INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - The vital elements for Liga Pilipinas to replicate the success of the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association in terms of crowd support are now coming together.

Besides four additional teams in Conference 4, Liga Pilipinas CEO and president Noli Eala said the league would try to cut out a deal for the live coverage of the games with TV5.

The idea to show the matches in real time was hatched after the group of PLDT big boss Manny V. Pangilinan reportedly acquired majority of the shares in the television network.

For starters, Eala said they plan to strike an agreement with TV5 to broadcast live feeds on weekends or during the championship game of each provincial leg while Solar Sports, Liga's present television partner, would continue airing the matches on weekdays.

``The prospects for Liga are promising,'' said Eala. ``We hope to reach out to as many basketball fans as possible by airing some of the games live, particularly the finale of each leg.''

Live coverage, marketing and a regional framework similar to the National Basketball Association (NBA) brought tons of success to the MBA almost a decade ago as far as attendance in the venues and fan interest are concerned.

With a solid fan base, the MBA had even threatened to supplant the Philippine Basketball Association as the premiere professional league in the country.

But the MBA folded up in 2002 due to the six-figure monthly salaries of its players and the high cost of maintenance, transportation and billeting, among other reasons.

The Liga has the same regional flavor although the format is different. Each team in the league, which applies Fiba (International Basketball Federation) rules on its matches, will play host to every leg in the tournament.

A leg normally runs for a week and culminates in a championship game, cutting down the cost of transportation and other expenditures since all of the teams will play in one venue.

Eala said Iloilo, Ilocos and Tagaytay-Cavite have expressed interest on joining the 10 ballclubs in Conference 4 slated late January next year while Liga officials would encourage another team to make it a 14-squad roster.

The M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Ninos, mentored by Yayoy Alcoseba, bagged the Conference 3 crown at the expense of Conference 2 champions Misamis Oriental Meteors for a historic 21-game sweep.