r/nbl

• Live game streaming across ESPN platforms grew by 21% season-on-season; that’s back-to-back years of 20% growth.

• Average audiences on Network 10’s Primary Channel increased by 18% compared with last season.

• The Championship Series saw a 22% increase on ESPN. Game 4 delivered the highest average audience and Game 5 recorded the highest reach in ESPN history for the NBL.

• Game 5 of the Championship Series had a combined reach of 900,000 viewers across ESPN and Network 10; a 76% increase on ESPN and a 62% increase on free-to-air compared with last season’s Game 5. The game became the most-watched NBL game on Network 10, surpassing last season’s Game 5.

Now that the season has ended and the growth numbers keep coming out, it’s clear that this sport is growing at a pretty solid pace.

That raises a real question: how are the bottom teams supposed to survive without spending? Should the salary cap be reviewed? As a Kings fan, I’m obviously happy we won, but like a lot of you have said, the depth and money it took to build a roster like this make me wonder whether other teams have the backing to do the same.

What I’m really getting at is this: if a team stays at the bottom, can it realistically survive over the next 5–10 years without investing more?

https://preview.redd.it/6mgwoy91liug1.png?width=1148&format=png&auto=webp&s=c2a800340b5e1b681ecc4a693ad1ea3d62f62ed3