The Throwdown sell-out was the biggest ever attendance for an NBL season opener and the highest attendance for a team on its debut. The highest attendance for the round came on Saturday, with 12,503 fans packing into RAC Arena to watch the Perth Wildcats begin their championship defence with a win over Melbourne.
An average crowd of 7,712 attended the four games in round one, the highest ever average attendance for an opening round in the NBL’s 42 season history and a 10 per cent increase on the average attendance for the same round last season.
In another sign of the NBL’s competitiveness, round one was the first time since 1988 the first four games of a season have all been decided by single figures.
NBL Chief Operating Officer Andy Crook said: “We were thrilled to see the fans come out in force for the opening round of the 2019-20 NBL season.
"The standard of the NBL has never been higher, both from a basketball and entertainment perspective, and we are delighted to see our fans enjoying what's set to be the biggest season yet.
“Our new broadcast partners SBS and ESPN also enjoyed a strong start to the season with high engagement across all platforms.”
Round two of the NBL season tips off this Friday October 11. Highlights in round two include the Brisbane Bullets’ first game at their new home venue, QSNC, the Sydney Kings’ first home game of the season at Qudos Bank Arena and South East Melbourne’s first ever home game at Melbourne Arena.
WATCH the entire 2019-20 NBL season for FREE with all 126 games LIVE via SBS on Demand, and 67 games broadcast LIVE, FREE and in HD on SBS VICELAND.
Wednesday 9th October
11:00-13:30 AEDT
NBL vs NBA Basketball – NZ Breakers v Memphis Grizzlies
Streaming to SBS On Demand
Friday 11th October
11:00-13:30 AEDT
NBL vs NBA Basketball – NZ Breakers v OKC Thunder
Streaming to SBS On Demand
Friday 11th October
19:30-21:30 AEDT
NBL Basketball Round 2 – Brisbane Bullets v Cairns Taipans
Streaming to SBS On Demand
Friday 11th October
21:30-23:30 AEDT
NBL Basketball Round 2 – Perth Wildcats v Illawarra Hawks
Streaming to SBS On Demand
Saturday 12th October
17:30 – 19:30 AEDT
NBL Basketball Round 2 – Sydney Kings v Adelaide 36ers
SBS VICELAND / Streaming to SBS On Demand
Sunday 13th October
15:00 – 17:00 AEDT
NBL Basketball Round 2 – South East Melbourne Phoenix v Brisbane Bullets
SBS VICELAND / Streaming to SBS On Demand
Monday 14th October
06:30-09:00 AEDT
NBL v NBA Basketball – Melbourne United v LA Clippers
Streaming to SBS On Demand
Monday 14th October
19:30-21:30 AEDT
NBL Basketball Round 2 – Illawarra Hawks v Cairns Taipans
Streaming to SBS On Demand
