PBA to go all in on social media starting Season 45

Willie Marcial: '2020 is a turnaround in other areas as well'
Feb 26, 2020

EXPECT the Philippine Basketball Association to ride the digital revolution on its 45th year, utilizing social media platforms to make up for the year-on-year downturn in gate attendance.

“There is a four percent decline in gate attendance,” said Commissioner Willie Marcial Tuesday. “Pero ang laki ng tinaas natin sa social media, nag-increase by 20 to 25 percent [ang reach]. Lahat ng tao nasa gadgets na, papunta na rin talaga kami sa digital.”

During last year's Governors’ Cup Finals, the PBA’s viewership on social media reached up to 3.5M, specifically in Game Two of the Ginebra-Meralco championship match.

The league has noted of this growing trend. And with more people watching the matches from their mobile phones, the PBA aims to seek better revenues through the growing area.

“Ang ating public audience ngayon, nagbabago na ang behavior," added PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas. "Dati sa coliseum and TV lang nanonood, pero ngayon, available na sa website and Facebook ng PBA, kaya nagkakaroon ng choices kung saan nila mapapanood.”

The PBA’s social media unit is up for this challenge.

“Our digital platfor has been already in place since 2010, and right now we’re stepping it up, still improving since mas marami na ang nagu-utilize ng social media,” Mich Flores, the PBA social media head, explained. “We make sure na before we put it out, it must be relevant, informative, and accurate. Marami ang usap-usapan na lumalabas dito [PBA], so kailangan maging [reliable source] kami para i-confirm, na sa amin manggagaling ang totoo.”

As the whole group is composed of only less than five members, a balanced combination of PR vets and digital-savvy newbies, the whole PBA is working closely to contribute to their social media reach.

“Actually, buong office nagta-trabaho ngayon for the social media, even si Commissioner. For example, may makita siyang interesting sa labas, heads up agad sa amin,” Flores shared.

With the digital age perpetually in flux, the only thing constant about their task is that they have to work double time to keep up.

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“Main goal namin is to connect and listen to the fans: ‘yung hinahanap nila, ‘yung trends, dun kami nanggagaling. Ang bida is yung players, mga stories nila, ‘yung interesting sa kanila outside basketball. Kasi, ‘yung on-court, alam na ‘yan ng mga nanonood, kaya ang focus namin is paano sila off-court,” she said.

Commissioner Marcial also said they are looking at enhancing and upgrading the PBA's YouTube presence.

"We're still working on how we can monetize and improve both YouTube and Facebook engagements. PBA is healthy and growing, we'll see better revenues in those areas," he said.

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