Changing of the guards

Ramoncito Fernandez of NLEX will undertake two major projects when he assumes chairmanship of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Board of Governors in November.

First, he will create better values for the public and team owners. Second, he wants to improve team branding.

Fernandez emphasized that his priority is public value due to the league’s dwindling attendance and viewership.

“The value to the public is needed because of the diminishing attendance in the venues and viewership,” said Fernandez, who will replace Mikee Romero of GlobalPort as chair.

Fernandez said the PBA should create and sustain public value by promoting innovation and improving the league’s efficiency in social and economic aspects.

He needs support from the Office of the Commissioner, the board and social media to realize all these.

“We cannot deny the fact that social media is now getting to be a considerable force in the following of PBA,” said Fernandez, who will become PBA chair for the first time since 2014, when NLEX joined the league.

It was Romero who took the initiative to upgrade the PBA website and conceptualized new apps that broadened the scope of the league’s online presence around the globe.

The NLEX board representative said the other challenge he’s facing is how to promote the branding of all the teams, as well as the PBA properties which are viable forces to add value to the league.

He admitted during an interview that the Office of the Commissioner is now in the process of formulating effective strategies on how to increase the number of followers of each team and the entire PBA league.

“They want to know how the commissioner can promote the branding of all 12 teams so that there will be more followers and there will be more loyalty to their brands”, said Fernandez.

These projects will take time to bear fruit but Fernandez is hoping that it will somehow help the PBA reach new heights.