WHEN Cignal’s Sienna Olaso announced that the PBA remains the sports channel’s top audience driver, way ahead of the fast-rising Premier Volleyball League, and the ever-popular UAAP – not many fans were convinced.
Often the butt of jokes in the online world for its live gate attendance – or lack thereof – eyebrows were raised when new data showed the Asia’s oldest pay-for-play basketball league tripled the viewership of the PVL on average, as per Nielsen.
But this comes to no surprise as, for all its faults, the league has kept deep-rooted ties to Filipino society in general.
READ PBA ratings 5 times bigger than UAAP's, 3 times larger than PVL's, says Cignal
One look at jeepney and tricycle terminals with televisions, there’s a big chance that the PBA is on screen if it’s airing live. Same goes with barbershops, sari-sari stores, and every other shared space that an everyday Filipino will walk through.
For some households, the PBA remains front and center during dinners, and whether that stemmed out of pure interest or just mere habir, it only proves that the ties that were created from the league’s golden days remain strong to this day.
But strong doesn’t mean unseverable.
Sure, live gate attendance may not necessarily affect the viewership overall, but it’s still a telling sign on the state of the league in general.
And while I’ve always believed that the online world is a bubble, it’s a voice that shouldn’t be ignored as well – as they play a big role in either bringing back the fans or driving them away. For good.
Continuing to have eyeballs on their product is certainly crucial, but it doesn’t give the PBA the excuse to rest on their laurels and just continue to hark back to its past and ride the wave of popularity of the league’s heyday.
To be fair, PBA board chairman Ricky Vargas acknowledged the issue in the same interview with Spin’s Gerry Ramos
“While this is good news for us, we’d like to convert it and bring it to the venues,” he said.
“The idea is how to convert this million views to people who can come and watch the game. That’s the challenge and that’s the discussion that’s going on in this board."
One big step forward
Acknowledgement is always a start, but the hardest part will always be finding solutions to a problem that may look like a mere attendance issue on the surface, but has deep-rooted issues of mistrust among this country’s die-hard basketball audience and the league.
But if there’s a perfect time to win the hearts of the fans back, now would be as good a time as any.
The league is coming off one of the best PBA finals match-ups in recent history as Meralco won its maiden league title against San Miguel, no less, in a nail-biting six-game series which ended with a Chris Newsome game winner.
Not only did the series give fans one exciting game after another, the Bolts winning the title was also a breath of fresh air in a league that has seen the likes of San Miguel, Ginebra and TNT dominate over the years.
The new champion team still comes from a major block as Meralco is still under the MVP Group umbrella, but hey it’s a start right?
Then we put in the strong showing of a primarily-PBA backed Gilas Pilipinas team in the FIBA OQT right after, then the league is certainly rolling.
With Ginebra’s Tim Cone at the helm, and some of the league’s biggest stars in Newsome, Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez and Calvin Oftana shining in Latvia, the PBA was at the forefront of good news once more.
Critical miss
Unfortunately, that goodwill among fans was soon watered down as a blockbuster pre-draft trade saw Terrafirma – a squad that finally looked ready to compete with the league’s big boys last conference – ship their third overall pick in a package to Ginebra.
Let’s get this out of the way, I think I’m in the minority in saying that without the pick switch, this trade wouldn’t be lopsided. It might even be fair.
The Dyip will win games next season. They got probably the best player in the PBA not-named June Mar Fajardo in Christian Standhardinger. Stanley Pringle took a backseat with Ginebra’s talented backcourt, but he’s still proven that he can take over when needed.
Ginebra will get better with Stephen Holt, but at 32, it’s really not that much of a swing when it comes to age. Isaac Go’s skillset may fit Tim Cone’s system, but he’s no Standhardinger.
The problem lies in the pick trade.
Instead of getting to add a key piece to their core, Terrafirma got to pick late in the first round, while Ginebra got its hands on the tantalizing RJ Abarrientos to pair with former MVP Scottie Thompson, and be the successor to the aging LA Tenorio.
Instead of talking about the arrival of Meralco among the league's powerhouses and the intrigue surrounding the Gilas boys, the conversation once again shifted to the issue of parity entering this new season.
Once again, as the league took a big step forward, they took two steps back soon after. Sooner or later, the league’s tug-and-pull ways might just very well sever the very ties that have long linked the PBA with the FIlipinos all over the Philippines.
But for as long as there’s still eyeballs, there’s still time for the league to turn the tide. For how long though?
Well, we wouldn’t want to find out, won’t we?
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