Hoops

Should the NBL season be shortened?

How so?

No, they are doing it right this season (finally).

In the past playoff series have been too squeezed together, as if to rush the most important part of the season.

Finally they are giving it the spacing it deserves which should mean higher quality yet fans aren't happy? You can't win.

Grand Final series should run from Friday to the following weekend. Not over 3 weekends.

Also I'd like to add what others have commented - that eight teams is getting boring. Either add new teams or take more care compiling the schedule - i.e. Sixers and Utd only facing each other early in the season was a joke, so much so that we will only see the real teams play off against each other in the GF series! Not good but luckily they both made it to the GF.

"If they make it shorter (despite maintaining 28 games) it then looks too much like a boutique mini league which will be hard to take too seriously. Whats the point of following a competition for just 15 weeks in a year. Makes it look like a try-out league for something better."

It is already a try-out league now - play well and get a contract in Europe, or play well and you are a lower tier player get a contract in NZ or state leagues locally. The NBL isn't really the pinnacle but just another league to play in now for these players.

The season is ALREADY shortened. Top tier leagues around the world play (including playoffs) from September-May (Europe) or October-June (NBA).

and what is all this talk about AFL/NRL? Fact is no matter what time of year there are many sports on vying for viewers. Do you not have the attention span to watch two games at the same time (36ers/AFL example)? Actually two games at the same time are better as if one is boring you have an alternative, especially now with TV+streaming combo and multiple TVs in the home.

Not sure where the Olympic Qualifying stuff come from (that is the World Cup) but the windows are the exact same next year with the addition of a window in the middle of September.

So the remaining windows are...

28 June - 2 July 2018
13 September - 18 September 2018
29 November - 3 December 2018
21 February - 25 February 2019

NBL is getting boring. Same Teams playing the same X and O's.

We can need a 2 more teams.

christ NO,you only have to look at the disaster the WNBL just had with their first shortened season

It's not ideal that the finals will clash with the first round or two of the AFL.

But 28 games is a good number and has been consistent for a number of years, and the first game was 5th October- a few days after the Grand Final. It's probably not realistic to condense the 28 games into a shorter time period.

The clash with FIBA won't happen next year because the qualifiers won't be required again- is that right? If so, the season won't clash with the AFL next year?

Unfortunately you just cant avoid football. Starting during the football finals would be madness as its hype overdrive at that point, even with less games. The games are bigger, and media attention is nationwide even if your local team isnt in it.

During the summer there is still plenty going on - trade week, offseason updates, the football never really stops other than when the cricket is in full gear and that gets top coverage. Then after that, tennis.

Agree with condensing the finals though, however that makes it harder to sell tickets in a shorter timeframe. Its one of those things the NBL will never win I think.

I think the season is too long for the small number of teams. If it was a larger competition then running for 6 months would be fine but I get bored watching the same teams playing each other repeatedly up to 9 times per season.

I see more growth coming from families and kids who drag their families along than from trying to magically catch the attention of the 'casual fan'. kids and families don't go to midweek games and making the season longer produces fewer midweek games, whereas a shorter season increases them.

everyone keeps talking about casual fans and harking back to a golden age when nbl was in the public consciousness but I'm not convinced those days are going to come back through marketing and media alone. grow the game through grassroots involvement, make it easy for people to take their kids, make people fans early on and they'll keep coming when they're older. you can't do that if your team plays half it's games on a school night

Length is fine, can't regularly play too many mid week games as school/trainings/social etc would affect attendance. If there was free to air though a Monday night prime time game could attract new fans instead of reality shows, would give sports fans another option. Of course bbl will always take precedence but before and after give it a shot.
But definitely have finals at least week before football codes, similar to juniors here coinciding with Adelaide show and losing wayville.

The length of the NBL season is fine. Does not need to be shorter. Its not their fault we are getting inundated with AFL preseason news. I find this boring anyway, and I follow the AFL.

If they make it shorter (despite maintaining 28 games) it then looks too much like a boutique mini league which will be hard to take too seriously. Whats the point of following a competition for just 15 weeks in a year. Makes it look like a try-out league for something better.

If theres a comp that definitely needs to be shorter its the A-League. That season just drags on all summer and deep into the AFL/NRL seasons. And they only play 1 game a week over what 28 rounds?

I would be all for starting the season a bit earlier. The NBL's crowds are always at their best early in the season and once the Big Bash starts up interest begins to wane and as we've seen over the last few weeks of the regular season plus playoffs there is little interest in the NBL once the footy codes preseason games start.

I think it's worth the gamble to start the season 3-4 weeks earlier despite footy finals being on so people can go straight from that into an already up and running NBL season rather than this lacklustre finals build up into the end of March.

It should not be shorter, maybe start earlier, in the nrl or afl half the teams don’t play finals and the others start getting knocked out. Start mid September and finish early March, hopefully we get two more teams in shortly and play more games with lists of now 12 with extra import the players should cope.

CT... that’s the silliest thing I’ve heard in a long while. You cannot compete with the AFL (biggest sporting code) and the NRL.

When there isn’t anything to really report on prior to those seasons commencing and at the conclusion of the big bash, the NBL needs to grab all the media it can and run its finals PRIOR to the start of the AFL/ NRL seasons.

To say that you couldn’t give a ‘whatsit’ about those codes is all well and good, but the majority of fans would have interest in multiple sports. In addition, only so far the family budget will stretch for many people and we don’t want them to have the choice of football or NBL as I fear the NBL would lose out Mose of the time. .

No. couldn't give a whatsit about AFL or nrl. finish the regular season before these codes start and run the finals over the first few weeks. there'll be enough interest and ticket sales from fans invested in their team getting to the finals

They need more games, not enough of them and all they do is practice. Yes let's shorten an already shortened season, crazy.

What? It already was shortened a few seasons ago. We have one of the shortest seasons in world basketball. It needs to be lengthened, basketball is all about reps. Most NBL games the players look rusty.