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| The PBA Philippine Cup championship could be clinched at the PhilSports Arena if the finals would be too close to call. Joseph Sanvictores |
PASIG--When the PBA announced the full schedule of the Philippine Cup Finals between San Miguel and TNT on Wednesday night, many fans quickly noticed that the league reserved the PhilSports Arena here for Games 6 and 7.
While it could give some 80s vibes especially with the league celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, some of the fans criticized the PBA in various manners for deciding to just play the potential clinchers of the best-of-seven series at the 10,000-seater arena, which is smaller than both the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City and SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, which can fill in more than 20,000 people at standing room.
When asked about the scheduling decision, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said that while they really wanted to hold possibly the last two games of the championship series assuming it indeed goes the full length at either Araneta or MOA, both arenas were already reserved for other events--concerts in particular--on July 25 and 27.
"Chineck natin sa mga venues kung pwe-pwede sila. Talagang hindi natin mailipat sa malalaking venues gusto man namin," Marcial said during the pre-final press conference on Friday at Chardonnay by Astoria, a few blocks away from the venue still called by some goers as The ULTRA.
To give you an idea, Australian Christian band Planetshakers will hold a five-night live worship event at the MOA Arena from July 23-27.
The worship concert was initially scheduled to be one night only on July 27, but because of massive ticket demand, Planetshakers decided to add four more shows from July 23-26, which effectively means the MOA Arena is also out of the running for hosting Game 5.
On the other hand, the Smart Araneta Coliseum will host a concert by Korean pop sensation Kim Jong-In, more popularly known as Kai, also on July 27.
While the arena seemed to be "available" for July 25, the producers of the former Exo member's concert would likely book that date too for designing the stage and some rehearsals.
The other major indoor arena in Mega Manila with a larger audience room than the PhilSports Arena, the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, has no listed event for July 25 and 27 based on its Facebook page, but the PBA decided to stick with PhilSports.
"Para sa amin, OK na ang PhilSports," Marcial further said.
He then shared how the PBA would book a certain arena for its games, especially in big-time battles like the incoming Philippine Cup Finals between the grand slam-seeking Tropang 5G and the Beermen.
"Kinakausap natin mga yan mga two months before pa para sa schedule ng venues," Marcial further said.
There is still a chance that the PBA Philippine Cup Finals will not conclude at the PhilSports Arena, but that is if either TNT or SMB would be too dominant enough that they will finish the series off quickly.
Game 4, the first potential series clincher, is on July 20 at the MOA Arena, while Game 5, if necessary, is on July 23 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The first three games of the series will all be at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on July 13, 16, and 18.
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