MANILA, Philippines — The UAAP is opening its doors to students to watch the action live – practically for free on Wednesdays.
Led by Season 82 host Ateneo, the UAAP board yesterday announced the massive discount labeled ‘Student Wednesdays’ in a bid to draw bigger gate attendence and the school communities more into the games.
“We want to encourage more students to watch. With social media, the games are easily accessible, but nothing beats watching the games live. Because of this, we have been trying to find ways to promote student participation,” said UAAP president Em Fernandez.
“We want to push Wednesdays, of course, class schedules permitting. So we decided to have ‘Student Wednesdays’ where they only have to pay the cost of printing a ticket to get into the playing venues,” he added.
With this, students could avail upper box and general admission tickets in both venues at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and Mall of Asia Arena for just P35.
Wednesdays will be the busiest day for the UAAP this season as it is set to feature a triple-bill for the men’s basketball matches at 10:30 a.m. , 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
It is the UAAP’s way of fast-tracking the basketball tournament to avoid any conflict with the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games set Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
‘Student Wednesdays’ will be implemented immediately beginning this Wednesday when two-time champion Ateneo begins its three-peat bid against the Adamson Falcons at 4 p.m. at the Big Dome.
Santo Tomas faces UE at 10:30 a.m. to be followed by the 12:30 p.m. collission between FEU and Season 81 runner-up UP.