Bullets’ clash with Hawks a smash hit on social media
The NBL’s decision to live stream games on social media is already paying dividends with the Bullets’ win over the Hawks racking up views on Facebook and Twitter.
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Brisbane’s Round 1 triumph over LaMelo Ball and the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday was the most watched match in NBL history, with more than one million people in the US watching the live stream of the game on Facebook.
The NBL is streaming a selection of games during the 2019-20 season live on Facebook Watch, via the NBL Facebook page, and they tuned in on-masse to see the high-profile and much-hyped Ball play his first game in Australia as part of the Next Stars program.
The program is designed to help young guns in the US prepare for the NBA and the eyes of the basketball world are on Australia as a result.
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Video of Ball’s two crossover dribbles that forced Bullets import Taylor Braun to slip twice on the WIN Entertainment Centre floor has had almost 2.5 million views on Twitter.
And the NBL’s Instagram account enjoyed 4.5 million impressions across the opening round.
NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman said the huge numbers confirm the competition’s ever-growing global status behind the NBA.
“There is obviously a lot of interest in LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton (NZ Breakers) ahead of next year’s NBA draft, but also the NBL and basketball here more broadly,” Kestelman said.
“Our games are being broadcast to a potential reach of 130 million people across the world including the US, Europe and Asia, but our numbers are also exploding across all social media platforms.
“As a global sport and entertainment product we are in a unique position to capitalise on this as we continue to grow the league both here and around the world in the years to come.”
Round 1 of the 2019-20 season also saw the highest average crowd per game in the 42-season history of the NBL.
Round 2 tips off with the Sunshine Stoush between the Brisbane Bullets and Cairns Taipans at the QSNC on Friday night.
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