{"id":622746,"date":"2026-04-22T03:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/622746\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T03:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:41:15","slug":"nine-lands-nbl-broadcast-deal-will-air-saturday-free-to-air-games-espn-retains-remaining-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/622746\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine lands NBL broadcast deal, will air Saturday free to air games; ESPN retains remaining rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jon<\/p>\n

April 22, 2026 \u2014 7:55am<\/p>\n

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AAA<\/p>\n

The National Basketball League has a new free-to-air TV home, with Nine Entertainment Co securing the broadcast rights in a multi-year deal.<\/p>\n

Nine, the owner of this masthead, replaces Network Ten as the free-to-air home of a league NBL chief David Stevenson says is \u201cin the midst of a new golden era of basketball fandom across Australia and New Zealand\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"HappyHappy days: NBL finals MVP Kendric Davis and his Sydney Kings will have games shown on Nine next season.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Under the new agreement, Nine will televise two marquee games live on a Saturday night, while the league\u2019s finals series will also be live and free.<\/p>\n

The new season begins in September.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Brian<\/a><\/p>\n

Nine also has the free-to-air rights to the Women\u2019s National Basketball League as part of the lead-up to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where the Boomers and Opals will again be in the medals hunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a significant moment for the NBL and for basketball fans right across Australia. Following a record-breaking season across attendance, digital and free-to-air audiences, this partnership with Nine is about building on that momentum and making our game more accessible than ever before,\u201d Stevenson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving two games live and free every week, alongside a fully free finals series, is a major win for fans and a powerful platform to continue growing the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESPN will retain the pay television and streaming rights to the NBL, with games shown on Disney+ and through Foxtel, Kayo Sports<\/a>, Fetch TV and Sky NZ.<\/p>\n

Nine\u2019s move to secure the NBL comes a week after it confirmed a five-year deal with Netball Australia<\/a>, securing all broadcast and streaming rights to Suncorp Super Netball, all Australian Diamonds matches and the Netball World Cup in Sydney in 2027.<\/p>\n

Nine\u2019s director of sport Brent Williams said the network was delighted to have the NBL in its stable.<\/p>\n

\"FromFrom left: Nine\u2019s director of sport Brent Williams, NBL star Bryce Cotton, NBA star Josh Giddey and NBL CEO Dave Stevenson.Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NBL is without a doubt one of Australia\u2019s most engaging and fastest growing sports competitions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standard of the game has never been higher, passion from the fans has never been stronger, and an innovative broadcast approach from all stakeholders makes this a perfect addition to Nine\u2019s suite of sport assets. We are thrilled to be entering this partnership and excited about the opportunities that will come from having NBL content on Nine\u2019s platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under league majority owner Larry Kestelman, the NBL has returned to its glory years of the late 1980s through to the late 1990s, in terms of public interest and the standard of play, with the league regarded as among the best in the world outside the NBA.<\/p>\n

Joe Ingles, the veteran Australian Boomer and long-time NBA star, is another major name the NBL could attract for next season. Melbourne United have strong interest in Ingles. The five-time Olympian is currently playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first-round play-off series against the Denver Nuggets, but may finish his career in the NBL, league sources, who preferred to remain anonymous so they could speak freely, told this masthead.<\/p>\n

\"MelbourneMelbourne United captain Chris Goulding will be one of the stars of the show when the new NBL season tips off.Getty Images<\/p>\n

The NBL this season broke its attendance record, reaching 1,231,796 \u2013 a nine per cent increase on last season. <\/p>\n

Live game streaming across ESPN platforms grew by 21 per cent season-on-season, marking back-to-back years of 20 per cent growth, while average audiences on Ten\u2019s primary channel increased by 18 per cent.<\/p>\n

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\"JonJon Pierik<\/a> is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 22, 2026 \u2014 7:55am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-622746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}