Australia's National Basketball League has signed an online streaming subscription deal across phones, tablets and PCs to "complement its broadcast deal" with Network Ten, according to Peter Kogoy of THE AUSTRALIAN. The deal will also see the sport offer live streaming of NBL matches, and int'l matches featuring both the men's and women's national teams. The new deal was struck Tuesday with Perform Media. New Basketball Australia CEO Kristina Keneally said that the deal, under which season subscriptions cost $79, "would be a boon for the sport." Keneally said, "This is a landmark deal in Australian sport, a real gamechanger in what is a first of its kind in our country. It is also the first time in the history of the NBL that every game will be broadcast and available live across multiple platforms on NBL.TV" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/29).
MAJOR MONEYMAKER: In Sydney, Roy Ward reported that the subscription pricing is "substantially less than that of the NBA's hugely popular NBA League Pass,"which for about $200 gives fans season-long access to all games." Keneally said that NBL.TV could "become a major moneymaker for the league." Keneally said, "NBL.TV will be a league-owned platform rather than one owned by a rights-holder -- so the NBL will retain control of its own broadcast product and benefit directly from the revenue generated by it. It gives us a major new revenue stream, as well as an attractive new proposition for sponsors" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/28).
