Sydney session: Two main thrusts for new PBA chair

SYDNEY—Sustaining the growth of the PBA and finishing inside world basketball’s Top 16 is what new chair Mon Segismundo wants to accomplish during his term in the 39th Season of Asia’s first play-for-pay league.

“One Philippines, One PBA” is the theme of Segismundo’s tenure as the league, which opens its fresh three-conference season on Nov. 17, tries to improve on its gate revenues of more than P200 million.

And as the leading force in forming the national five, the PBA hopes the  squad will reach the knockout stages of the Fiba World  Championship in Madrid in August next year.

“It’s all about creating a basketball nation, to rally the entire nation behind the PBA and the Gilas national team,” said Segismundo, the Meralco board representative, in a press briefing at The Westin Sydney here Tuesday.

“We at the PBA are looking forward to working with all (basketball) stakeholders to forge a strong basketball nation,” he added.

Segismundo took over from Barangay Ginebra representative Robert Non, who is  credited for the league’s record take at the gates with a staggering 89-percent improvement in sales.

The new league chair said the challenge of eclipsing that mark is “not pressure for me. I find it very exciting and a lot of fun.”

Under Segismundo’s term, the Philippines will play in the World Championship after an absence of 35 years, and the Meralco executive hinted that he would bat for the country’s participation in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics qualifier.

League commissioner Chito Salud, who faced the media together with the new league chair, echoed Segismundo’s desire to also have a continuous improvement in the product—the games.

The league, he said, will try to develop relationships with international leagues so it can gain valuable knowledge on how to develop and improve officiating, one that has haunted the PBA for the longest time.

“It was a fruitful planning session,” Salud said of their meeting that lasted close to midnight on Monday.

Both league officials also talked about expansion, with Salud saying that adding at least two teams in the next three years would be feasible for the PBA.

“One of the priorities (of the league) this year is league expansion,” Segismundo said. “In the next 12 months, we will talk to potential team owners and tell them that the PBA is a great investment.”