British Basketball League - Media Coverage

Media Coverage

Basketball receives little national media coverage in the United Kingdom. Some national newspapers list results and occasionally provide short summaries of the League's news but more extensive coverage remains minimal. There was a small surge in interest during the 2005-06 season when many national newspapers such as The Sun reported that former NBA player Dennis Rodman had signed for Brighton Bears only weeks after being evicted from Celebrity Big Brother. Coverage from the local newspapers in cities where BBL clubs are based is more extensive with publications such as The Plymouth Herald, Manchester Evening News, Leicester Mercury, Newcastle Chronicle and the Chester Chronicle all having dedicated basketball reporters who cover the respective local team.

British Basketball League matches are currently televised on Sky Sports throughout the season, with either delayed coverage or live games screened each week. The League agreed a broadcast rights deal with Sky Sports in October 2010, marking the return of BBL action on Sky Sports after a 9-year gap. The history of television coverage of the BBL is extremely minimal and sporadic however. During the 2007-08 season international broadcaster Setanta Sports screened one live game a week on Setanta Sports 2. In 2006, League officials signed a £2.5 million broadcasting rights agreement with MKTV to provide coverage of 40 live games per season. However only two matches were screened and the deal eventually collapsed when the channel closed. The 2008 BBL Cup final had been broadcast live on the internet two months previously by UKTV - this was the first time since the collapse of ITV Digital in 2002 that a BBL match was broadcast live. Previously the League also enjoyed coverage from Channel 4 in the 1980s and Sky Sports from 1995 to 2001, where audiences peaked at around 150,000.