Hoops

ESPN to televise NBL games live

Successfully series linked the upcoming NBL season on my Foxtel IQ4 set top box a moment ago as it lets you navigate two weeks in advance. The feature has correctly detected the first two lives games on ESPN and the third on SBS Viceland.

This is a fantastic deal with free access for every game, but I think I'll keep Foxtel for a while too so I can access ESPN HD. I was just reading the article on the NBL website and it says ''All SBS VICELAND and ESPN games will be broadcast in HD'' but doesn't specifically mention if SBS On Demand will stream HD.

I might just keep my Foxtel subscription for a few more months now.......... LOL

The NBL have done a terrific job with trying things out and adjusting.

I do wonder if we will see some/a basketball show on SBS or ESPN.

This deal is MUCH better in terms of scheduling than last year's farce. Good to see they can learn from their mistakes - eventually

There have been for years, Sunday arvo has been the NBL's major TV timeslot for a long time now.

There are 3pm games on Sundays, though.

No 3pm games on Saturday. Earliest each Saturday is 5.30pm eastern time, so there is one Perth game at 2.30pm and a small number of 4.30s in QLD.

There are still some 3pm games by the look of it though?

NBL TV was/is a great product and for $5 month I hope it continues it was always fantastic quality on my PC.

ME, agree with your post.

I was a little too optimistic hoping the NBL would come up with largely the same deal as last year except the arvo games on GO being on Nine for before/after tennis season.

I think there is an element of sponsor dollars being reliant on good media coverage - i'm not sure whether this will achieve that.

Having so many games on FTA, live and in HD is wonderful no doubt for the average NBL fan who will be connected enough to know where the coverage is and that is absolutely one key aspect to the deal which is a big win.

Jesus christ koberulz all you ever do is whinge and nitpick. NBL TV was/is a great product and for $5 month I hope it continues it was always fantastic quality on my PC.

And yeah if you couldn't work out who the new Breakers coach is it's Dan Shamir.

"Five years ago we had a mid-afternoon game every week on a primary FTA channel with every game broadcast on NBL TV."

You've said yourself that NBL tv is not a great product.

Yeah, everyone complains about NBL TV, until of course there's a chance it might go away. lol.

With Chanel 10 signing on to the Aleague, maybe sbs think that basketball is better than no sport and while not as popular as soccer/ football it is a very big world game and they do play to a widely different audience.
I’m thrilled to be honest.

"Five years ago we had a mid-afternoon game every week on a primary FTA channel with every game broadcast on NBL TV."

You've said yourself that NBL tv is not a great product.

I'm not sure why the interest in whether it kills off NBL TV or not. You either pay $5 a month for all games and on demand, or you get all games and on demand from SBS On Demand? Kind of splitting hairs on whatever the outcome is there. NBL still owns the rights to all its production so I'd be surprised if NBL TV didn't still exist.

As for the deal, there are pros and cons for sure. For one, to get all your NBL reliably in one place, as was the deal with Fox, is definitely convenient. You wouldn't have to figure out what time the game was on as to what channel you're going to switch to. That kind of thing probably only matters to die-hard fans, as fans with either one or the other will probably be content watching what they have.

I also think that Fox Sports is known for Australian sport, and is probably a stronger brand in Australia than ESPN. There is probably going to be less incidental coverage of the NBL in different public places as already discussed. But if we're talking about bringing over pre-existing basketball fans there probably isn't a better platform than ESPN, and there will be plenty of opportunities at cross promotion between the leagues which will surely increase interest in the NBL for those already watching the NBA. No doubt the basketball fans who already exist are probably the fans that the NBL are most concerned with.

As for FTA, is 9Go really that much bigger than SBS Viceland? As far as I know the NBL received only a modest increase in TV views when switching from SBS to Nine in the first place. The main thing I take from the FTA deal is that this is going to be the most NBL games shown on FTA TV, possibly ever. That has to be worth something.

But in the end, you have Fox Sports literally dropping the NBL, and the NBL being good to make lemonade out of the lemons. The Australia vs. USA games, which were meant to be the feather in the cap of the deal ended up underwhelming, and he was unable to make a lucrative deal when packaging them together. The NBL will still not get a direct payout for their product. But they've been good enough to extend their FTA coverage and to bring basketball to the only other available sporting network - one which may yet prove to be a success for the league given its status in the basketball world.

This is the best the NBL could do given the situation and there are unique upsides to exploit. Sport on FTA in HD on SBS is probably a win over FTA in standard definition on 9Go. And half of the games on ESPN probably draws even with the Fox Sports deal given its ability to cross-promote.

This is a modest win for the NBL, but it does show that they're not out of the woods yet. Fox Sports dropped them and Nine, although they were interested in working with the league, certainly weren't going to give them 67 games. The struggle continues for the NBL. But they've done enough to stay well and truly in the game.

No.

ESPN+ in the US

5 years ago we had one or two games on tv anywhere and we were all watching box scores to find out how our teams were doing (or tiny windows on gambling sites).

The actual ESPN in Australia. ESPN+ in the US (which is their streaming service).

Might sound like an idiot, but does this mean all these ESPN games are broadcast in the US? Or just aus/nz espn?

They haven’t mentioned if that kills of NBL TV?

NBL TV would be nice for those who are international plus the existing library

Any hate should be directed to the Cadee thread...

5 years ago we had one or two games on tv anywhere and we were all watching box scores to find out how our teams were doing (or tiny windows on gambling sites).

between this and the sbs deal we're entering a golden age of choice.

I've got FTA (obviously), Foxtel, Telstra TV (easy access to SBSonDemand, 9Now etc), and NBL TV.

For me, as long as every game is broadcast somewhere, accessing has never been an issue.

My concerns lay, and has always been of interest to me, is the strength of the NBL and the direction upward.

While there is a positive that the NBL will be on the same channel after NBA - I think more NBA lovers may inherit coverage of NBL which is a good thing, I think there are two worrying aspects: #1 restaurants etc. tend to show Fox Sports over ESPN, #2 it's a step back FTA viewership wise, i'd say SBS Viceland gets far less viewers than NineGo. It's also a step back in respect of the aim to get main channel coverage (even if it's in the afternoon).

The question to be asked is: if you're an advertiser/sponsor of the NBL, is this broadcast deal going to give you value for your dollar and the reach you want?

The lack of viewership on Fox and Nine probably made it a very easy decision for them to let go, which hinders NBL's bargaining position (not to mention Boomers games that became considerably less interesting to the mainstream).

Those are my initial thoughts - it's a deal that seems a step back in many ways, even if I can easily flick on SBS/ESPN/SBSonDemand and get live HD coverage.

It definitely makes sense for ESPN to have access to these games for their ESPN+ service in the states as well as offering live sport in a timeslot they don't normally cover here. Win win for them, especially considering the lack of competition likely making it a very cheap pick up.

Thanks for the tvblackbox links
This is interesting stuff and yes it seems like next stars has been huge in securing coverage for this season

ME, they corrected the context in the new article

"The move comes after previous rights holder Foxtel made the decision not to continue with the sport"

https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2019/7/30/sbs-becomes-home-of-australian-basketball-in-shock-new-broadcast-deal

Terrance Ferguson and Joey Wright should get the credit for next stars. It is their risk taking that led the way for others to follow.

I would say ESPN got involved due to Ball and other Next Stars playing here, to be aired on their ESPN+ streaming service in the US. They have been really active in picking up the rights to niche sports and leagues as it is an additional service to the main linear channels which are under threat in future due to cord cutters. It's been a strategy at present to cover themselves for the move away from TV to streaming without cannibalising the traditional service as yet since it still brings in a lot of revenue.

Bottom line is no Next Stars no ESPN interest. Well done LK. Fox Sports are a mess paying billions to AFL, NRL and cricket yet don't want to pay a cent for any other content as they are bleeding. At least ESPN would be paying some contribution you would imagine.

9 probably weren't willing to do 67 games Live in HD.

In HD as well...

Apparently, according to the Australian (don't have access, going off some guy on the mediaspy forum), SBS Viceland has the other 67 games, not sure what happened to 9, all games will be on SBS On Demand live, both get the rights for free.

Here's a link if anyone wants to confirm.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/nbl-season-on-a-roll-in-joint-tv-rights-deal/news-story/992f1b7d0470c8b14b3abf62ae98a7dc

Surely Nbl tv will stream wnbl also? Can’t imagine every nbl1 gamestreamed but not the wnbl.

So I am listening to the podcast, KET, and it's a bit inconclusive whether he means cutting NBL completely or whether he means not funding it.

Fox Sports HD (1080i MPEG4) channels run at around 7.5mbps.

I think it hurts the NBL is reaching expanded viewership and gaining more sponsorship dollars. Television is the way to be mainstream at the moment for sports.

Some like Premier League would have the pull where if they go full streaming so does their large base. That’s where sheer benefit of streaming capabilities works nicely.

NBL doesn’t have that benefit, they are looking to actively grab market- a lot of that needs to be through visibility of flicking through channels or the tv at the pub, bar etc

Fox Sports HD (1080i MPEG4) channels run at around 7.5mbps.
ESPN HD (720p MPEG4) runs at around 5.5mbps
Foxtel 4K (2160p HEVC) runs at 24.7mbps

http://www.digitalbitrate.com/dtv.php?mux=12687&pid=1011&liste=2&live=87&lang=en

Well, if games are streaming, is that necessarily the end of the world. English Premier league, champions league, world cup are pretty much streaming only in Australia these days

The quality is awful. I'm happy to pay more for better quality, I'd be unhappy with their current streams if they were free.

Olgun knows his stuff, it will be very interesting re FTA, hopefully better than initially agreed upon deal but hopefully not a “two live on go, the rest shown on 9now” situation

People pissing and moaning about nbl tv. It's $5 per month you twat.

The question is, if tv rights money is dwindling for sports these days, what is the revenue model to attack? Is it views/likes on social media and attracting advertisers that way?

4Mb looks fine IMO

Ok I posted that before reading what you said. I'll listen now.

What makes most sense to me, in light having read the article, knowing what I know, and the ESPN deal, is Fox Sports picking up the non-prime time games, ESPN taking prime time, and a FTA presence taking something that is yet to be disclosed.

I get the FTA presence insight from a comment Olgun made in reference to the article where he says to look out for a FTA announcement tomorrow. Josh Liddle from the Facebook NBL groups said that Fox Sports would air the remaining games, and while I am not sure what his involvement in the NBL is, he is often correct and has been the first to know a lot of stuff lately.

The reason why I am heartened by this situation is because it occurs to me that ESPN must be paying something for these rights, or it wouldn't make a great deal of sense to give it to them and not just continue to give it to Fox Sports for free.

As I have already said, a more indepth and knowledgeable reading of the article brings someone to the conclusion that this has to do with production cost, and not screening the NBL. If anything, Fox Sports is looking for the cheapest possible content it can find an the NBL is ticking that box.

I think ESPN is either paying the NBL, or is helping out with production costs, and Larry has more or less said that Fox Sports can have what remains.

I expect that to be the result that is confirmed tomorrow.

And FYI costs were shared, evidently that minimised cost was still too much for Fox given poor ratings.

This is what happens when Fox pays majority of the billion afl nrl and cricket gets

ME, listen to the podcast - the context is clearer to them dropping NBL.

The point about NBL supplying was added out of context by the website

4Mbps 1080p streams are a complete waste of everyone's time so if they are going to have exclusives that needs to change dramatically.