NEARLY the same.
Out to sustain its gains last season, the PBA last Sunday handed Ricky Vargas of TNT a new mandate as chairman of the Board of Governors.
The Tropang Giga executive was re-elected to a seventh straight term–the longest in Asia’s pioneering pro league–in the elections held during the planning session at the Swissotel Nankai in Osaka, Japan.
PBA chief Willie Marcial was also reconfirmed to keep his post for the second time, another three-year term.
Ginebra’s Alfrancis Chua was elected as vice chairman, replacing Bobby Rosales of Terrafirma, while Atty. Ogie Narvasa is the new secretary and legal counsel.
Phoenix’s Atty. Raymond Zorrilla was retained as treasurer as the league hit the ground running for its 49th season opening set on Aug. 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After the re-election that underscored the board’s full trust and confidence in him, Vargas presided over the annual gab where they crafted the league’s plans and programs.
Chua said the league is doing well with Vargas at the helm.
“With chairman Ricky, okay ang liga. Siya ang nagdadala sa amin, we follow his decisions and back him up,” Chua said.
Chua has plenty of proof to back up his claim.
Data from the US media research group Nielsen showed the PBA remains the most popular sports program in the country, with almost a million viewers tuning in to each game on average.
Reviewing numbers from the past season in preparation for the next, league officials were pleased to see dominant numbers as presented by their broadcast partners TV5 and Cignal TV and confirmed by Nielsen.
“Nakakatuwa at nakakataba ng puso,” Marcial said.
TV5 president/CEO Guido Zaballero, CignalTV president/CEO Jane Basas and CignalTV first vice president for channels and content management Sienna Olaso made the presentation.
According to Nielsen numbers, Filipinos watch the PBA more than any other sports programs with the PBA drawing 975,520 average viewers per game over the first six months of 2024, compared to 313,040 for the PVL, 218,400 for the UAAP, 218,400 for the NBA and 145,600 for the MPBL.
Over the same period, 14 of the 20 top sports programs (drawing the biggest ratings) were PBA games.
Most viewed was Game 6 of the Meralco-San Miguel Philippine Cup title showdown that drew 2.16 million viewers, followed by Game 3 of the same series with 2.06 million.
Other sports programs making the top 20 were matches in the recent AVC Challenge Cup featuring Alas Pilipinas. Third was Alas’ game versus Kazakhstan and fourth was the national volley belles’ tiff with their Chinese counterparts.
Overall, the PBA’s average viewers were three times more than the PVL’s and five times more than the UAAP’s and the NBA’s.
What the league now wants is bring back spectators to venues.
“While it’s good to see these ratings, we want to bring the fans in the venue,” Vargas said. “We’re aiming to enhance fan experience at the start of the season.”
