PBA broadcast deal still up in air

The fate of NBN-4/IBC-13 was literally left hanging in the air yesterday after the winning bidder for the broadcast rights of the Philippine Basketball Association failed to meet the latest deadline set by the PBA board for the television consortium to secure a bank guarantee.

The PBA board yesterday morning asked NBN-4/IBC-13 to secure a bank guarantee by 5 p.m. or it would be forced to default the winning bid and look for a new broadcast partner. Sources said the PBA is even toying with the idea of producing the games for TV itself in case NBN-4/IBC-13 fails.

The bank guarantee, and not necessarily a letter of credit, is all the PBA board is asking from NBN-4/IBC-13 before they could finally ink the contract expected to last three years. The bank guarantee, sources said, must cover the P220 million needed on the first year of the pact.

But instead of the bank guarantee, NBN-4/IBC-13 forwarded a letter to the PBA board yesterday afternoon merely explaining their side and enumerating all the difficulties of the task at hand. The letter hinted that Jan. 15 is the closest they could get in securing at least a bank guarantee.

Chairman Butch Alejo of the PBA yesterday said he has yet to secure a copy of the letter but said he might be forced to convene the board on Thursday to decide on whether they would give NBN-4/IBC-13 more time or start looking for a new broadcast partner.

"I have no information yet. I haven’t seen it but in fairness to the board I have to talk to them before we decide depending on its content. And the earliest date I can convene the board is on Thursday. Then we can probably decide. Defaulting the (winning) bid is a possibility," said Alejo.

"There shouldn’t have been any problem with the LCs or bank guarantees had the PBA not asked NBN-4 and IBC-13 to look for another bank other than the one they had already come to terms with. So, what happened was that it all went back to scratch," a source said.

"Okay na doon sa first bank. But with the other banks hindi. It’s so hard to secure a letter of credit if you have no contract to show. Isa pa, what’s making it very difficult is because of the holidays. If the PBA can give them (NBN-4/IBC-13) until Jan. 15, okay na ‘yan," the source added.

He read part of the letter to The STAR, saying: "The NBN-IBC consortium is doing everything it can do to fast-track the issuance of the letter of credit but we can only do so much as the bank process would allow. We have come to you and offered the partnership with the PBA in good faith with the end view of taking the PBA to new heights. We would like to believe you gave it to us with the same faith."

NBN-4/IBC-13 officials were informed of the new deadline after the PBA board met earlier in the day, and probably for the last time before it takes a Christmas break.

During the meeting, Ginebra’s Jun Cabalan was named new chairman effective Jan. 1. He will replace Alejo at the helm of the powerful board as the PBA heads into its 29th season.

Buddy Encarnado of Sta. Lucia Realty was named vice chairman while Lito Alvarez of FedEx retained his post as board secretary.

Also discussed during the meeting was the holding of the All-Filipino Conference beginning on Feb. 16. Under a new format, the quarterfinals will have the teams figuring in four separate playoffs as the league decided to do away with the twice-to-beat advantage for the top four.

The full calendar for the 2003 season, however, was put on hold since there were a lot of proposals being raised and considered, including one that would give each team a bigger exposure for the coming new year.

Also being considered is the holding of an import-spiced Reinforced Conference and a season-ending Invitational Conference where the top six teams based on their elimination standings in the first two conferences will be seeded with two foreign squads.