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| The inaugural NCAA golf tournament will be one of the league's last events before closing Season 101. PSA |
MANILA--NCAA Season 101 will be the last fiscal year of the country's oldest amateur league in its Kapuso era, as GMA, through an announcement of commentator Martin Javier on Friday, formally bid its final farewell after airing the games on either Channel 7 itself or on sister stations GTV and Heart of Asia for six years.
Mel Divina, the chairman of the NCAA management committee this year, said on Tuesday that the broadcasting giant made a great deal of effort to provide high-quality national television coverage.
"OK naman ang partnership with GMA," Divina described the broadcasting deal during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Philippine Sports Commission conference room inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
"Talagang ginawa lahat ng GMA para ma-promote at mapaganda ang NCAA. Taon-taon, nagkakaroon sila ng mga magagandang ideas."
Despite all the innovations GMA proposed and later implemented, the broadcasting deal still had to end.
"Maraming di ma-explain," Divina summarized the factors that led to the "painful divorce".
However, Mapua's representative to the ManCom shared a recent conversation with a GMA official regarding the decision to cut ties already, citing how the tides have turned from scrambling to switch the TVs to Channel 27 to settling for online streaming avenues.
"Iba na yung format kasi ngayon. Iba na yung preference ng mga viewers. Hindi na sa free TV. Sa YouTube and Facebook, andoon na," Divina further said.
With the live streams readily available, Divina said that it took a toll on GMA in terms of advertisements on its TV channels.
"Syempre, yung mga tulad ng GMA, umaasa din sila doon sa mga sponsors gaya ngayon. Kung marami ang nanonood sa YouTube at sa Facebook, doon sa free TV, wala na masyado. We think wala na, kaya siguro naghahanap kami ng ibang way kung paano sila masusuportahan yung NCAA na hindi gagamit ng Free TV," he further said.
Lorenzo Lorenzo, Emilio Aguinaldo College's ManCom representative, chimed in and said that because the NCAA is being streamed for free on both YouTube and Facebook, it became more accessible to the fans than watching the games on TV.
"Yung sinasabi ng audience ng NCAA... yung streaming sa Facebook, libre, so wala kang binabayaran na apps," Lorenzo said.
One insider said that making the games available through live streaming again for Season 102 would influence how the league will choose its new broadcast partner.
The same source added that three more stations sent feelers about taking the NCAA to their fold, aside from the first two channels mentioned by other people knowledgeable of the situation.
For now, the league will turn its attention to its remaining schedule for Season 101, namely the ongoing aerobic gymnastics event, the soon-to-debut boxing, golf, under-15 basketball, and weightlifting tournaments, and the esports tournament.
The golf event, scheduled for May 20 at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong, was the main topic of the NCAA's appearance on the PSA Forum.
PSC chairman Pato Gregorio, who helped conceptualize the tournament, was also in attendance along with Pilipinas Golf College Series officials Ravi Ibay and Miguel Castro.
The 10 member schools will send representatives to the tournament, while tapping the University of Asia and the Pacific as a guest team.
However, before you begin to think about whether UA&P would eventually be elevated to regular member status, a source said the NCAA is not yet considering future expansion, citing logistical and financial concerns.
