RUMOR: Tickets for the seats behind the bench of the two teams seeing action in the NBA preseason game at the Mall of Asia Arena on October 10, as well as other special ringside seats, will be sold at P50,000 each.
FACTS: The NBA's highest official in the Philippines said ticket prices for the historic preseason game between the Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers have yet to be set amid reports on social networking sites that tickets for the so-called 'Jack Nicholson' seats could go as high as P50,000.
The reports, which first surfaced on Twitter and came from people who are related to the family of SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy, said spots behind the bench of the two NBA games as well as other choice seats at ringside will cost P50,000.
The sources said the information came from Sy himself.
However, Carlo Singson, NBA Asia country manager for the Philippines, was quick to dismiss the reports as ""theories and mere speculations,"" pointing out that organizers of the first NBA preseason game in the Philippines have yet to finalize details of the historic event.
“We haven’t released any information on the ticket pricing, in fact, this hasn’t been set yet,” Singson told Spin.ph. “So all of those statements are theories and merely speculations.""
""I am not confirming anything yet, because we haven't determined (the ticket prices) yet,"" he added.
Since the official announcement of the October 10 game was made in an elaborate press conference on Tuesday, fans have aired fears that the tickets may be 'ridiculously priced.'
Singson also pointed out the huge expenses involved in undertaking the project. Transporting the two teams and their large entourage as well as the NBA staff who will run the game will already cost a fortune, he added.
But Singson said NBA Asia is now working closely with Sy's group to make the prices as reasonable as possible.
“We’re gonna set it at, uhm, we’re gonna get a lot of SM inputs, obviously they’re experts at putting on local shows here, they’ve had concerts and events at the MOA Arena,” added Singson.
“So we would rely on them also, and come up with a ticket pricing strategy that would work for this market,” he explained. “Right now, I cannot confirm any numbers because we have not set the ticket pricing yet.""
In the US, tickets to the March 27 regular season game between the Rockets and Pacers in Houston are valued at less than US$500 (around P20,000) for patron seats and US$15 (P610) for general admission. The same prices applied when Indiana hosted the Rockets last January 18.
However, tickets to the NBA Finals can go as high as US$9,000.
Still, well-known import agent Sheryl Reyes said the rumored ticket prices are according to NBA standards.
“Sa States that’s the price eh. It’s the way the league charges, for sure (yung P50,000 na ticket) courtside na yun. Mahal talaga ang tickets dun tapos dadalhin pa rito yung mga players, added cost yun,” Reyes said.
Reyes said tickets to the NBA Ultimate All Star Weekend sponsored by basketball patron Manny V. Pangilinan were priced much lower, at less than P6,000 for patron seats, because the one-off exhibition matches happened during the NBA lockout and therefore did not involve the league in the negotiations.
“Eh kasi lock-out nun, kaya hindi involved ang NBA,"" she said.
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