Breaking news: Ugly stepchild product remains unattractive to broadcasters.

ESPN leveraging their own Disney+ is beneficial for the NBL, hopefully they can use it as a stepping stone to grow their ratings further to a point where they're actually reasonable enough to attract better FTA slots.

I’m curious as to what the "medium" sticking point meant. Was it 7 not wanting to broadcast on 7mate but on 7plus streaming only?

Or did the NBL try to get main channel coverage outside of the Big Bash season?

I know they aren’t as big as 7 or 9, but 10 is the cleanest option for the NBL from an FTA perspective because it’s hard to work around the daily big bash and the every day tennis from post Christmas to end of Jan (or 1st of Feb as it will be).

Perhaps the NBL can push incremental steps with Ten.

Start with showing the Christmas Day game *nationally* (outside of WA lolz)

Push further into the festive season realm with Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve games as special slots on 10

Maybe eventually Ignite Cup on 10?

I've been joking for years about how every year the NBL announces a "landmark deal" to the point where the deal *must* be better than the AFL's by now yeah?

And yeah the only real difference here is that ESPN has expanded its distribution onto Disney+ which it has done in many other markets over the last couple of years and is obviously a plan globally. This is obviously a benefit to the NBL in that in theory there's people with Disney+ but without Foxtel, Kayo or Fetch who can now see games, but I can see more likely a bit of churn with people dropping Kayo for Disney rather than a whole heap of more eyeballs.

And as I mentioned in the other thread, the D+ version of ESPN is better than the others as it includes all of the ESPN+ content in the same platform, which, especially for NHL fans with all games available is a massive win (along with a lot more college sports).

I will note, i am in that group that already has Disney+ (having a disney princess obsessed 5 year old makes this mandatory) and didnt have any of the other carriers so in theory I might watch a little more NBL this season.

The previous broadcast deal with ESPN/Foxtel/News Corp was 3 years $45m how much is this "landmark" deal worth?

Technically that's the deal before the previous 1-year extension.

I think the extension may have increased a bit?

If the NBL didn't hype it up, nobody in the media would care. Those of us who know their history won’t be fooled.

I know this is peripheral, but I feel like the NBL could be a little cleaner in the way they present the schedule on the website and app (granted the app is better).

The games tab in the app is decent - although I prefer how the AFL allows the filtering so that you can scroll through your teams' games rather than clicking on each date or round.

I also prefer how the AFL splits it with a day header ie Saturday and then the games blocks, Sunday and then the games blocks rather than the games blocks together and you have to read the day inside each game block. It’s just less clear/easy to absorb.

Ideally they also put the ladder position for each team like the AFL does as well.

For each game block they should have for a Sunday 2.30 game something like:
Tickets | Preview + Lineups
ESPN Disney+ Kayo | 10 10play
SEN (or whatever radio)

For the website homepage, instead of having that clunky top part, they should replicate the "Games" section of the app on the home page where you have just the next game block listed (although do it properly with that broadcast info)

If there a multiple games the next game day, have them under each other.

Totally agree hoopie and KET. NBL hype things up way too much for what they're worth and no one outside of NBL Media really cares to cover it, and also fully agree with cleaning up the app. The AFL app is so good and easy to use. NBL not so much.

this "Big Win" has nothing to do with NBL. I heard about Disney+ and ESPN partnering up a few months ago, but I guess you have to put a positive spin on things.

saying that, unless the viewership for NBL increases noticeably, I can't blame the NBL for not being able to scratch out more value.

KET is bang on with how NBL could help. How to watch their product should be the easiest thing for a consumer to find out.

Zodiac

The previous broadcast deal with ESPN/Foxtel/News Corp was 3 years $45m how much is this "landmark" deal worth?

Based on these widely reported numbers, with an extra 21 more games added to the regular season, you would expect the $15 million per year should be at least 17 million.

I'm with Cram: I have a Disney+ subscription because of the kids (perhaps arguably the Mrs) and I'll be able to watch more NBL. It's not landmark in the traditional sense and ESPN drove it, rather than the NBL, but there could be increased exposure especially among more casual fans. The hardcore fans are tuning in anyway.

I dont know a lot about Disney+ but if it gives the league more exposure that can only be a good thing. My concern is while teams are signing a million dollar contracts I certainly hope theyre not doing that with the hope of the costs being offset by TV revenue.

The NBL continues to grow but it will always be a niche league, with strong crowds but modest TV ratings. I hope those putting in the mega bucks are okay with that being reality and dont suddenly withdraw when the NBL never gets to AFL-NRL levels.

I think Disney+ in the US is the second biggest streamer behind only Netflix so even though confined to the Aussie market I would imagine more people here will get expsoure to ESPN and thus the NBL because of it's inclusion on Disney+. But a number of Disney+ subscribers have complained about the price rises since the inclusion of ESPN on there as it seems a lot don't care for sport and say they won't even watch ESPN.

Those owners who buy into the NBL have done so for the same reasons as always for the clout of owning a sports team and having the ability to write some of those losses off tax wise. No one buys into an NBL team expecting to make money, it's always just been a question of how much they're willing to lose.

Right, Zodiac. From my understanding it is a good way to get businesses together and youre probably making more from having it as a stage front for those networking opportunities than you're losing.

ESPN ANZ & FIBA have extended their broadcast deal for four years which will the women's '26 World Cup and the men's '27 World Cup.

https://tvtonight.com.au/2025/09/espn-extends-rights-with-fiba.html

Would be great if ESPN could get euro league basketball as well.

According to CodeSports the NBL is close to inking a deal through NBA League Pass "to further expand the league's reach into the American market." No other details as of yet.

NBL usually releases its list of commentators for the season. Didn't happen this year lol