Televised on Network Ten's new digital multi-channel One HD in April 2010, the Foot Locker Elite Classic – High Stakes Hoops (HSH) was a one-off made-for-television event. Highlighting an intersection between media policy decisions, fan culture and sports media, this basketball tournament is an unlikely source of insight into the contemporary media marketplace. The event was born out of changing television industry conditions. It served the mutual dependencies of a media-starved sport in Australia – basketball – and a brand new commercial network digital multi-channel, One HD, that required extensive content to fill its 24-hour, seven-day-a-week schedule. One HD was launched by Network Ten in 2009, and competes with the specialist pay television provider Fox Sports. This article argues that it was knowledge of these broader television market conditions that significantly informed the staging and collective meaning of HSH for many fans, rather than just the quality of the play or the teams taking part. Media sport market literacy – discussion about the business and strategic value of television and media coverage – is now an under-acknowledged but important part of fan discussion.
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