MANILA, Philippines — With Aksyon TV as the league’s new TV coveror, officials of the Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) have expressed confidence they can produce more stars and inspire new member teams when the league opens its third season on Sept. 6 at the Olivarez gym in Parañaque.
“We want to provide an opportunity for these schools and their student-athletes that’s why our games will now be shown on Aksyon TV,” said UCBL president Franklin Evidente.
Evidente is convinced the league’s new TV coveror will give student-athletes the exposure they need as they try to make an impact and help steer their respective teams to the championship.
That will also make UCBL part of ESPN5’s program that includes coverages of the PBA, PBA D-League and the Philippine SuperLiga games.
“There are about 220 colleges and universities in the country, 140 of them are in Metro Manila and we are the third league that offers TV coverage to our participating teams,” added Evidente during the signing of the telecast agreement with Aksyon TV officials led by Patricia Bermudez-Hizon, TV5 head of Sports; Diane Garcia, TV5 program manager, and Rissa Guilas, TV5 AVP for marketing.
Evidente was accompanied by UCBL tournament director Horacio Lim.
“During our inaugural season, a player from one of our member schools got drafted into the PBA. This is a testament to power of television,” he added.
The new members are St. Joseph College of Bulacan, Philippine Christian University of Dasmariñas, Cavite and Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc. of Lucena, Quezon.