The next Australian National Basketball League season will feature regular season games five days a week, from Wednesday to Sunday.
The revised schedule is a deliberate strategy to slot into the AFL and NRL off-seasons, serving up the sport to fans throughout the summer.
The New Zealand Breakers are the reigning NBL champions. Photo: Photosport
The new schedule includes games at 7.30pm (Australian time) on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, as well as Sunday afternoon and evening games, expanding on what was previously a traditional Friday night to Sunday offering.
"Myself, the board and the newly-appointed General Manager of the NBL Jeremy Loeliger are committed to presenting the public, our corporate partners, and any potential broadcasters with the best product we can at the most appropriate time of year, and the most appropriate times of the week.
NBL Executive Director Larry Kestelman said that making the NBL available for consumption five days a week is an attractive proposition for all their fans, corporate partners, and any potential broadcasters.
"We are positioning the NBL to be the number one entertainment sport in Australia and New Zealand," Kestelman said.
"We have moved to a 19-week regular season so that we're not competing head to head with the traditional winter sport offering. Trying to accommodate an entire regular season of content into that period, using a traditional weekend schedule, would have been selling the sport short."
The NBL will release the full 2015/16 schedule next week.
The New Zealand Breakers are the reigning NBL champions.
