PBA wants old sked in Commissioner’s Cup

Feeling a big drop in revenues despite the success of the Governors’ Cup title series, the Philippine Basketball Association has considered reverting to the old schedule starting with the Commissioner’s Cup which unfolds June 16.

After having adopted a four-day-a-week, six-game schedule, PBA officials said the league suffered greatly, as the Tuesday and Thursday schedules that only had one game offerings dragged down the total of overall attendance by close to 10 percent compared to the All-Filipino last year.

"The Commissioner simply feels that a one-game offering is not enough for the Filipino fan. Going to a venue after paying for your transportation and food to watch just one game makes the average fan feel short-changed," said a league official. "Commissioner (Jun) Bernardino shares that view, and he is strongly batting for the return of the old calendar."

During this same period last year, the PBA attracted an average of 6,326 people during live games, a good enough figure considering the hard economic times.

The early part of the Governors Cup saw tickets sales dwindle to alarming proportions, and the league was saved from total humiliation only when the playoffs – especially the semifinals — came.

Bernardino has, according to sources, already written Viva-Vintage regarding the change in schedule, citing, among other things, the dip in sales and the numerous personal requests and phone calls he has been receiving at the PBA offices from fans.

Viva Vintage, it appears, favors the old schedule and has no plans of going back to the old schedule until after this season because of its airtime schedule.

Bernardino’s wish of reverting back to the old schedule saw justification late in the tournament, as close to 7,000 fans watched the games live in each of the five games of the Final Four at the PhilSports Arena, the Cuneta Astrodome and the Big Dome.

The reason being is that the league played Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays in the semifinals and all playdates offered two games, something which caught the fancy of the fans most especially at this day and age when money they pay is harder to come by.

In the Finals, an average of 8,214 fans trooped to the Araneta Coliseum to see that games live, capped by that astronomical figure that witnessed a classic Game 7. Receipts for that game totaled P1,728,720, contributing immensely to the P8,398,045 take for the whole series.