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IT looks
like television giant ABS-CBN has the pole for the right
to become the television coveror of the Philippine
Basketball Association (PBA) next season.
The
BusinessMirror learned that the Lopez firm earned the
upper hand in the bidding war, mainly because of its
“global reach” through The Filipino Channel (TFC)
network abroad.
Solar
Sports has also offered its bid which covers three
years, much less than the seven years which ABS-CBN has
offered to the pro league. The PBA’s current coveror,
ABC 5, has not joined the bid anymore.
Solar
Sports, the local carrier of National Basketball
Association (NBA) games on cable television, could not
provide what ABS-CBN has offered in terms of reach,
according to the source.
GMA 7,
the rival network of ABS-CBN, reportedly was also in the
mix but yielded just the same because it could not match
its rival network’s international reach with its Pinoy
TV. GMA 7, however, stressed it never offered a bid for
the local coverage of the PBA.
ABS-CBN
has also offered to air PBA games live every Sunday on
its flag-carrier Channel 2. Studio 23, based on the ABS-CBN
proposal, will telecast the games.
But ABS-CBN
is also expected to make adjustments in its coverage of
the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and
University Athletic Association of the Philippines,
whose play dates run into the Friday and Sunday games of
the PBA.
The PBA
is planning to revert to a three-conference format next
season. The current season will end this July. The
Rookie Draft is set August.
The
proposals of Solar Sports and ABS-CBN are already being
reviewed by the members of the PBA board, who are
expected to make a decision next month or at the latest
in June.
ABC 5’s
contract with the league will expire in July. It started
covering PBA games in 2004 with Noli Eala as
commissioner. |
