THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has yet to reach halfway of the 2006-07 season, but gate receipts and attendance during this same period of the last Philippine Cup had already been surpassed, keeping the league on track of attaining its so-called ‘20/20 vision.’
Thirty-six games into the season-opening tournament at the Araneta Coliseum, gate receipts considerably increased by 18.44 percent, while attendance also registered significant rise of 20.42 percent.
Translated into numbers, sales at the gate amounted to P23,867,861 compared to the P20,151,855 earned during the same stretch of the 2006 Philippine Cup.
The games also drew attendance of 254,306 or an average crowd of 7,064 every playing date. Prior to the season, the all-Filipino tournament averages a crowd of 5,866 every game date or a total of 211,191.
PBA commissioner Noli Eala credited the well-balanced lineup, all-out display of enthusiasm and the passion of the players as among the major factors for the success being reaped by the league early in the 32nd season.
The big Christmas Day crowd of 17,779 that watched the doubleheader between San Miguel and Air21 and Barangay Ginebra against Talk ‘N Text is already a record for this conference.
The significant gains achieved in both gate receipts and attendance augur well for the league’s objective of increasing last season’s live gate attendance by 20 percent that hopefully, boost its net income by another 20 percent or what Eala commonly referred to as the PBA’s 20/20 vision.
The major increase also put the league on target of attaining its goal to break the league record in both gate receipts and attendance posted during the 1996 season.
“We’re very pleased at the way the league has been performing early into the season,” said Eala. “Rest assured that we’ll continue to give basketball fans more quality games as we enter the year 2007.”
No less than a do-or-die game pitting Sta. Lucia and defending champion Purefoods is in store for the fans as the New Year ushers in.
The Realtors and Giants clash on January 3 at the Astrodome for the last outright quarterfinals berth, with the loser being relegated to the wild card phase.
Purefoods, Sta. Lucia and Talk ‘N Text finished the classification phase with similar 10-8 records, but the Phone Pals earned the second quarterfinals berth owing to a superior quotient, leaving the Giants and Realtors to contest the remaining quarters slot.
“We expect an even bigger crowd now that the Philippine Cup enters the playoff phase,” said Eala. (PBA Media Bureau)
