Not even the presence of PBA D-League top pick Chris Banchero of Boracay Rhum, and NU-Banco de Oro’s Bobby Ray Parks, was enough to convince the big television networks to air the D-League.
The PBA D-League was supposed to enjoy its fair share of TV coverage during the 2014 Aspirants Cup. However, none of the big networks came calling.
Back in November, I wrote an article about the D-League’s lack of TV coverage at the start of the Aspirants Cup. Sports5, which has covered the D-League on television since its formation, decided to opt out due to its prior commitments to the NCAA, the PBA, the United Football League, and other sports events such as the then-upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics. In addition, GMA News TV was mentioned to have been negotiating with the PBA for the broadcast of the D-League. However, GMA’s negotiations with the PBA would eventually stall, and as a result, not even a single game of the Aspirants Cup was aired on television.
The lack of television coverage within the PBA D-League is surely a disgrace to the fledgling league. This is the league where college and amateur players converge in hopes of getting noticed by PBA teams in the near future. But with television coverage absent, the only way basketball fans and scouts can take notice is to go to the nearest arena and enter for no additional cost. And that takes a lot of miles and money.
Surely, the D-League deserves a whole lot of attention. But without any TV coverage whatsoever, what will the future hold for this league once the next conference begins this summer?
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