MBA plans new life

The Metropolitan Basketball Association is scouting around for a new home. It’s not entirely sure that the regional basketball league will still be broadcast by industry leader ABS-CBN next season.

The reasoning behind this development is very simple: the economic situation, currently exacerbated by global terrorism and attacks on Afghanistan, was bad enough to begin with. It became difficult to meet certain revenue targets planned in more optimistic settings. In short, the league needs to make more money.

There’s really nobody to be blamed. It was more economically viable for ABS-CBN’s Studio 23 to carry its own programming instead of the MBA games, for the simple reason that the network’s premium channel has boomed. It has found its market, and, naturally, would rather program according to its audience. Hence, the UAAP coverage, which jibes more with its chosen audience, has become a very appealing project.

But there is nothing to worry about for the MBA. The league is taking its destiny into its own hands. According to business development manager Ramon Tuason, if they still end up buying airtime on Studio 23 (their games are now being carried by NBN 4), great. If not, they have other options.

The only constraint, which has also been a hurdle for other major sports block-timers (buyers of airtime on major networks) like Vintage and Silverstar, has been the volume of airtime needed: a total of 15 hours a week. For any network, taking that on may mean giving up too much. Add the possibility of games going into overtime, and the network stands to risk having other programs run over.

Nevertheless, aside from finding ways to increase revenue, the MBA is also coming up with creative means to cut costs. The biggest of these is the fantastic amount being spent on travel. The league is studying having a full conference in Luzon, mostly Metro Manila, to cut down on expenses. Travel to the south will be kept minimal during this phase.

"Anyway, we need to strengthen our base here in Metro Manila," Tuason explains. "We are already strong in the south, and most of the advertising decision-makers are here in the north."

Another possibility is broadcasting only twice a week. The league spends hundreds of thousands every broadcast day, so it becomes exceedingly difficult to maintain having a full broadcast three days a week.

This option will also make it more palatable for networks like RPN 9 or NBN to carry the games live. A third possibility is to have one game live and one game delayed, as the PBA once did.

A more immediate concern for the league’s marketability is improving competitiveness. Competition in the Northern Conference is quite strong, with Andok’s San Juan, LBC Batangas and FedEx Laguna at .500 or over. Nueva Ecija, meanwhile, is gamely trying to catch up. In the Southern Conference, Negros and Cebuana Lhuillier are shoo-ins for the next round. Socsargen-Taguig has only won one game, while TPG-Davao is still hoping for its first victory. If the competition is balanced, ratings will go up. And, as Davao proved in years’ past, it does not take superstars to have a fighting team. There are feelers from other provinces to join the league, so the possibility of expansion looms despite the bleak economic picture.

One more concession the MBA has made to the times is having corporate backers built into the team names. As of now, The Nueva Ecija Patriots, Negros Slashers and Socsargen-Taguig Marlins are still looking for their sponsors to help defray costs.

Given all these options, the MBA feels it will become more economically sustainable in the next year, regardless of which network will carry its games. The name of the game now is staying alive, and league feels it’s very close to finding the right formula for now.

Tomorrow has enough challenges of its on.