With Season 83 canceled due to the pandemic, the UAAP is moving forward in elevating the league standard and boosting audience engagement by laying down broadcast plans for the next season.
The target date hasn’t been tackled yet, although UAAP Executive Director Rebo Saguisag said they are looking at the traditional opening of the season in September 2021 “if all goes well and if the situation has improved.”
In the meantime, UAAP, Cignal TV and Smart on Thursday formalized their five-year broadcast partnership with a promise to produce more content and quick access to the game of the country’s elite collegiate league.
“We have a wide range to further engage the fans. Together with Smart, we want to grow the league even further. We want to bring the UAAP closer to fans, with all the platforms we have,” said Robert P. Galang, Cignal TV & TV5 President and CEO.
The plan includes full live coverage of the opening ceremonies, the cheerdance competition, as well as centerpiece sports like men’s basketball and women’s volleyball on OneSports channel.
There will also be full coverage on other sports men’s football, boys basketball finals, girls basketball finals, baseball, softball, badminton, and women’s football, as well as highlights of other events like chess, 3x3 basketball, table tennis, fencing, judo, athletics, and swimming.
A wider range of exclusive features and content will also be available as they plan to expand their digital platform. Among those will be the development of a website and a league mobile app.
“The intention is to put the UAAP brand and content so we can bring it closer to the youth using multiple platforms while growing the league even further,” said Jane Basas, SVP Consumer Business-Wireless SMART Communications Inc.
“We enhance the overall experience by making sports a lot of fun, but beyond that, it teaches a lot of things about values beyond sports itself: fair play, discipline, focus,” said PLDT chairman and President Manny V. Pangilinan.