Following the recent announcement that the average NBL attendance at regular season games had grown for the third straight season, Basketball Australia has announced that crowds for the NBL Finals series has more than doubled last season’s numbers.

All three games of the recent NBL Grand Final series between the New Zealand Breakers and Perth Wildcats were total sell-outs, while 54,696 people flocked to see the nine NBL Finals games at an average of over 6,000 people at each game.

That is more than twice the total number of fans that attended the 2011 NBL Finals series, when 26,066 people tasted the post-season action.

Basketball Australia Chairman Kristina Keneally said the huge crowds at the Finals helped cap off what was an immensely successful 2011/12 campaign.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better way to finish the season than with three amazingly close and emotional games of basketball played before capacity crowds in Auckland and Perth,” said Ms. Keneally.

“The atmosphere at the games was simply phenomenal and I have no doubt we will have converted lots of people who were previously just casual fans into ardent supporters through the course of the Grand Final series.

“This season we have once again seen significant growth across the board for the NBL in all major key performance areas.” Ms. Keneally added.  “That is a terrific indicator of the buoyant health of the league and sets us up perfectly to capitalise on that growth next season.

We have already renegotiated an improved TV contract with our Australian broadcast partner TEN through the 2014/15 season and the majority of our major corporate partners are already confirmed in long-term agreements.   It is a truly exciting time for the NBL and we have good reason for optimism.”

Image: nbl.com.au