CHICAGO - Now officially for sale and valued at more or less P100 million, according to sources, there is considerable interest in buying the Alaska Aces.
Alaska team governor Dickie Bachmann told me he has received "a couple of messages" from interested parties.
Make that three, the PBA revealed this morning.
But there is only one company that will help invigorate a league that is pockmarked with controversies and reeling from fan discord over one-sided trades favoring the powerful teams.
Chooks-To-Go.
It only makes perfect sense,
The chicken giant has the money, willing and eager to spend bundles of it.
With its solid roots in the basketball community, both local and international. Chooks also has the infrastructure and the marketing mettle to maintain a competitive team.
Although he is not necessarily beloved by several members of the PBA board, I am told, Chooks owner Ronald Mascarinas will bring a jolt of life to the league.
TO BORROW THE WORDS OF FRED UYTENGSU, "FOR THE PBA TO SURVIVE IT MUST THINK LEAGUE-FIRST."
Which means the PBA needs to embrace Mascarinas now and sweep the personal vendettas under the stained rug.
Unlike other potential corporate buyers who only want to join the PBA for its branding and have little interest in winning, Chooks will unhinge the PBA doors upon entering, guns ablaze and ready to collect titles. .
With their financial might, Chooks will add fun and excitement and make the league look a lot less like an SMC-MVP group intramurals.
Coach Aldin Ayo versus the rest of the world, who doesn't want that?
Sadly, Chooks in the PBA is likely a no-go.
Cold as a cadaver
Per the league's charter, a new member must be a non-competitor, which raises a red flag because Magnolia also peddles chicken.
Besides, Mascarinas' relationship with the MVP group is said to be as cold as a cadaver. There is a lot of spilled sauce and bad blood there that traces back years.
So yeah, Chooks needs a Hail Mary to get that 2/3 vote from the board to consummate the purchase, assuming Chooks does puts in a bid.
SHORT NOTICE. During his tenure as PBA commissioner, Noli Eala told me that teams who want to sell their franchise must give the league "a two-conference notice."
Alaska's notice was made at the tail end of this conference, which apparently shocked the PBA into calling an emergency board meeting.
What happened here Kume Marcial?
Has the rule on notices of sales changed? Or, do you just get told what owners want to do and when to do it?
Given this development, shouldn't you issue a moratorium on trades immediately so that the big teams won't poach the talents still toiling at Alaska?
Just curious.
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