PBA views hit roof

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial was ecstatic in announcing the numbers indicating widespread viewership of the recent Commissioner’s Cup semifinals during the Finals presscon at Novotel the other day. There was reason to be upbeat and Marcial said on a scale of 1 to 10, he rated the surge at 12 or even 15. That’s how the figures zoomed to crack the roof.

On OneSports YouTube, the semifinals that went to six games in both series registered total views of 19.8 million all over the world. The Ginebra-Rain or Shine duel accounted for 11.8 million views. Game 3 of the series had 2.2 million views with a peak live audience of 518.4 thousand. On RPTV free-to-air, views averaged 1.8 million. In Game 6 last Sunday, the Ginebra-Rain or Shine clash had 2.15 million average viewers with a peak of 3.32 million while the TNT-Meralco battle averaged two million with a peak of 2.54 million. The previous peak was in Game 3 of the Ginebra-Rain or Shine series with three million. In terms of attendance, the average was over 12,000 throughout the six playdates.

From all indications, the Finals between defending titlist TNT and Ginebra will be a blockbuster. Game 1 is set at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight. The Big Dome will be the venue for Games 2 and 4 and if necessary, Games 5 and 6. The Mall of Asia Arena will be the setting for Game 3 this Sunday and if necessary, Game 7 on June 17, a Wednesday. This is Ginebra’s 33rd Finals appearance and TNT’s 27th. Since 1986, Ginebra has captured 15 championships and TNT, 11 since 1998.

What makes this Finals even more interesting is TNT is aiming to become the first-ever No. 8 seed to win a championship. PBAologist and chief statistician Fidel Mangonon says there hasn’t been a back-to-back Commissioner’s Cup champion since Red Bull did it in 2001-02. Additionally, Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee is gunning for his seventh title in 13 conferences since 2016 while TNT’s Chris McCullough is shooting for his second in his second conference since 2019.

There are players on either side yet to experience a championship. The list includes Jordan Heading, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, RJ Abarrientos and Stephen Holt. TNT coach Chot Reyes singled out Abarrientos as a matchup problem, recalling his combined 61-point burst in Ginebra’s last two semis games to down Rain or Shine. Ginebra coach Tim Cone said with McCullough in harness, TNT is back to a team-oriented style that will get three-point shooters in rhythm.

This is the PBA’s 99th best-of-seven Finals in history. Marcial said that means the Governors’ Cup, the season’s last conference starting July 10, will mark the 100th best-of-seven Finals, a fitting climax to the PBA’s golden anniversary.