Fixing the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is dying. Let’s call a spade a spade. The PBA, Asia’s first professional basketball league and the second oldest pro league in the world (next only to the NBA), is dying. You can see that in the empty stadiums, the lack of media exposure, the general lack of interest in the league’s games; except for the recent Finals series between Ginebra and that strong foreign team, the Bay Area Dragons.

So what ails the PBA? And what must be done to address them?

The biggest problem with the PBA today is the monopoly of the super teams. There are only 2 big conglomerates that have been passing the championship around in the last few years, and both have built 3 companies each in their desire to win more crowns. First, there’s San Miguel Corporation which owns the multi-titled San Miguel Beermen, the crowd faves Barangay Ginebra, and the equally talented Magnolia Hotshots. And second, we have the MVP Group of companies with the Meralco Bolts, the TNT Tropang Giga and the NLEX Road Warriors.

It has been noted that most of the other teams in the PBA have not been competing, but have instead acted like farm teams for the 2 big giants. These seeming ‘farm teams’, after acquiring the top drafts in the annual selection, have served to develop their draftees, only to turn them over to the big teams. And so the strong teams get stronger, while the weak teams get weaker. This lack of parity in the league has served to diminish fan interest. Fans then sit it out and wait for the semis and the finals where the real competition commences.

As a result, there is the diminishing popularity of the league. And this can also be attributed to a number of other factors. One, the accessibility of the NBA and other more competitive leagues on TV. Watching the NBA, or the other leagues such as Japan’s B League or the Euro League on TV, is far more entertaining than watching our very own players strut their stuff. These bigger, brawnier players can run faster, jump higher, shoot the 3-ball farther, and do more magical things with the ball. Switching the TV channel from a NBA game to a PBA game would be like switching from a pro game to a high school game.

Second, the insistence on the old business model. The companies may generate great advertising for their products, but only if their teams make it deep in the playoffs. The emergence of the MPBL tells us that fan generation is much, much easier using the home team/visiting team system. There is a ready fan base for schools (UAAP/NCAA), and a ready fan base for cities (LA Lakers/Boston Celtics). This same system was tapped before by the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) but its time had not yet come. This time though, unless the PBA makes a move, the MPBL will slowly but surely dislodge it as the premiere league in the country.

Growing the fan base should be the ultimate target for the PBA. Barangay Ginebra has its multitude of fans, due to the fact that they had been able to develop this base years ago. But most of the other teams lack a solid fan base. They cannot acquire that by being simple cannon-fodder for the big guns. Switching to a city-based competition similar to the MBA some decades back should bring in more new fans.

How to do that? Let the teams sync in slowly with the cities of choice. Ownership and management of the teams will be handled jointly by present team owners (ie San Miguel, Meralco, etc) with the city or their designated private company partner. It works favorably for both parties. It lessens the financial burden for the old teams, it provides new sports impetus for the local LGUs.

There is also a need to rethink the 3-championship a year program in the PBA. The 3 crowns per year diminishes the prestige of the crowns. NBA champions are easier to remember, considering they have only 1 tourney a year. The PBA can have 1 regular season and 1 abbreviated invitational tourney where the top 4 or 6 play with 2 foreign teams in a fast and furious competition. Fan interest will remain high as the invitational tourney will be at playoff level right from the very start.

The introduction of more competitive teams will infuse new interest in the league. The experience with the Bay Area Dragons demonstrated to us that the basketball public can be rallied to show support for our team. Inviting 2 competitive foreign teams will not only prepare our players for foreign competitions, they will whet the appetite of our diehard cage fans.

Finally, there is the aspect of bringing the players closer to the people. Teams should be required to conduct at least one of their practice sessions per week in different college gyms. They need to be seen by the students – and the public in general – up close and personal. Having their practice sessions in private gyms will not help generate the fan base they need.

In this regard, they will also be needed to be involved more with the company’s CSR efforts. In the early 2000s, the PBA was reeling due to the Fil-Sham scandal that made a lot of fans lose their trust in the PBA. Interest in the PBA started to wane. But the big event that would turn the tide for the PBA would happen outside the squared arena. In September 2009, Typhoon Ondoy devastated Manila and its adjoining provinces. Floods reached a record high and damages were substantial. PBA players were very visible distributing relief goods, providing cheer and hope among the poor victims, many of whom were still temporarily housed in the evacuation centers. For most of the victims, this would be their first time to see these gentle giants in the flesh.

The goodwill the players developed in their relief and rehab forays was just incredible. From unreachable stars, the players were now ‘humanized’, a welcome consequence as a result of the devastation of Ondoy. Players were no longer simply seen in the boob-tube; they were right there in the flesh; sympathizing, caring, listening, reaching out with a helping hand. The players’ accessibility, it turned out, was the magic formula that would turn the tide for the PBA.

Apart from all these, perhaps we can introduce Euro-ball and try to diffuse the influence of the NBA among the youth. Euro ball will give us better chances in the global and regional leagues. We must also look into finding capable Fil-Ams who can provide more height and more beef in the rebound wars.

The PBA needs to infuse new ideas and innovations, plus new vigor in its management team and its overall program, otherwise the neighboring Japan B League, the Korean Basketball League and the Taiwan T1 League will slowly dry up its pool of stars. Then there’s the emergence of the East Asian Basketball Association. Having just won the Asian Basketball gold in the Asian Games, now is the perfect time to work on these issues.

Cover photo courtesy of Inquirer.net.