By NIKOLE JAVIER
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Noli Eala called for proper coordination among league organizers on Saturday night, Oct. 8, on his official Twitter page.
With PBA, UAAP, NCAA, PVL, Shakey’s Super League and MPBL taking place in the same weekend, venues wound up being difficult to navigate for fans in and out of Metro Manila.
“There are so many sports leagues going on at the same time this weekend. PBA, UAAP, NCAA, PVL, Shakeys Super League and MPBL. Venues are hard to find. Consequently, fans are dispersed and ad money divided. Wish there was more coordination among leagues for better scheduling,” wrote Eala, who took over the PSC chief post two months ago.
There are so many sports leagues going on at the same time this weekend. PBA, UAAP, NCAA, PVL, Shakeys Super League and MPBL. Venues are hard to find. Consequently, fans are dispersed and ad money divided. Wish there was more coordination among leagues for better scheduling.
— Noli Eala (@NoliEala) October 8, 2022
PVL, which kicked off on Saturday, Oct. 8, in Sta. Rosa, saw its spectators braving the traffic to see the league in action with towering imports.
Now that crowd capacity and restrictions have been minimized, the local sporting scene has inched closer, if not fully, to their old sporting calendar after two years of inactivity and nearing post-pandemic format.
PBA sees action on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in spread venues in Smart Araneta Coliseum, Mall Of Asia (MOA) Arena, Philsports Arena including out of town games.
UAAP, on the other hand, returned to the famed Pasig venue for the first time since 2010 last Oct. 5 for a quadruple-header.
The country’s oldest collegiate league, NCAA, chose to stick at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan after holding its opening games at Araneta.
SSL, on its side, settled at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila every Saturday and Sunday in quadruple-header setup for the preliminaries.
Lastly, MBPL, found itself bouncing from Subic Bay Stadium to Araneta for its scheduled games.