Australia’s National Basketball League has secured a three-season rights partnership with commercial broadcaster Nine.
The contract will run across the 2018-19 to 2020-21 seasons and will be a revenue sharing arrangement with an agreement to air two games per round on multichannel service 9Go!.
The deal also covers digital rights and will include a live simulcast of the games aired on 9Go!, along with catch-up rights to all NBL games throughout the season following their conclusion, regardless of the network the game has aired on.
Under the deal, Nine and the NBL will work together to commercialise the advertising inventory and broadcast monetisation of all matches across the regular season and finals series.
Tom Malone, Nine’s director of sport, said: “This signals yet another innovation in sports rights, where the value of Nine’s spectrum has been recognised in lieu of a rights fee and production costs, while Nine has secured exclusive rights to commercialise the broadcast and sponsorship opportunities within and around the game day production, for distribution on Nine, Fox Sports and NBL.
“We have also structured a commercial partnership beyond the broadcast, to build a business relationship between the NBL and Nine to achieve maximum return for both sporting body and broadcaster in the years ahead.”
Earlier this year, the Sydney Kings announced that they would be acquiring Andrew Bogut (pictured) for the upcoming season, representing the biggest signing in NBL history.
Bogut, 33, was the No.1 NBA draft pick in 2005, as well as being a former NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors. The 2018-19 NBL season is due to tip off on October 11.