The PFL’s live matches are currently aired on PTV-4, but speaking engagements of President Rodrigo Duterte have often interrupted their coverage. (Logo courtesy of the Philippines Football League)
There is trouble brewing in the Philippines Football League.
The first season of the fledgling soccer league is currently broadcast on government-owned People’s Television Network (PTV-4), but so far, soccer fans were not happy with the network’s treatment of the matches. In more than one instance, live broadcasts of the PFL were rudely interrupted by President Rodrigo Duterte’s speeches to the nation.
As the only government television station, it is always mandatory for PTV-4 to broadcast each and every live appearance of the president. But if it takes place in the middle of a sports event such as the PFL, fans have every right to complain and voice their disapproval to the network.
The PFL is a young and promising league, and television coverage is a must for them to gain further awareness from not only the growing soccer community, but also the general public. But with the way that PTV-4 has treated them, there is a possibility that their relationship could end after only a season together.
If PTV-4 were smart enough to realize the advancements in technology, they should have provided the PFL with a free live stream platform so that the matches can continue online with no interruptions. Unfortunately, the network is still on a rebuilding phase as they focus on the improvement of current facilities and nationwide reach.
So where will the PFL go to? There are plenty of options, but there are some pros and cons.
ABS-CBN Sports has had a history of raising the profile of some of the sporting events they broadcast, but with their commitments already too loaded, there may be no room for the PFL to showcase their matches. Sports5, whose previous soccer experience is with the defunct United Football League (UFL), is also an option, but their reach is questionable.
Solar Sports is also a possibility, but their pullout from media giant SkyCable as well as Solar Entertainment’s financial troubles may also come to play. There is also Fox Sports Philippines with three different channels to choose from, but fitting in may be an issue.
As for GMA, don’t think about that anytime soon because Felipe Gozon and company have no interest in returning to the sporting arena full-time. If all else fails, they can stick around with PTV-4, as long as the network improves its approach.
The PFL has a long way to go before becoming the legitimate national soccer league in the Philippines. But to do so, they need the benefit of television to boost their morale, and so far the start has been anything but impressive.
From the Tube 
Finally, you decided to give in after two months of your hectic and obvious priorities. Let’s kick off this thing:
After observing 15 televised games (as of yesterday), nine were completed. Six of them were interrupted — four from Duterte and two due to downpour which delayed the games.
Addition (please merge this to the original comment and delete it):
Speaking of ABS-CBN, Kevin Estrada believed that they are full (aside from the usuals: UAAP, NCAA & NBA) is because of die-hard Alyssa Valdez and the Premier Volleyball League fanatics (No offense, Gab). The second reason is their row against Iglesia ni Cristo (particularly on using the Philippine Sports Stadium), which is why there is no more Azkals coverage on their channel since last year.
Overall, the PFL fans I encountered via the Facebook group page “Philippines Football League Fans United!” assessed that the inaugural coverage is overpaid but underserved.
The PFL is so young and it is unsure if these interruptions are only temporary and avoidable. But now that they happen on an occasional basis, it was high time to voice whatever concern soccer fans have on the league. Regarding coverage, pretty much all networks capable of carrying sporting events have their pros and cons, but the one network we wish to handle the PFL is GMA. Unfortunately, as we all know, they are too reluctant to expand their business the same way that ABS does now.
Hope the PFL does something about it ASAP. After all, soccer here really needs the exposure of the general public to succeed.
The best way for PFL is either Sports 5 or Solar Sports because wala nang space sa ABS-CBN Sports.
Unfortunately, both have their fair share of problems as well. If the PFL chooses Sports5, they’ll have to encounter AksyonTV’s poor nationwide reach and lack of programming purpose. Not to mention that Hyper is exclusive to Cignal subscribers only. If they choose Solar Sports, they might regret it since the channel lost some big-name events due to Solar Entertainment’s constant mismanagement. Plus Solar pulled out of SkyCable last April due to their issues with ABS-CBN, thus losing its biggest backer in terms of subscription.
Their most likely destination, I think, would be Fox Sports since they are available to both SkyCable and Cignal, have three channels, and they can accommodate the said league in either of them. But it’s up to them to decide which outfit will suit them best.
I think some soccer fans are excited watch a soccer No Solar Sports on Sky Cable because some Sky Cable subscribers are angry but they will watch PFL soccer games on Fox Sports instead
Hey, I checked your profile on Facebook, Miss Misinformation and Bad Grammar, and you’re from Cavite and you are a fan of K-Pop boy bands.
Can you provide a link? I want to see how Mr. Wrong Grammar looks like in person. If he’s a grownup man, then we’re fooled.
Oh, and didn’t I tell Isel to get lost and stop reading my blog? Looks like he doesn’t care indeed. The next time he comments, it’ll be moved in the spam section to be deleted with all other nuisances. What a disgrace.
Here are some of the social media profiles I presumed to be Ms. Isel Ramos:
https://www.facebook.com/iselramos44
https://ph.linkedin.com/in/iselramos44
https://foursquare.com/noonaisabela44
I cannot retrieve her e-mail of origin on any of the platforms directly.
The handles will be a simple clue. If you’re not sure, just go to the comments section in your admin dashboard (/wp-admin/edit-comments.php) and find the e-mail that matches with at least one of the similar handles on the recent involvement.
If it does match, then it’s time to inform about her.
Turns out Isel is a she, not a he. Also, her Yahoo email account starts with iselramos44, which is also the handle she uses in her social media accounts.
As I said, all her future comments will go to the spam section the moment she returns with an illegible comment. We don’t tolerate bad grammar and spelling in this blog. In Isel’s case, she’s already a grownup but her writing suggests that she should go back to Grade 1.
Okay, but before we do that, let’s see if there is a possibility that she cannot write natively in English, but rather in another language – perhaps Filipino? Try communicating with her in Filipino. If she responds in decently legible Filipino, we could tell her to use Filipino if she is comfortable with it. We do have comments in Filipino here.
aggre because kung magiingles ka at mali mali pa sinasabi mo para kang tanga diba?
Speaking of PTV, mukhang babalik na ang SEA Games sa naturang network, ayon sa isang report.
Good luck to PTV.
Martin Andanar seems determined to bring back PTV’s glory days. But they need to fix their sports offerings ASAP because there are many who are not happy with their treatment of the PFL.