Rosy PBA season 48 seen

MANILA, Philippines — PBA officials look to ride the momentum of a successful Season 47 as they roll out the pro league’s new season on Nov. 5, pitting Magnolia and TNT in a lone opening match.

Coming off a full calendar of three conferences highlighted by a record crowd of 54,589, a major boost in revenues, updated rules that led to a new all-time high in rookie draft applicants, and of course, Gilas Pilipinas’ Asian Games gold medal, the PBA sees a rosy picture ahead.

“Our overarching battlecry is: Let’s bring the PBA back to normal,” PBA chairman Ricky Vargas said in a well-attended press launch yesterday at Diamond Hotel.

“Back to three conferences, back to being able to reinvigorate the PBA, reach areas outside Metro Manila again and get to where we were pre-pandemic. That’s what we want moving forward.”

With the banner season, Vargas reported that the league’s revenue growth is “nearing pre-pandemic levels.”

The famous triumph by the PBA-formed Gilas team in Hangzhou adds to the excitement for Season 48, which will feature a marquee group of newbies led by top pick Stephen Holt and a new channel – A2Z – to air the games live.

“The year ended by us taking the challenge of building a hastily-formed team and we came home with the gold. The PBA is now the gold standard of basketball in the Philippines, that’s what I think. But more importantly, we’re the best in Asia for the next four years,” said Vargas.

TV5 president Guido Zaballero said the league’s long-time broadcast partner has entered into a blocktime/content supply agreement with Zoe TV and ABS-CBN for a dedicated airing of PBA’s Wednesday, Friday and Sunday games, which for this season will have a 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. timeslot on weekdays and 3 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. slates on weekends. The games will still be seen on Pilipinas Live, Cignal TV’s newest streaming platform, and on PBA Rush.