That's the message from Sydney Spirit CEO Steve Aquilina in response to poor crowd figures so far this season.

Just 1322 people went along to the AIS Arena on Saturday night to see the Spirit defeat the Adelaide 36ers 112-105.

Despite being happy with his team's win, Aquilina said the small crowd figure was not helped by a lack of promotion from the league.

''It would be nice if the NBL were out there letting people know that the season was actually under way,'' he said.

''If you weren't a hardened basketball fan you probably wouldn't know that the season had even started.''

Aquilina said the timing of the Spirit's Canberra visit was not ideal.

Floriade and the AFL and NRL finals had contributed to the small crowd, he said.

''It probably wasn't the ideal time to have the game,'' he said.

''There were several reasons for it [the small crowd]. The game is suffering from a lack of exposure overall.''

Spirit coach Rob Beveridge, who still lives in Canberra, said an unstable off-season left the Spirit with no choice but to play the game last weekend.

''The draw actually changed seven times [during the off-season],'' he said. ''We had initially planned to have a double-header in October with the Capitals. But this was the only weekend available.''

Aquili na said the Spirit's Canberra experiment was a success, despite the small crowd.

''You're always happy to get a win,'' he said. ''The feeling overall was good. We left with a good taste in our mouth, that's for sure.''

Saturday's game was the only chance for Canberra's basketball fans to get a taste of live NBL action this season.