Philstar.com, PBA forge three-year deal

MANILA, Philippines - Philstar.com, the online arm of the STAR Group of Publications, has entered into an exclusive agreement with the Philippine Basketball Association to stream PBA games live on www.philstar.com.

Under the deal, philstar.com will stream PBA games live up to 2013. This period covers the 36th, 37th and 38th PBA seasons.

Philstar.com can also stream the games on a replay basis. The top news website has actually started airing PBA Commissioner’s Cup games, including the All-Star weekend last month, attracting approximately 700,000 viewers.

“We’re very happy with the performance of our live-streaming partnership with philstar.com. This turned out to be a great help to our countrymen, especially our OFWs in the Middle East and the US who really want to follow PBA games,” said PBA commissioner Chito Salud during last Monday’s contract signing at the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City.

“We decided to partner with philstar.com to make PBA games accessible to people on the go and those who are either stuck in their office or on the road wanting to see the games live and in real time,” he said.

Salud was accompanied by Rhose Montreal, PBA Licensing and Special Projects manager. Representing philstar.com in the contract signing were chief operating officer Roseanne Belmonte and marketing manager Joanne Llavore.

“By entering into a license agreement with the PBA, we strengthen our already rich sports section by giving our readers, especially those outside the Philippines, a chance to experience the game. This is another way of uniting the Filipino Global Community,” Belmonte said.

Log on to www.philstar.com/PbaLive during PBA game days and find the PBA microsite to access the live stream of the ongoing PBA Governors Cup. Viewing is free.