BBL TV deal for 2020/21?

I’m not sure that it matters anymore. I’m not sure if viewing figures but is there anymore exposure on terrestrial than on you tube?

A TV deal only gets older fans to join, people who are 30 or older. There's huge amounts to be made from that demographic. Its that group that will likely have young children and they will want to get them involved in sports. Showing family friendly basketball appeals to the parents who don't like the anger thats often found in football.

People under 30 though, in the large part dont watch TV. They watch the likes of YouTube and other social media platforms. If you want to build from the ground up and play the long game you go for YouTube, if you want a quick fix and hope they stay when most will be set in their sporting ways yoh go for a tv deal.


Ultimately there's no wrong way, the idea that a TV deal makes a difference is mad, tv money really does but not just the tv deal. You want a good tv deal with an even better social media presence. We as a sport need to invest in all levels of sport, not just the playing aspect. Hire marketing people, hire social media people, hire people that are experts in their field, not just someone who did a degree 10 years ago while playing and havent touched it since

I agree with you that two different approaches is needed, one for the older audience and one for the younger audience. A good social media presence is critical. Although I strongly disagree that a good TV deal makes no difference to the popularity of the league. 

What I don't really understand about the younger audience (and I am above 30, so what do I know) is their short attention span. Research shows they aren't interested in watching a full game. They only want 10 minute highlights. So by that logic the BBL would be better off scrapping the live YouTube coverage and replacing it with 10 minute highlights of each game. Which I think most of us on here would be very disappointed with, but I also suspect most of us on here are over 30.

Having seen how football (outside the Premier League) has dealt with fans not being able to attend games, this has crossed my mind recently too.

How successful would a return of BBL TV (for those who don't remember, it was a paid subscription streaming service that offered one live game a week) be in these current circumstances?
Obviously it would need to be expanded to provide coverage of all games, but how many people would be willing to pay a monthly/season fee to watch their team if they weren't allowed to actually attend? Perhaps it could offer 2 tiers - an all games pass and an all games of a single team pass (similar to how NBA League Pass works)?

I absolutely accept this won't grow the popularity of the league at all (although perhaps the BBL could provide free highlights on YouTube). But could it provide enough revenue to enable the league the function behind close doors? Personally I suspect not. But it's certainly food for thought.

I think ultimately a TV deal would be a good thing for the BBL. It gives the league legitimacy and would be a good way to showcase what's good about the league. If we could get one live game every week/fortnight that shows what's good about the BBL, I think that would be a good step forward.

One of the problems with the league this year is not necessarily the product, which I believe most would say has been pretty good, it is more the way it has been documented. So for example I've seen loads of highlight plays at Eagles games this season from home and away teams, it doesn't look great when it has been captured by what is essentially jumped up CCTV cameras with grainy footage. Don't get me started on the stuff that has been missed because they can't keep up with play. I know it costs money to employ someone to stand under the basket with a camera, but surely it would be better spent to package the game properly rather than what we had last season? Especially when Eagles games had a better camera system in place before Keymotion was introduced and made games unwatchable for most.

Don't get me wrong I've enjoyed watching other BBL games on YouTube this season and it's certainly enhanced my enjoyment of going to Eagles games as it's helped increase my knowledge of what else is going on around the league. But us hard-core BBL fans are in pretty short supply when you look at the amount of views. But if we're looking to grow audiences maybe less is more, and we should be looking at quality and not soul much quantity?

After seeing what is possible with the GB game that was played up here, and the production values that were evident that day, it would be nice to at least aim for something close to that. Again, I know money is a huge issue.

I agree. But it doesn't need to be prime time on a major channel either. The BBL would be mad to turn down a weekly Sunday afternoon slot on ITV4 for example.

Get used to Keemotion, it's a multi year deal. Although the BBL do keep promising it'll improve over time.

I understand it provides coverage at a much lower cost, but in some venues it really does look poor (although in others it looks a lot better). But I did really enjoy the enhanced on-screen stats lasts season, they were excellent. I assume the two are linked, as Lions were the only ones not providing the new onscreen graphics and were also the only ones not using Keemotion. 

Another reason a TV doesn't work is the teams

Scenario A you watch a game, you enjoy it and you want to go see a game live. You watched Leicester V Plymouth. You thought wow I want to be a Plymouth fan because I have taste. But you live anywhere north of Torbay you won't go a game. Nobody's travelling more than half hour for a game. So you decide to follow them on TV when they're on. You never get the feel for the club like we all have for ours. You watxh a few more games but the magics gone.

Scenario B you watxh a game and go christ this was amazing! I have to watch this live! You Google the bbl and after half an hour of confusion you end up on the British site instead of the German. No BBL club is near you, there's only 11 covering 4 countries so chances are there isn't going to be. You think you'll just Google the 2nd division. There isn't one, you realise there's an 11 team league and no team can get promoted or relegated like they do in football, you give up.

Scenario C you watxh a game and go christ this was amazing! I have to watch this live! You Google the bbl and after half an hour of confusion you end up on the British site instead of the German. No BBL club is near you, there's only 11 covering 4 countries so chances are there isn't going to be. Luckily you really like the Plymouth team and find their wiki page and you realise they used to play in the ebl, you follow that link and find 3 divisions of more teams, fantastic! Even better 1 is really close to you so you decide to book tickets, only the team can't tell you the venue as they play in 3 different ones. That's OK tho they're all nearby, can't see a place to buy tickets. Somehow you manage to find it all because you really want to watxh after that amazing game on TV, only the kits looks 5 years old, there's a 100 different court markings and there's only 20 people in the crowd. There wasn't a programme and you cant find out the other teams full name, you only know them from their name on the scoreboard 'Guest


No scenario brings in new fans, tv deals may get someone watching on TV but that's it. It would take an incredible amount of luck for that fan to then turn up to a game. Clubs need to do more to build their own brand, be the best night out, best sporting attraction in your city/Town. That's how you build

I'm like the bloke whp liked his razor so much he bought the company.
Freak was word you're after.

I'm sure this is said every year, at this time

You weren't kidding about being on a rant!

Trying to look for the positives in your scenarios 

Scenario A - Even if people don't actually attend games, more eyeballs on the league and teams creates better brand awareness and better sponsorship opportunities.
Scenario B - At least it might grow interest in basketball in this country, at whatever level. Which should ultimately improve the professional level.
Scenario C - Again, an increase in people's interest in basketball at any level is a positive. You can't turn the BBL into the NBA overnight (or even in 100 years) with just one course of action.

Ok, I'm being overly optimistic to match you being overly pessimistic. A TV deal alone won't save the BBL. But it would at least give it a nudge in the right direction.