AusLeisure

The National Basketball League (NBL) has marked another historic Hungry Jack's Season of growth with several key metrics experiencing significant gains in attendance, broadcast, digital, fan growth and fan engagement.

Currently composed of 10 teams (nine in Australia and one in New Zealand), NBL teams are located in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Illawarra, Melbourne, New Zealand, Perth, Sydney and Tasmania.

NBL Chief Executive David Stevenson advised “no sport's league is growing at the rate we are, and we intend to continue the incredible upwards momentum well into the future.”

A total of 1,135,135 people attended games throughout the regular season and finals, which surpassed the previous record that stood for 31 years. Incredibly, it was achieved in 40 less games highlighting the incredible demand. There were also 55 sell-outs throughout the campaign with clubs attracting more and more people through the gates.

Digital engagement also saw a significant uplift with app downloads up 34%, website and app views up 25% and social media followers up 22% off the back of incredible growth the previous year. More than 1.5 million fans are also signed up to the League’s database, a 24% increase from last season.

The NBL's broadcast partnership with ESPN and Network 10 continued to drive strong growth results across the Hungry Jack's NBL Finals, building on another historic regular season.

Average broadcast audience across all platforms increased by 33% in the Finals, with average reach also growing by 41%. The Hungry Jack's NBL Championship Series decider (Game 5) reached more than 630,000 viewers across all broadcast platforms.

The Illawarra Hawks won the NBL championship on Sunday with a 114-104 win over Melbourne United in Game 5 of the Championship Series.

Stevenson enthused “this incredible growth trajectory is testament to the entire NBL ecosystem being aligned and working together - it’s there for all to see and the numbers speak for themselves. But we’re far from satisfied and have an insatiable appetite and ambition to establish an even stronger and much larger impact on the Australian sporting landscape..

“Already we are looking ahead to the first ever NBA team playing on Australian soil, Ice Cube’s BIG3 tournament coming down under and two of the biggest EuroLeague teams heading to our shores for a special tournament, historic moments for our sport which will help engage and attract a whole new legion of fans. Plus, we have some more exciting announcements to come, which will be just as big.

“I want to thank our clubs, players, fans, broadcast, commercial and government partners, volunteers, and venues, for helping the NBL become a premier sports entertainment product.”

Focus now shifts to free agency, which begins on 4^th April, as teams look to reload their rosters for next season.

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