Nine Entertainment Cites Surging Ratings and Momentum in Long-Term Partnership with NBL

The 9Network’s decision to broadcast live and free coverage of the National Basketball League (NBL) was driven by undeniable ratings momentum and rising mainstream buzz rather than traditional league pitches, according to Network Director of Programming Geoff Dyer.

Speaking on The Moneyball podcast, Dyer detailed how the commercial and broadcast partnership underscores Nine’s evolution away from simple content acquisition toward collaborative, long-term sports property investment designed to scale the game’s broader commercial ecosystem.

Under the broadcast framework, Nine delivers two live and free games every Saturday across the 9Network and 9Now, complemented by comprehensive digital coverage.

Dyer emphasised that basketball’s positioning as both an electrifying live venue experience and a fast-paced, non-stop television product made it an ideal asset for Nine’s year-round sports portfolio.

“The NBL really kind of came onto our radar just based off the growth that it’s had. I mean, we could see it in the ratings that it was getting,” Dyer said.

Highlighting the narrowing performance gap between the NBL and the NBA, Dyer added pointinig to elite international talent attraction and the league’s renowned Next Stars pathway as critical commercial drivers enhancing the product’s appeal to mainstream Australian audiences and advertisers alike.

Furthermore, the partnership has unlocked internal advocacy across Nine’s business infrastructure.

“When we announced the NBL, the broad kind of outpour of support from people in our business, from hosts, from talent, was overwhelming.

“We’re going to encourage them to become NBL spokespeople, to be telling the story of the game,” Dyer noted.

Crucially, Nine’s evaluation of success extends beyond traditional television ratings to encompass holistic ecosystem growth, including stadium attendances, club memberships, and digital interactions.

“So for us, in any of the conversations that we had with the NBL, which is a wonderful organisation … if the objective between us was to grow the game, there was never ‘well, it’s that we can’t do that, that’s a bad idea.

“It’s like, ‘do we think that’ll grow the game? Okay, well let’s see if there’s a way that we can do that’, because all of the other success will follow if we can just grow the game.

“So that is what success looks like to us,” Dyer explained.

Reiterating the shift in modern sports broadcasting, Dyer concluded that content acquisitions are obsolete.

“Much more as a partnership. 100 per cent.”

“I don’t think there are any sports that we just acquire anymore. Everything is a partnership,” he stated. 

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