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    Noli Eala says expansion the answer to PBA sister teams dilemma

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    Mar 14, 2022
    Noli Eala gives ideas on the changes he would make if he were still PBA commissioner.

    HE may be far removed from his days as PBA commissioner, but Noli Eala remains very much in touch with what the country’s premier basketball league needs to do to thrive in the digital age.

    Noli Eala on changes in PBA

    Answering a fan's question during his SPIN Zoom In guesting, asking him what changes he would make if he were PBA commissioner now, Eala, who served as PBA chief from 2003 to 2007, believes the league must become more reachable to fans by basically going regional.

    “I would make it a global game. I would improve the platforms of delivery,” Eala said, citing the NBA model where you can watch a handful of games at a time online through the NBA League Pass app. “So if you can do that with technology, you don’t have to play one game in one venue. You can start playing in several venues para ang PBA mapalapit sa tao.”

    “You can play a game simultaneously in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, and in Araneta (Coliseum). Mamimili ngayon yung tao kung saan sila manonood,” he added. “Iba na kasi yung mundo natin, ‘di ba? Lahat tayo nanonood sa telepono, sa gadget, ‘di ba? So now, you’re able to reach more people.”

    “That, to me, is leverage of technology and I do not see that in the PBA [today],” he continued. “We’re still the same schedule: double-header, minsan triple-header, same format, same venue.”

    PBA fans live crowd audience Ginebra vs NorthPort

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    The PBA, though, has started to make efforts to reach more fans online by airing its games live on social media and a few smartphone apps. But the league follows practically the same schedule and format.

    “With all due to respect to all of them, if you do the same thing, the same thing, the same thing all over again, ang inaasahan mo lang pumasok ang Ginebra, ‘di ba?” Eala said. “Yun ang masakit na nangyayari: aasahan mo pumasok ang Ginebra, pumasok ang San Miguel, Talk ‘N Text, Magnolia, and then you have a blockbuster semifinals.”

    “Pero pag hindi pumasok yun, magiging problema yan ng PBA. I’m being very honest,” he added. “I really think it’s time to leverage on technology to be able to capture a bigger market and to provide the fans more entertainment.”

    Eala, the PBA's sixth commissioner, also touched on the controversial topic of sister teams – or how to decrease the influence of such.

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    “I agree with expansion – ang daming talent ng PBA, but also for me, expansion means dilution of sister companies,” Eala said. “That’s another thing I’ve always espoused. Parang korporasyon lang po yan eh: if you have 12 votes, at kalahati nun belongs to two companies, if you have 15 votes at anim pa rin yun, now you’re six over 15 – na-dilute yung kanilang voting power.”

    Eala, a lawyer who once also served as San Miguel Corp sports director, believes expansion is the “corporate” and “legal” solution against sister teams.

    “If the conglomerates don’t want to stop yung kanilang three teams, then add more teams,” he said. “Para yung kanilang influence in the league is lessened.”

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      Eala, though, insisted his days as a basketball official are over, and he’s broaching all of his ideas as a fan who loves basketball.

      “Marami yan. Many ideas that can be studied by the PBA just so yung parity, yung unpredictability, yung reach to the fans, and, of course, yung delivery platforms natin can be improved,” Eala concluded.

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