standard was ok. But I can't say I give a toss about the NBL at the moment.

The TV negotiations needed to be better, this (http://www.news.com.au/sport/basket...-show-every-game/story-fndkzqrr-1226459396997) is a step in the right direction, one game live a week has to be the bare minimum, I can't see many people who arn't already/still fans logging into NBL TV to watch, and what they need to do is get fans back, great deal for the existing fans though.

One thing that annoys me about the NBL is how amatuer it looks. It is supposed to be the most professional league in the country, yet everything from the court (oh god some are so bloody shit), jerseys and even the team names with sponsors mashed into them screams low grade (I know they need the cash to stay alive, but that problem was obviously born from previous ****ups). SEABL presentation is just as good as the NBL, they also even stream games live.

Still got my Bruce Bolden South East Melbourne Magic jersey from the good ol' days

 

[Heardy_101]

The NBL is almost semi-pro compared to what it used to look like. I think more advertising should be done to promote local games.

Ah, miss old Bruce, he was behind a campaign a while back to bring back the Magic, don't know how that went, obviously failed.

One problem with franchises is the big names are gone and they bring in "new look", fresher-looking names to try and win the fans over but it doesn't work. For example, if they brought back a second Melbourne side as the SE Magic or South Dragons then it would be a winner because ex and current fans would be able to relate to them more than a new franchise with a new name, bit like how the Kings made a comeback and how the Bullets are trying to.

 

[PP34]

Those in charge of the league are terrible and I guess with all the NBA and NCAA coverage you can get these days people will take more interest in that anyway.

 

[zorro1836]

Those in charge of the league are terrible and I guess with all the NBA and NCAA coverage you can get these days people will take more interest in that anyway.

those also running junior b/ball are not top shelf either. imo all the better b/ball players that are not taken by afl and other sports go and play in usa college and get free education. some go to europe to play on money about the same as afl players. this makes the nbl very weak and a pour competion. you can do as much advertising as you like people wont turn up to watch 2nd rate when nba and college b/ball is on fox.

 

[Admiral Byng]

They took the filthy lucre on offer from Pay-TV. Good in the short term, not good in the long term.

From what I remember of it in WA, Kerry Stokes owned both the WIldcats and local Ch 7 station, so we got pretty much all the games on TV, although not always live. Then they moved to a national media rights contract, first with Ch 10 and then with ABC. After a while we stopped getting specifically Wildcats games and would often get other games instead. Then it moved to Pay TV and and lost nearly all profile.

There was a time when every other kid was wearing a Wildcats hat or shirt - I remember having relatives visiting from oversaeas who asked "who are the Wildcats?" and you'd just say oh - they're the local basketball team in the national league, and they'd understand. They used to sell Wildcats gear in KMart even.

Anyway, just heard about this NBL TV thing today. I might have a look into it tonight when I get home, might sign up for live streaming. Can't wait till AFL and Cricket Australia (Big Bash in particular) do the same thing.

 

[Mitchemx]

The NBL.TV thing is a step in the right direction, but as a poster above pointed out it's going to mostly appeal to current fans. TV coverage is key. At least the 1 game a week they have is live now.

The league has huge problems though. I was a pretty big follower back in the day, but when the three teams you support over the years (Giants, Titans and Dragons) have all folded, it leaves you pretty jaded. Like i really struggle to get interested in it anymore.

Now with the increased coverage of the NBA, there just isn't much incentive to follow a fairly poor standard competition anymore. The digital product they are competing with would be far more attractive compared to their offering and the price point is pushing it. I believe it's cheaper if you pre register, but the normal price is $80. That gets you 4 games a week. The NBA version is double the price, but you get i'm guessing 40+ games a week and of a far higher standard. I don't see how they can compete.

I do want the league to succeed, so i might consider subscribing just on the off chance that it will help get the league back to where it once was. But when i heard about it i was really thinking a $40-50 price tag would be what i was willing to pay.

 

[Gus Poyet]

Basketball still has one of the highest participation rates in Australian sports. it's just one of those sports people like playing but not necessarily watching.

I play 2-3 times a week but have no great desire to watch the NBL.

 

[peternorth]

paging creamygoodness

fwiw i live 2 mins from nunawading bball courts

 

[OrdinaryJoel]

It is an utter shame what the NBL has become in this modern era. I hear stories about the good ol' days and so on, but I just don't see it surviving as a professional league here. What, with the competition from AFL, NRL and Cricket, not many people would want to watch basketball that looks amateurish and unappealing.

I'm no avid fan of the NBL (probably can sense this by now) as I find that the surrounding factors for the NBL in Australia does not support it enough. Things such as lower pay for players compared to Europe and Asia has put a negative on clubs trying to recruit and retain the players. Australia is at a disadvantage for this world sport (similarly the same as soccer and the A-League). Other things include promotion of the league as well doesn't seem THAT great compared to Cricket or AFL.

 

[XFactor1979]

Basketball still has one of the highest participation rates in Australian sports.

^ This. Don't just watch the sport, play it!

^ However "Centrebet" has other ideas...

 

[OrdinaryJoel]

^ This. Don't just watch the sport, play it!

^ However "Centrebet" has other ideas...

What if you can't play it for whatever reason...?

 

[PVF]

I've never gotten into the NBL. Don't know why, I've watch a few games here and there but other than that I don't take much interest.

I think one of the things is advertising. You don't really hear much about the NBL except for when a team folds which seems to happen yearly it feels like. Another thing is probably the low amount of money the players earn compared the other competitions around the world. You got to spend money to make money and I reckon alot more people including myself would tune in to watch NBL games if someone was able to sign say a Allen Iverson or someone from the NBA that can't get on a roster but still wants to play basketball for a decent paycheck. They did it in the A-League with Harry Kewell.

 

[Brad Goodman]

paging creamygoodness

fwiw i live 2 mins from nunawading bball courts

You should come and watch my mixed team on Tuesday nights, if mixed basketball was at the Olympics we would be Australia's team.

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

It's lacking, thats for sure.
Who doesn't remember the funny names of Leeroy Loggins and David Stiff, Tony Ronaldson's chest, Shane Heal's ridiculous 3's and of course Andrew Gaze's grey hair


Icons!

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

I always enjoyed saying 'LaFleur' (Andre) as a little fella haha. My brother actually has a Gold Coast Rollers jersey of his haha.



Oh yeah Magic

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

I love that build up! NBA shows dunks NBL shows free throw highlights.

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

Interesting there was 15,000 odd there for all 3 finals games, more than some AFL games, and now the Melbourne Tigers home arena can only hold 3,500.

 

[peternorth]

You should come and watch my mixed team on Tuesday nights, if mixed basketball was at the Olympics we would be Australia's team.

hahahaa!! post pics!!

 

[flight23]

I love that build up! NBA shows dunks NBL shows free throw highlights.

i've seen missed lay ups in NBL highlights

 

[Heardy_101]

Gotta love the SE Melbourne Magic!! Would love to see them return one day but :-(

 

[SEMelbMagic]

Have a little faith and show a bit of support gents www.southeastmelbournemagic.com

 

[hoju]

As an avid NBL fan, this is a question I ask and others ask me ALL the time!
I believe it was a combination of factors, the infamous "Jordan retiring" one, teams folding left right and centre, loss of TV coverage all contributed.

Now a days, on the surface to me, it seems so simple - they aren't doing simple things to make it work! Take NBL.tv for example, for years I had been asking how they haven't implemented this service, given their primary sponsor is iiNet, it just makes sense to do it! Now that they've finally done it, I applaud them, but as a poster mentioned above - it will only appeal to the hardcore fans. Why not give it free for a week for 'casual supporters' to try and sell the thing to them? Or give different pricing plans for a one of game, or just for your team's games?

There are a load of examples in similar vein, that seem so simple to me. Perhaps there are legitimate reasons why they can't happen but from the outside, it seems to make sense. The All star game. For one, the randomly DON'T run it some years. When it does run, the last time they had either only the slam dunk contest OR the 3 point comp -WHY can't you run both at the same event? At Tigers games, they still play music and sound effects from the 90's! It's extremely tacky and cheesy and they need to move on! Basketball is synonymous with r&b, hip hop, the intros and players with big egos - why not look into re-creating that showmanship, it really doesn't seem that hard.

I agree with the poster who mentioned the special import rule, if the team has the money to bring in an Allen Iverson, why not? Allow each team to have one player outside the cap. Remember how much hype there was at the start of this season around Bogut and Mills potentially playing NBL?

It is a hard one to decipher, but in essence I think they're missing the little steps (however, getting better of late) and if all else fails - COPY THE NBA!!! Involve fans in things like voting for the NBL All star teams, the dunk contest etc I went to a game in Europe just recently, France vs Spain, and it was just insane, it was how basketball should be done - the involvement of the fans was key!

As a final point, yes, it's sad that in the capital of Basketball in Australia, the only place we can see Pro. Ball is at a 3,500 seat stadium near the Zoo. I followed the Melbourne Tigers ever since I was little, and then ended up workign there - but they way they ran the club back then lead me to totally abandon them and I now support NZ Breakers They seem to be making the right moves this season, but I sincerely hope after falling just short this season, the "Magic" (or a form a 2nd Vic team) will be back next season!!

 

[Deledio2Conca]

For me the NBL died when Acie Earl, Bennett Davison, James Smith and Kevin Brooks all left.

 

[Deledio2Conca]