basketball or NBL in particular just doesn't have the support of the public, media or government in AUS. No matter what you do if you as a league can't get public support theres no way it will succeed.

A lot has to do wtih the media and getting it out to the public. Since in the media has an agenda of just covering "Aussie" sports, especially Aussie Rules - then add Tennis, Swimming and Cricket - to the detriment of all other sports - basketball is fast becoming a fringe sport in AUS

It's the $$$$.
Euro dosnt pull that many spectators.

The NBL and australian sports rely heavily on corporate dollar and spectators (both are tied together).

As for the NBA .. I like the tough more contact style of Olympic basketball better. The NBA is fast becoming a joke .. of high priced over priced wussies with there soft body contact rules and interpretation of travels and carries and superstar treatment.. bring back the old school NBA of the Bad Boys Pistons and the Bird era Celtics. those guys were tough back then !!

Speedy your right, we dont have the support of the media, but thats part of what I think the NBL needs to look at the Euro league for, how are they, in a market that is saturated by soccer..getting their coverage. I was recently there and every time i looked a basketball game was on TV, it was fantastic. I didnt see the tv much so maybe it was just my timing.

DJ you say its the Dollars and that the Euro doesn't pull many spectators, but right now people like Anderson are earning more than Bogut, so where is this money comming from. They rely alot on sponsorhsip and like us private owners, but you dont get sponsorship or interest from private owners unless they can make something of it.

"So with the NBL struggling so much, why are we not looking to Europe to see what they are doing so well, is it the promotion, the shorter quarters, some other aspect of the game"

Money.. Money.. Money.. and Money.

No competition from AFL or cricket and less from rugby and probably tennis too.

Also, Australia is on a high of patriotism that doesn't suit basketball's perceived "US roots".

I don't think shorter games are the way to go.

I think people have missed my point here, personnaly Im against shorter games. What im asking is why the NBL are not looking to see what the Euroleague is doing so well to have the growth they are having. I doesnt come down to "money money money", since the Euro league never used to have any money, where as now there players are returning to Europe to play for as much or more.
So WHAT did the euro league do in order to return their league to a leading game, Im not asking for a quick throw millions of dollars and prey option, these things take time to build, what from the Euro league can we take to help us.

And Isaac they have competition from, Soccer(way more than AFL could ever do), Rugby Union, Volleyball, and im sure there are alot more I dont know about.

" "Anderson are earning more than Bogut" I don't think so matey boy."
Yeh Ill take this comment back, my source was wrong after doing some looking its impossible to tell exactly what Anderson has signed for, 5mill a year with everything paid for for him, this could be an additional 5-10mill a year depending on exactly what he gets.

Skud

The Euroleague is effectively a champions league. It is possible because Russia, Israel, Greece, Spain, Italy, France etc etc have fundamentally solid national league structures.

The club income is normally derived from the club in 2-4 leagues ...their national league, a mid week national cup type competition, the Euroleague and then perhaps another league like the Adriatic league. Below Euroleague is ULEB. Normally a team would play in at least three years.

So with a mix of TV rights and sponsor opportunities the club can raise some case to pay some players. $5 mill US is a big (BIG) Euroleague contract. No one there is earning anything like Bogut's 8 mill per season.

Locally, you have nothing to base this on. The NBL is strong as a competition if not as a brand, the NZNBL is ABA standard or a little better and the closest league that is of any sort of quality is China, and NBL clubs would wipe all but a few chinese club sides.

In terms of profile and success, they have a far more mature pay television market and live sports content is king for that market. Just read the article in today's article about foxsports profit climb and you'll see what I am talking about. Canal+, movistar (mobile telephony from spain) and others are competing for product and outside of football and basketball, there are not really any mega strong cross border team sports competitions in Europe. Volleyball for example is sexy....in Bulgaria and Italy and Russia etc but is not that important in Spain, Greece and France where much of the loot comes from.

And I'm all for 40 minute games - only about five leagues in the world play the 48 minute stuff and its crap.

Europe Teams have Owners with Tonnes of CASH! that dont mind loosing some of it for the sake of the team winning.

Would be great if the NBL could Mirror that, appart from that Eddie, who im sure poured in bucket loads, lost a heap from ABC and had to can it.

Similarly with the kings

Thanks for your response HO, was good to have an answer to my questions instead of mindless comments based on little knowledge...

Re Andersons Contract: where I read he was 5mill Euro, which is actually more then 8mill American, stating that my original claim that he earns more that bogut would be correct, any clarification on this?? I like being right, or if im wrong, its best to know :)

It's been said.

If you're a sport that doesn't have a high profile in this CoUNTry, you don't get a look in. Football, cricket, tennis, motor sport. That's it.

"Thanks for your response HO, was good to have an answer to my questions instead of mindless comments based on little knowledge..."

get over yourself skud, you ask people for their opinions then you call them 'mindless comments'?
If you had half a clue you wouldn't be asking people here in the first place.

You're telling me that MONEY is not a MASSIVE factor in players going to Europe?

Yes, the competition is better, there are more countries involved, there's a bigger fanbase, but at the end of the day you're full of sh*t if you don't acknowledge that money is a factor in players going there.

I know, there's those few players that use Europe to polish their game to try for the NBA, but the fact is.. the moneys better.. why would a player stay in the NBL for $50-$100k/pa if they could be getting $1m+ in Europe?

Hah MCsHammerTime, you tell me to get overmyself but you havent even looked at the basis of my original question. I am asking why we are not looking at the Euro League to see how we can improve the NBL.

"You're telling me that MONEY is not a MASSIVE factor in players going to Europe?"

No, I didnt ask if it was a money factor, I was pointing out they have managed to increase the leagues profile enough to be able to afford to buy big name players.
You seem to be focused on one aspect of the whole post and cant seem to get past that. The Euro league has been previously struggling, HOW did they turn it around, i DOUBT that suddenly they had enough moey to pay 3-5mill Euro for players, they had to increase the leagues profile in Europe and promote the sport in a way that attracted big name companies or individuals to support the league and buy teams. So i was asking what it was THEY did to achieve this.

So it was not Money Money Money as you so blindly put it.

Yes it is - the owners of most teams are seriously cashed up. And they (I assume) have strong TV deals. Outside of that, I don't think 40 minute games are going to turn around the NBL.

One thing that might be worth emulating however is how they have given the league a strong style/identity. Not really sure how you could push that with the NBL though.

Had it been struggling, though? Or was it that everyone only started paying attention to it when the US teams started to drop off at the major tournaments? It is not as if it has only been the last two years that Euro clubs have been paying big money for players.

But aren't most of big teams (Barcelona, Olympiacos, Real Madrid, etc) that make the Euroleague run by the same people (ie. use the same cash) that run the footbal sides? I know that the Olympiacos owner is some billionaire, so he could just buy whoever he wanted.

"One thing that might be worth emulating however is how they have given the league a strong style/identity. Not really sure how you could push that with the NBL though."

This is waht I was talking about emulating aswell Isaac...I dont think 40min games will help either, I just cant see how reducing the time would increase the excitment. Wont decrease my ticket price :)

But what would that be? Would it be something distinctly less American rather than "more" anything else (branding by subtraction rather than addition)?

I think the NBL is already fairly free of posturing and showboating (outside of a few imports like Lampley and I don't think you can ask them to tone it down).

Maybe the marketing meme should be some basic message that positions the NBL as 'the Australian take on basketball'; it could push team play (mateship, ra ra ra), defense, success without big noting.

Clips with scenes of:

- an open shooter making the extra pass to a team mate in a better position under the basket
- helping a team mate off the floor (don't show them taking the charge as I think that could deter some people who'd see that foul as not rewarding the bold/strong)
- scoring, but no selfish posing afterwards, maybe just raising a fist to the crowd (popular in the AFL ads)

Might be some other aspects that could be addressed somehow - uniform, entertainment, music, etc?