At the NBL's season launch held at Melbourne's Crown Entertainment Complex, Larry Kestelman announced the return of the NBL to free-to-air television thanks to a deal with Channel 9.

https://twitter.com/NBL/status/650967005747544064

UPDATE: The NBL has announced that the deal will see Nine televising an NBL game every Sunday at 3:00pm during the regular season.

Nine will also broadcast five matches during the Finals series, including the trophy-winning game, and deploy a substantial promotional package for the league across its various platforms.

Kestelman expressed his confidence in the NBL, and also posivity towards the NBL's latest partnership.

“We are very pleased to announce our partnership with the Nine Network and to welcome them into our growing family of corporate and media partners. We have a vision to make the NBL a premier sport in Australia and an unrivalled option for entertainment during the summer, and take great confidence from the fact that that Nine shares our vision,” he said.

“Our agreement provides for coverage of our Sunday afternoon games throughout the season, as well as a number of finals, and has the built-in flexibility to allow for timeslot changes from next year when the Brisbane Bullets re-join the competition and the league continues to develop.

“The new NBL offers incredible athleticism and entertainment in a dynamic atmosphere – Australians haven’t seen basketball presented to them in this way for quite a while and we are confident of its success both at the stadiums and on television."

The deal complements existing commercial arrangements with pay television's Fox Sports via Foxtel and the NBL's online broadcast platform. With all three media channels covered, the latest deal is the icing on the cake for Kestelman, whose ambitious plans to revitalise the NBL continue to go from strength to strength both on and off the court.

With the season set to commence this week, the true test of all the work put in by Kestelman and his team, all attention will now turn to the teams and the players to help back up the promise that the 2015/16 looks set to offer.