(Ryan Withers is a BPL Citizen Journalist and a freelance writer)

The NBL begun the 2010-2011 season with more optimism than it had in recent years, returning the rejuvenated Sydney Kings to the league once more. But less than a month into the season the competition is already drowning as the Australian media continues to shun the once first class brand.

After a tumultuous few years for the competition, many felt the NBL were on their way back up the sporting ladder in this country, with new sponsors' iiNet on board, returning the game to the glamour days of basketball seemed as likely as ever. However, with events such as the Rugby League Four Nations, Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, A-League soccer, three levels of cricket and the International Rules series, the NBL has found themselves once again on the outer of the Australian sporting public.

Granted, it has been a busy year in sport, with the Delhi Commonwealth Games taking a lot of the spotlight and the AFL and NRL seasons being as good as ever, it may just be that in an overcrowded sporting landscape, basketball has found itself irrelevant. Don't get me wrong, I am an avid fan of the sport, and would love to see the local competition back in its glory days. Although with the A-League gaining so much attention from the media and cricket continuing its dominance over summer, the NBL are not being given the chance to show people what they have to offer, and what they have to offer is not good, it's great. With fast-paced games and high scoring, not many people leave a match disappointed, but there aren't many of them going at all these days.

Over the winter, it was unveiled that the league had made a deal to move the television rights from Foxtel to One HD, returning the NBL to free-to-air TV. On the surface, this appeared to be a clever move by the NBL, but without the appropriate marketing, it doesn't matter who shows the games, because if no one knows that it's on, no one will watch.

If modern sport has taught us anything, it's that the media, more than ever have the power to decide the fate of a sports lifespan.

Without the continued support of Foxtel and strong advertising campaigns, how well would the A-League have gone in its foundation years? It was obvious to see that after a weak marketing campaign leading into last season the A-League suffered severely with attendances. If people are not told about a sport, then they will not go.

I'm sure that if the NBL made the appropriate steps, shared their games between One HD and Foxtel, put up advertising across the major cities of the country that their profile would improve, but until that occurs, the game of basketball remains teetering on the edge.