MANILA , 5 April— The Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) is still very much alive and kicking.
As a matter of fact, the MBA is stepping up its bid to promote grassroots development.
The league is spearheading the construction of modern facilities in areas outside Metro Manila and helping repair other playing venues to give new meaning to grassroots development.
Considered the rival league of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the MBA is determined to build its own facilities in the countryside since Manila is already saturated with basketball leagues — the PBA and the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).
The more established PBA and the commercial-amateur farm, that is the PBL, have had tremendous edge in Manila, which is why the MBA deemed it wiser to go full blast playing in the provinces.
Santi Araneta, chairman of the MRBI which oversees the MBA, said facilities in Batangas, Davao City, Olongapo and Pampanga are in various stages of completion. Existing venues in Lipa City, Cagayan de Oro and Pampanga are also being repaired.
"There is no need at the moment to rebuild a team from Metro Manila," said Araneta. "The city is overflowing with basketball already."
He said the MBA has trained its eye on erecting modern facilities in the provinces.
"We are spearheading the construction of modern facilities in many places outside Metro Manila, since it is really part of the MBA’s objective as a truly national sports league to help grassroots development," said Araneta. "In fact our new facility in Batangas City, which will open in September, is the first of four or five being built or planned across the country in conjunction with the MBA."
"We are also helping to repair other venues which we will use this season such as the ones in Lipa City, Cagayan de Oro’s Mindanao Polytechnic State University and San Fernando’s Bren Guiao Convention Center," said the youthful sports visionary.
New MBA commissioner Chito Loyzaga said this is part of their plan to give more players based outside Metro Manila opportunities to play in the league.
"We do want to give more opportunities to players based in the areas outside Metro Manila, the chance to perhaps make a living playing basketball without having to permanently relocate to the NCR," said Loyzaga, himself a fabled former professional basketball player. "In line with this, we will be requiring teams to have more involvement from local-based players beginning at least in the first conference of 2003."
"Also, the MBA has an economic impact in each area it plays in, giving not just employment to its players and staff but others in ancillary industries concerned with the conduct and staging of the games," said Mon Tuason, MBA director for marketing and business development. "These include people such as vendors, security personnel, printers, table officials and even the stadium barkers, who should come from the area where we regularly play.
"And given that the MBA plans to eventually return to a full home-and-away format once economic conditions in the country improve, it is not unthinkable that each city and stadium can host anywhere from 15 to 30 games each season," added Tuason, who had been part of the MBA since its inception.
"There may come a time when we can have teams in Metro Manila again but it’s just not a priority at this time," noted Loyzaga. "But right now we are not just paying lip service to the concept of grassroots development. In fact, we are doing something concrete about it."
As this developed, RFM, which recently sold its Pop Cola/Swift PBA franchise to San Miguel, is looking at a possible tie-up with the MBA after RFM President Joey Concepcion expressed interest in the league’s grassroots-centered basketball program.
Concepcion met with Araneta to discuss RFM’s possible participation in helping the league which could take the form of a buy-in for a portion of the league’s shares which is currently controlled by the Metro-Regional Basketball Inc.
The same meeting also produced common ground for the two executives to promote the MBA which of late has suffered from liquidity problems.
RFM’s entry could infuse badly needed cash to the league while at the same time enable RFM to actively return to basketball following the end of their nearly two decades of involvement with the PBA.
Concepcion’s possible buy-in of a large chunk of MRBI shares would involve the formation of the Regional Sports Inc., a new marketing and management group which would run the corporate structure of the MBA.
"The possibility of Mr. Concepcion’s group taking an active role in the MBA was raised. And Mr. Concepcion’s unparalleled experience in mixing corporate sense with national responsibilities, like in sports, would be of great boost to grassroot sports development and the MBA in particular," Araneta said.
"We have always been a supporter of Philippine sports and not just basketball. The MBA’s concept of grassroots development could be what our untapped players in the provinces have long been waiting for. We, in RFM, believe in the Filipino spirit. And if we see our people strive for success, we also can see our country moving forward," Concepcion said.
Concepcion’s current participation in basketball is as sponsor of one of the RP teams whose players are trying out for the national squad for the Asian Games. Significantly, also involved in the ongoing talks between Concepcion and Araneta is Cecilio Pedro, owner of Hapee Toothpaste, which is the other sponsor of the RP squad in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
Radical changes in the MBS are also afoot, particularly on financial matters. Describing it as a cancer that’s slowly but surely killing the sport millions of Filipinos follow with a passion, the MBA has decided to do away with allowing won-game and placement bonuses in individual player contracts beginning this season.
Instead, the league will be giving team placement bonuses totaling 3.6-million pesos for the year, the division of which will be decided by the managements in consultation with the players and coaching staff, who have worked hard to earn it.
"The idea of giving bonuses to players for winning games will be a thing of the past for us," said Loyzaga in explaining the fledgling pro league’s radical move doing away with what had been a given in the local basketball scene for many years now. "Players are already given salaries to play their best, as stipulated in their contract as professionals. To do their best should mean going out every game and trying to win it for the team."
"Millions of other Filipinos would love to be in their shoes, playing a game and earning a good living for their families," said Araneta. "Which is why I’m backing the commissioner’s edict in this regard one hundred percent. There shouldn’t be any more won game bonuses. However, we do want to reward excellence and inculcate a strong team spirit which is why we are giving a sort of prize pot to the teams which do well."
"Many companies who want to be involved in sports are already turning their backs on it because of the tremendous costs of maintaining a basketball team," said Tuason. "To do so wisely, one must keep a close eye on the budget and thus try to keep a cap on non-fixed expenses like bonuses."
"We must admit that we got the idea from American professional sports leagues where it is actually illegal to offer inducements to players individually or collectively to win specific individual games since this runs counter to the spirit prevailing in sports," Loyzaga reiterated. "We also want to send a stronger message to our younger players that playing a sport is a privilege, and that not playing well on purpose because of a lack of monetary incentives is contrary to the values we want to develop."
The MBA opens its fifth season on April 6 with an exciting twinbill in Cebu City.
Originally slated in San Fernando, Pampanga, the inaugurals pitting Cagayan de Oro against TPG Davao and Cebuana Lhuillier against Osaka-Pangasinan have to be transferred due to the unavailability of the Bren Guiao Sports Complex.
Tuason said provincial board member Mark Lapid informed him that the gymnasium is undergoing a major facelift and won’t be available until the end of April.
Among the renovations being done is the replacement of the hardwood flooring of the gymnasium, which serves as the homecourt of the Pampanga Stars (formerly Pampanga Dragons).
Loyzaga said he isn’t at all bothered by the transfer of venue because the Cebuanos have been very supportive of the league for the past four years, particularly the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems.
When the MBA, supported by media titan ABS-CBN, was formed in 1998, the concept of promoting regional basketball was dearly embraced by the masses, especially by fans in the provinces.
Local enthusiasts from participating areas flock to their respective gymnasiums and coliseums to show their full support to their star players who despite not being natives of the place, were being adopted as favorite sons.
But beneath the hoopla and the fanfare lies the frustrating tasks and financial shortcomings of running a national league not to mention a basketball team.
Due to financial constrains, a few teams have folded since the inception of the MBA four years ago — the inaugural champs Pampanga Dragons, Pangasinan Presidents (Waves), Iloilo Megavolts, Pasig-Rizal Pirates and the Manila Metro Stars, to name only few were not around when the 2001 season beckoned.
This year, the big multitude of fans will surely miss the effervescence of the Laguna Lakers and the multi-titled champions San Juan Knights which disbanded at the end of last year.
The absence of San Juan Knights left the National Capital Region (NCR) without representation in the MBA. Even reports are indicating that the Negros Slashers are barely breathing after the pull-out of ABS-CBN funding despite two runner-up finishes in 2001.
Likewise, internal bickerings mired the fledgling league, a series of commissioners have been paraded since its birth.
It could be recalled that Mon Fernandez resigned with an aching heart two years ago while Ogie Narvasa’s stint was mired by "pro-Estrada" "pro-San Juan Knights" allegations. At the outset of 2002 interim commission Butch Antonio was replaced by former PBA defensive specialist Chito Loyzaga.
Tapped by Araneta and Cebu Gems owner Jean Henri Lhuillier, Loyzaga’s main task is the continuing existence and the survival of the MBA even without the financial presence of ABS-CBN.
In 2002, the league is assured of seven teams, four in the North — Batangas, Pangasinan, Pampanga and Olongapo — and three in the South — Cebu, Negros, Davao.
For the television coverage of the games, the MBA has inked a 37-week contract with the Nation Broadcasting Network (formerly PTV), making the government channel its new home in lieu of the ABS-CBN regional network coverages which aired the games on a delayed basis to complement the live broadcast on NBN in 2001. Before 2001, the MBA Games were shown live on Studio 23, the UHF affiliate of ABS-CBN, from 1998 to 2000.
Without the Lopez-owned network, who was steering the directions of the MBA, the new thrust of the league is not to compete head-on with the PBA but to work side by side with Asia’s first play-for-pay basketball league.
Loyzaga also has plans, although not this season, to implement major changes, like salary cap restrictions, Department of Justice certifications for Fil-foreign players’ introduction of junior players in a conference.
There was also a buzz of a merger with the amateur farm body Philippine Basketball League (PBL).
Indeed, a future merger is an open possibility even as the MBA and the PBL — two leagues going through the test of time — revealed ongoing talks are not focused mainly on a caging partnership but the formation of a united and sound basketball program which will be nationwide in scope.
Loyzaga and his PBL counterpart, Chino Trinidad, also confirmed the working relationship between the two leagues is continuously being explored and will be a big boost to the sport particularly in the grassroots.
"That is why we are exploring the possibility. Of course, this merger is going to be a long process. It’s not going to happen overnight, in a week or in a month. But somehow, we can start by just talking," Loyzaga said.
Trinidad offered the same sentiment, saying: "The essence of basketball is teamwork. And I don’t see any problem (holding the talks). But it would be difficult right now. We have our own goals for the moment our own targets. Yet, if we can find ways to help the sport through the merger, like in the fielding of future teams to international events, we’re ready." Future merger talks cropped with former Philippine Basketball League chairman Joey Concepcion spearheading the group along with Elmer Yanga of RFM, Cecilio Pedro of the Lamoiyan Group and the MBA chairman.
Concepcion is bidding to buy into the Metro-Regional Basketball Inc., the management and marketing arm of the MBA.
"We are just talking right now. But I must say the relationship between the PBL and the MBA has improved tremendously. There are so many possibilities and we are studying each one of them," said Araneta. "If there’s any way we can help Philippine basketball, we’ll do it. We’re just talking but what’s important is that the talks have begun."
Some of the possibilities are hosting games together in one venue and the forming of teams for international meets.
"But if we can find ways and means to help the sport through the merger, like in the fielding of future teams to international event, then we are ready," said Trinidad. "The relationship between the two league is improving very much. We have been exploring possibilities not just for the interest of our leagues but for the development of the sport here in the country. It’s a long-term plan and there’s a lot to be done.
