New deal ‘soon’ as NBA in multiple discussions to bring back games to Philippine TV

NBA Philippines Managing Director Carlo Singson during a roundtable discussion at the NBA PH office on Friday. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The NBA may be returning “soon” to Philippine television.

NBA Philippines managing director Carlo Singson said the league is in “discussion with multiple groups” to bring back the world’s premier basketball association to the local cable and free broadcast.

“We think television is an integral part of our distribution strategy and we are in discussion, as you guys may have heard from different sources, with both local groups and international groups,” said Singson in a media round table Friday in the NBA’s Manila headquarters in Bonifacio Global City.

READ: NBA disappears from pay TV; Sky Cable, Cignal negotiating new deal

“Facebook and Twitter are two of those international groups, but we are in discussion with multiple groups.”

The NBA has stopped broadcasting its games in Philippine televisions ahead of the 2019-2020 season after nearly two decades long agreement with Solar Entertainment ended.

As a stopgap solution, the league has started airing its games through the NBA Philippines Facebook and Twitter accounts with one game each getting live-streamed per day during Tip-off Week.

READ: NBA to livestream select games in PH for free on Facebook, Twitter

That schedule, though, will change once Tip-off Week is over with NBA Philippines set to live stream a game each every Mondays and Thursdays.

Singson admitted the negotiations are taking time, but fans should expect an update about the fate of the NBA airing here soon.

“I think the discussions, unfortunately, are quite complex and will take a lot of time,” said Singson. “Ideally it would’ve been done by the start of the season but like I said discussions and talks take time.”

“We’ll have an announcement soon, but right now I really can’t talk about specific discussions taking place.”