The resurgence in media attention following the NBL's broadcast deal with Fox Sports is "the result of a steady lift in the quality and quantity of basketball coverage across several platforms in recent years," according to Paul Suttor of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Websites and social media accounts "have been springing up all over the place, often running on the smell of an oily rag," while mainstream media outlets "have re-dedicated resources to basketball." TV stations and newspapers are "by no means flooding their consumers with hoops but there has been a noticeable rise in attention this season on the back of much more gradual increases over the last couple of seasons." Even if the NBL had not done a deal with Channel 9 to broadcast Sunday afternoon games on free-to-air TV, the switch to Fox Sports "would have been a roaring success." By having "the best of both worlds" -- five nights of live coverage on Fox each week with one of them also simulcast on Nine -- the NBL removed "any reason for basketball fans to complain about access from their loungerooms." The ratings for the first two weeks "have not exactly set the world on fire" -- the combined 67,219 viewership for the simulcast match between Melbourne and Adelaide is "nearly double the next-best figure -- but it's early days." It is "hardly breaking news to say the previous NBL broadcast deal with Channel 10 was a dud." There are "still hurdles for the NBL to overcome in media circles" -- the reduced number of stories posted by the national wire service AAP and the limited photographic coverage by Getty Images "makes it hard for media outlets to consistently devote space to the league" (SMH, 10/20).
