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SBS secures Free to Air rights to weekly NBL match

SBS makes a deal for one Live basketball game each Sunday from next month.

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SBS has secured exclusive free-to-air rights to a weekly National Basketball League game for the upcoming 2016-17 season.

SBS will broadcast one game Live each Sunday, also streamed online, beginning with a Melbourne United v Adelaide 36ers from Sunday October 9th.

A year ago FOX Sports announced a 5 year deal for every game Live across the NBL season but was in discussions with other networks for one game to be simulcast on Free to Air.

SBS Director of Sport, Ken Shipp said: “SBS is pleased to announce it will deliver the very best of men’s professional basketball to fans across the country this NBL season. We know sport has the ability to bring people from across Australia’s diverse communities together, and we’re proud to be building on our existing offering of premier Australian and international sport with the NBL.

“We’re also looking forward to broadcasting the national competition for the first time on SBS, and giving our passionate sport fans something extra to look forward to this year.”

NBL Executive Director, Larry Kestelman, said: “We are excited to have a national public broadcaster, SBS, on board with us for this season. It’s great a new demographic of fans who may not normally watch through either NBL TV or other broadcast partnerships are able to watch our great game.

“Our goal is to reach as many Australian basketball fans as possible through our coverage and showcase the quality of the NBL to Australian audiences. Having a free-to-air broadcaster that also loves and understands the business of televising sport is of huge importance to us as we continue to grow the sport.”

TEN previously broadcast NBL in 2014.

10 Responses

  1. One game on FTA per week just feels like a waste of time and effort. It’s not enough to get newcomer fans hooked, particularly if the teams playing each week are fairly random.

  2. Nine did have same deal for Sunday games last year which they showed on Gem live when on or a replay from another game – and this is the sort of deal the govt broadcasters should be mandated to do to make sure that everyone has access to coverage of the so called minor sports

  3. This isnt great but not bad news either for NBL. Last years deal with Nine Network was ok but not every game was Live. Because there werent many Sunday games last year. However this isnt all great because Basketball has a big momentum and yet NBL can get a major FTA deal maybe on 7 but that is unlikely now. There is still the new NBL TV app if they want to watch everygame Live without needing Foxtel.

    1. Difference is this year that the NBL scheduled a Sunday afternoon game each and every week (they didn’t last year) in the hope of on selling it to a FTA partner.

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