BBL set for Sky return

The British Basketball League is set to agree a deal with Sky Sports that would see the game return to the satellite broadcaster after a decade’s absence.

Talks have reached a final stage on a tie-up that would likely see a weekly game screened from the BBL, starting in the New Year.

Although the funds are not yet finalised to finance the costs, an agreement - backed by a meeting of the league’s board on Monday - is understood to have been reached with a production company with final confirmation of the move expected “within days”.

“The only thing that would delay it would be scheduling,” said the league’s chairman, Paul Blake. “Our anticipation is that something will come off for the back end of the season. Our pitch has been for the last ten weeks of the campaign.”

The BBL has had short-lived deals with the ill-fated ITV Digital and Setanta since departing Sky, a move seen as pivotal in the league’s decline in recent years. The proposed link-up would likely see recorded extended highlights due to logistical difficulties in moving fixtures to mid-week for live transmission.

“It causes major problems from a venue point of view,” Blake confirmed.

The league is also set to relaunch its website in the next week after the two companies involved in a planned summer revamp went into administration.