Hoops

NBL television deal, sponsors close

Ummmmm, the A-League losses have been falling for years. They are around 10m now. For a national football league with 27 rounds plus finals as well as the FFA Cup and Asian Champions League matches to play all over the nation and the continent - that is a remarkable figure for several reasons.

1. It's the clubs that have lost the money, not the league, with most of it being Sydney FC who have a Russian oligarch as an owner who couldn't care less about this small fry loss relative to his broader business. That being said, even Sydney FC are getting heir financial house sorted.

2. The losses at $10m are a fraction of what they were, with all but 3 clubs either making a profit or going close at last report.

3. Despite the losses, there are people who still desperately want to get A-League licenses in the next round of TV funded expansion, with consortia in Canberra, Wollongong, Townsville, Sutherland Shire, Tasmania, South Melbourne and others....

4. If you think $10m is a lot, because you reference it against the NBL, what you forget is that the football economy is vastly bigger and only now commercialising. $10m is not a lot of money for a tier one sport. The value and annual turnover of Melbourne Victory (estimated on a recent share offering and company reporting at $35m and $15m respectively) dwarf the entire NBL. Dwarf it.

5. Whatever the ratings and attendances dip that the three big football codes are all experiencing now - you can bet most of it relates to the state of the general economy and its impact on discretionary household expenditure, not a fundamental shift in the fundamentals of football (all codes) as a business.

6. Every few years, whatever the state of the A-League, the Socceroos make it rain for football with the Asia Cup and World Cup. With the league capitalised now, football is in a far better position to weather the storm than it has ever been before.

7. A-League clubs are now all planning or building purpose built football academies and community hubs with state governments, state federations and other partners. These will cement them in their communities, create another reveu base for clubs as well as creating football factories to feed the international market.

8. The "government finding" argument has never held water and to use it is desperate. The A-League gets a fraction of what the NRL and AFL get every year. Apart from WSW money that funded their women's team I am aware of no government funding that has gone to the A-League since the $17m LOAN it received when it was re-booted. Government funding to football goes to grass roots facilities, the now infamous WC bid and various sports development programs. Much the same as it does all sport. One of the reasons football gets so much government funding for grass roots sport is that the ASC dole it out of a registered participants basis - and guess which sport is number one by a country mile there? If you want to complain about codes getting funding for infrastructure beyond their registration profile (and Basketball has a legitimate gripe there IMO) you should look at the AFL and NRL. Football haven't got a cent.

9. last but not least, the Whole of Football Plan just launched is a vast 20 year vision of the 2nd wave of reform for football - including its federated model of governance. Do yourself a favour and go have a read. It's precisely this sort of long term thinking that turns a popular grass roots participation sport into a tier one commercial sport.

People comparing the existential trials of the NBL to the growing pains of football and the A-League in particular need to take a tablet. The two sports are incomparable.

I'm against Foxtel because besides the NBL I would have no use for it.

With Patty Mills as ambassador for the NBL they should have lobbied NITV. Im guessing they didn't.

Netball and football are culturally imbedded sports in the Australian psyche, basketball isn't.

FTA TV is only reflective of that psyche and networks, being risk adverse, are giving the public what they think the public wants.

Same goes for cricket and soccer is quickly taking ground on these sports that also include rugby in the northern states.

While basketball did have its place a few decades ago, we are now left with the situation of being one of the most popular junior sports, without the equivalent level of support from the media in regards to our national competition.

There is only a finite amount of FTA money and coverage, so if we can continue to present a product and competition that people want to see on FTA TV I am sure we will get there...

At least we seem to be heading in the right direction, perhaps we just need some more patience?

I might be missing something but the NBL hasn't had a league major sponsor since iinet and with the talent in the league this season surely this has to be rectified and monies should go towards a tv deal anyway that it can.

Any idea what the league will do with Breakers games shown in Australia... Would it be only in the state of the team playing over there or could it be shown on FTA over here nation wide ?

Getting all games live on Fox is just unrealistic people. Fox would mostly likely be unwilling to cover production costs for a sport that will deliver mediocre ratings at best. Three games a week would be more realistic

Thing is the A League gets a pass from everyone and seems to get gov funding etc while other sports go to the brink, ours included

Fox Sports is much better quality now than it was a few years ago. I have confidence that if they picked up the rights they would do a great job.

"Fox always tries to get exclusivity unless they don't have the power "

You're right, I suppose it would be difficult for the NBL to say "Here, you can have the rights Fox, pls give us monies, but can u plz sell a FTA a game or 2", then you have Foxtel who, as you say, always want that exclusivity.

Maybe it's going to be Foxtel or a live stream/FTA combo.

Anon 546400:
"I would've liked to see LK use his money to pay a FTA network to televise the NBL. If LK never came on board I could understand the NBL going back cap in hand to Foxtel but they shouldn't need to now"

Im assuming that would be LK's last resort option if he can't get a deal of some kind in place. There isn't anything wrong with trying to secure a deal first without having to pay for it. Its a good fall back plan though.

The NBL needs to also make money, not just be on TV for goodwill to their fans. If worse comes to worse, I'd like to see LK pay to be on TV if need be, just to keep the fans happy, though I imagine it would be only a short term plan.

"All games live on Foxtel with 2 games a weeks on sold to Seven or Nine on slight delay with no digital rights would IMO be the best/most realistic result for fans and the game."

"No way in hell Fox would agree to that."

So you don't think they would be interested in on-selling one or two games a week to a FTA channel on the proviso it was on a slight delay? Wouldn't they make more money that way?

All games live on Foxtel with 2 games a weeks on sold to Seven or Nine on slight delay with no digital rights would IMO be the best/most realistic result for fans and the game.

First of all, I highly doubt FTA would broadcast all games, let alone live (sport on delay isn't sport). Foxtel would offer a live and better quality high def picture than FTA and streaming, even once FTA switch their main channels to HD it still doesn't compare to Foxtel HD. This will allow it to be shown in pubs as well, giving it more exposure. A small FTA coverage will allow the game to gain exposure for both fans and sponsors while those who want and can/like to pay for a premium product can do so in the knowledge they are getting the best - it also allows Foxtel to test the waters and see that the NBL IS worth it, so that when the next rights deal is discussed, the NBL can then try and work a Online Rights component into the mix.

Keep in mind, if it does go to Foxtel, and you don't have or wish to have Fox, you can always find someone you know who does have Foxtel and ask to use one of their Foxtel Go accounts (each account has three devices they can use) and use that streaming service to watch the games. It's actually a pretty good service.

I'd like to see them but their way onto 7Mate, we have to trust that the talent that this league has will get viewers and I think it's through FTA that we can all see just how much LK is willing to advertise our league and I'm sure if we are paying then 7 will be more than happy to advertise it on their 3 channels also so they can compete with Big Bash and international cricket.

still need a way a streaming service though if the games aren't uploaded to Plus7

I can't see why so many people think that pay tv is the panacea to all ills.

If you look at the tv ratings in general, the top rated show on FTA had ratings of 1,392,000; the 10th rated show had 922,000 (OzTAM for week ending 15/8/15, published in SMH 24/8/15).

The top rated show on pay tv had 104,000. That is: one-tenth of the no. 1 show on FTA.

In general terms of market share, FTA has about 78%, pay 22% (OzTAM again).

When the NBL jumped in bed with pay tv, its exposure on FTA plummeted. It barely rates a mention in any of the FTA news services, even the national broadcaster who have a history of supporting the "niche" sports (anyone remember "Jack High"?)

When Channel 10 did present a glimmer of hope for basketball fans, showing NBA games as well as NBL, Packer and Murdoch juniors stepped in to try and shore up their pay tv interests.

Some of the regional networks (eg WIN for the Hawks) do a reasonable coverage of the NBL, even if it's focussed on their own team. The problem with this is that there are very few regional teams. There are very few teams ...

So, IMHO, the NBL should forget about trying to relive the boom times of the '90s when teams like Perth, Sydney and Brisbane moved into multi-thousand seat centres (Brisbane who?). And the salivation that began in NBL HQ with pay tv. They should remember how the boom times started: with FTA tv (esp the ABC) and teams with a local/regional identity

Foxtel is the most likely option although this would be slightly inconvenient for myself. I would be more than happy with a quality live streaming service.

I remember reading that Perform made most their money from NBL TV by selling the streams to Sports Betting services. Would it be worth the NBL producing their own content and selling the streams in a similar fashion ?

Yep, its been "close" for long time now. Seems the same story is being used every few months about this.

Hope it actually is getting close and that a deal will be announced.