Chair Vargas says season restart will cost PBA P65M

PBA chair Ricky Vargas said resuming a PBA season in a bubble environment won’t come cheap.

“I’ll tell you, it’s close to P65 million that will cost us,” Vargas told Noli Eala in an episode of “Power & Play” on Saturday.

The brunt of expenses will come from the delegates’ lodging and meals, according to Vargas. The TNT governor, along with commissioner Willie Marcial had earlier declined to ballpark the cost of resuming a season suspended by a health crisis.

The PBA has released plans for a restart by Oct. 9 with the Philippine Cup, which is expected to run for two months. And the cost of the bubble, which will be blown in Pampanga, is expected to cover the same amount if the season isn’t resumed. The PBA has said it is losing at least P30 million a month while in stasis. Inquirer sources have pegged the amount at nearly twice as much.

In shelling out bubble cash, though, the league will at least have revenue streams to plug the money leak in terms of advertising revenue, marketing value and sponsorships.

The restart will feature daily doubleheaders at the Angeles University Foundation’s school gym, a facility situated in a residential area, and is 20 minutes away from Quest Hotel, the designated delegation quarters.