
Super League Basketball: Sustainability and consistency in focus as new league shares broadcast plans By Jo Ruddock
Friday, October 4, 2024 - 10:08
Print This Story
Following the demise of the British Basketball League (BBL) in the summer, the all-new Super League Basketball (SLB) tipped off last week (27 September) with the aim of being a more sustainable league that will help the sport to develop in the UK.
Nine clubs are competing in the inaugural season - the Bristol Flyers, Caledonia Gladiators, Cheshire Phoenix, Leicester Riders, London Lions, Manchester Basketball, Newcastle Eagles, Sheffield Sharks, and the Surrey 89ers - which culminates in the Play-offs in May next year. These clubs wholly own the league and, after the BBL, whose largest shareholder was an external investor, had its licence terminated over concerns around its financial position, the focus is very much on ensuring they are financially stable and able to help grow the sport.
Speaking ahead of the first Trophy games on Friday 27 September, Lisa Knights, CEO, Bristol Flyers, explains: At the end of the day, an elite pro league is nothing without the clubs and if you don't have a licence to play, then you can't do your business. That was the starting point for the league, and what I've been most impressed by and what I've witnessed since I've been part of SLB, is how united all the clubs are. They all came together and said, right, how do we work?'
The BBL's licence was revoked at the conclusion of last season, meaning clubs had a matter of weeks to form a new league to be ready in time for a September start.
We officially started the league when we won the interim licence from the British Basketball Federation, and [BBF chair] Chris Grant did a sterling job in terms of making that decision; he acted swiftly and always said that without the clubs there is no league. The fact that all the clubs pulled together emphasised that. I think his main driver was, there's X number of weeks before the start of a season, and clubs are going to need time to get a new season up and running. So the starting point was winning the interim licence and then the next thing was right, what are we going to call ourselves' and Super League Basketball came about. We launched the logo, and everyone seemed to like it. It is a new dawn, a new era, and the choice and the colourways reflect that.
From commercial partnerships and fixtures to new club ownerships and production planning, there's been a lot to work though for the SLB team in the past few months.
Knights adds: One of the things that everyone was keen on was growing a financially sustainable league and what has been really interesting is the new ownerships that have come into the league as well. There have been some big changes with teams like Sheffield, Cheshire, Manchester and London all having new ownership. Three of those with US principal owners, and London with European, all coming from very credible, strong and sustainably financial backgrounds. It's been great for the new league to have this kind of investment into clubs and have them sit alongside the likes of the Lansdown family [who own Bristol Flyers], and the Timoney's at Caledonia Gladiators - both of whom were, prior to that, the most significant investors into the professional league.
We wanted to deliver a consistent level of good coverage, but to also do it in a sustainable way, because we all know broadcast isn't cheap. Being able to announce DAZN as our partner was a massive part of that
In terms of partnerships, the big news recently was DAZN acquiring exclusive global broadcasting rights to the league, meaning all men's games will be aired for free to audiences worldwide. In total more than 200 games across the Trophy, League, Cup and Play-offs will be broadcast live.
The broadcast deal that we've done is important because sitting on DAZN you've got the American audience, because they've got the NFL rights, they've got the boxing rights, that's great, but we've signed just as France's National Basketball League (LNB) lite announced that it is also partnering with DAZN. So you've got the Italian and the French elite men's basketball leagues, plus DAZN being the home of FIBA live streaming with its Courtside 1891 offering and us all sitting alongside each other with this great basketball content all in one place. It's about building that centralised home for basketball and being able to talk to an already bought-in audience. It's tapping into that wider audience of basketball fans in Europe as well as globally.
SLB has also announced a production partnership with EMG / Gravity Media and Brandvox. While Brandvox will handle the majority of the live game coverage, EMG / Gravity Media will look after around a quarter of the games and the league's video on-demand content.
Brandvox were looking after the league from a streaming perspective a few years ago and they're really well respected in that space in terms of being really nimble and agile. They're one of the smaller OBs and it helps that they're all basketball fans. They really wanted to work with us and develop the best offering for fans, Knights adds.
I'm also really pleased SLB is going to have its own half-hour highlights show, produced by EMG / Gravity Media, which will launch towards the end of the month, as the Trophy competition finishes and we go into the league proper. I've worked with EMG / Gravity Media through my connection with Bristol City, and was familiar with how they've approached that, in terms of producing the Women's Football Show for the Barclays Women's Super League. I'm excited to see this be developed and for fans to be able to watch an SLB show in one consistent place
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
07/05/2026
January 8, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), a leader in high-performance, on-s...
07/05/2026
February 9, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning pioneer i...
07/05/2026
March 20, 2024
NAB 2024, Las Vegas - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-awa...
07/05/2026
April 1, 2025
CINEMACON, APRIL 1, 2025 - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming syste...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), an Academy and Emmy Award-winning de...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront participated in the ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Held at The Phenomena Experience, the event feat...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Passion and dedication will take you places. Come with us on a short trip to the heart of India, where Annapurna Studios is living-up to the inspi...
07/05/2026
July 3, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
September 1, 2025
IBC 2025, Amsterdam - Colorfront (colorfront.com) - the Acade...
07/05/2026
April 17, 2026
LOS ANGELES - April 17, 2026 - Colorfront today announced Colorf...
07/05/2026
April 23, 2026
NAB 2026, Las Vegas - the Academy and Emmy Award-winning develop...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects
Graham Quince May 6, 2026
0 Comments
The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...
06/05/2026
Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...
06/05/2026
A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...
06/05/2026
Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...
06/05/2026
Peacock is going all-in on the beautiful game - streaming all 104 FIFA World Cup...
06/05/2026
New pricing tiers for vocal/dialogue restoration tool
NoiseWorks Audio's AI-powered vocal and dialogue processing plug-in is now available in three diff...
06/05/2026
Popular mixing & routing software overhauled
Following a recent public beta test, RME have launched the final release version of the powerful mixing and rou...
06/05/2026
New SOS Video Feature
Focusrites ISA C8X is a milestone product that brings together the companys analogue heritage and their expertise in digital audio. Yo...
06/05/2026
Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...
06/05/2026
For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...
06/05/2026
ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing
Brie Clayton May 6, 2026
0 Comments
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a nove...
06/05/2026
Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Med...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI assiste...
06/05/2026
SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, is proud to launch a dramatic new approach to AI content creati...
06/05/2026
When the broadband and media industry gathers at ANGA COM in Cologne from May 19 to 21, Big Blue Marble will be at the forefront. The international broadcast an...
06/05/2026
Cinegy GmbH, a leading developer of software-defined television technology, is proud to exhibit at MPTS for the first time. Visitors to the stand will discover ...
06/05/2026
Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award Jeanty, a composer, percussionist, and turntablist, is the fourth Berklee recipient of the prestigious award ...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin for RF failure in live broadcast. As Chi...
06/05/2026
Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...
06/05/2026
06 May 2026
VEON's Kyivstar Authorized to Resell Starlink for Businesses & ...
06/05/2026
UKTV has secured the exclusive rights to the early back catalogue of iconic Australian drama series Neighbours, following a landmark content deal with Fremantle...
06/05/2026
Wednesday 6 May 2026
Sky commissions feature documentary to mark 10th anniversa...
06/05/2026
Wednesday 6 May 2026
Sky and Formula 1 agree long-term partnership across UK, Ireland and Italy
Sky in the UK & Ireland to remain the home of Formula 1 until ...