PBA in overseas thrust

LAS VEGAS – The PBA is breaching borders in a move to tap the overseas market and reach out to Filipinos abroad on its 50th anniversary. At a press briefing after the PBA Board of Governors planning meeting here, Commissioner Willie Marcial detailed the foreign thrust.

First, the PBA will continue to participate in EASL, throwing all-out support for Meralco’s bid to become the first Filipino champion in the expanded 12-team season starting Oct. 8. It will be the Bolts’ third straight appearance in EASL and this time, Meralco will be fully armed with Justin Brownlee and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson leading the charge in an unprecedented team-up of two PBA import legends.

Second, the PBA will play official Philippine Cup games in Dubai and Bahrain this year. San Miguel Beer and Ginebra will square off at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Oct.t 26 while three teams, still to be determined, will play in Bahrain on Dec. 15 and 17. Talks are ongoing for the PBA to bring games to Abu-Dhabi, Riyadh and New York City and hold a Batang PBA tournament in Calgary.

Third, the PBA plans to do a mini-tournament involving foreign teams during the season which will extend to over 15 months because of breaks for the FIBA World Cup Asia qualifying windows in November this year and February, July and November next year and the Asian Games in Nagoya on Sept. 19-Oct. 4.

Fourth, the PBA may include a foreign team to play in either the Governors’ or Commissioner’s Cup. Hong Kong, Macau and Indonesia have expressed interest to participate. In the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup, Bay Area reached the finals as a foreign guest team. In the Commissioner’s Cup last season, Hong Kong Eastern joined and made it to the quarterfinals. Marcial said Macau asked to play in the Philippine Cup but couldn’t be accommodated because of the All-Filipino nature of the conference. However, Marcial said Macau or any other foreign team is welcome to join the Governors’ or Commissioner’s Cup. The coming season will feature, in order, the Philippine Cup, Governors’ Cup with unlimited height for imports and Commissioner’s Cup with a 6-6 height limit for imports.