Faced with burden of leaking finances, PBA eyes NBA-style ‘bubble’

Members of Barangay Ginebra hit the gym for individual training sessions on Tuesday. The league is hoping to continue its 45th season to plug a financial drain caused by the coronavirus pandemic. —PBA IMAGES

Fearing that a canceled season will put a bigger strain on the finances of the league and its teams, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) on Tuesday shifted its focus on putting together its own bubble environment with four possible locations that will be subject to approval of the Board of Governors.

The league, whose teams started practicing on Tuesday, is looking to take a page from what the NBA has done with its hugely successful bubble in Disney World, Florida, which reportedly cost $180 million.

PBA chair Ricky Vargas identified four possible sites in the area surrounding the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, Subic, Pampanga and Batangas City.

“My own feeling as part of the board as chairman is we do not have a choice,” Vargas said at the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum webcast on Tuesday. “We already have a model in the NBA.”

But more than anything, the bubble environment may just be the only way that the season can be saved.

The proposal still has to get the approval of the PBA Board, before the league presents it to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, which will have the final say on the viability of the bubble.

With the uncertainty on the quarantine classifications, Vargas said the league is actually left with no recourse, but to come up with ways to make the games happen.

“We should just go ahead and move forward and look forward to the time that we’re playing—whether it’s an NBA way or a more innovative way,” the PBA executive said. “We can’t wait for the changes—whether its GCQ (general community quarantine) or MGCQ (modified general community quarantine), so we might as well check if we can push this through with health protocols in place.”

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said he has instructed deputy commissioner Eric Castro to study all the possible bubble sites as well as the costs that it will entail. By his estimates, the league will have 350-400 persons, including players, staff and league personnel and officials entering the bubble.

“We will have to take a look if the league can take care of the expenses or it will be shared by teams,” Vargas said. “These are the important issues that have to be discussed in the board.”

While the league shelved the idea of the bubble in past months, Vargas said there “is more openness with regards to discussions and we need to be able to move.”

These discussions came on the heels of the recent statement of Alaska owner Wilfred Uytengsu, who expressed doubts over the sustainability of the league should the pandemic last for more than a year.

Marcial said a resumption to the season will help the league’s finances tremendously with money from the television deal and sponsorships coming in.

“We’re not even looking at gaining revenue, but what’s important to us is we have a season,” said Marcial, who estimated that the league had been losing P30 million a month since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the stoppage of play in March.

Vargas also admitted that teams are feeling the financial strain as they continue to give full salaries even without games.