The MBA is dead, long live the RBA

The Metropolitan Basketball Association may be a thing of the past, but a new entity is figuratively rising out of the ashes of the late, lamented league, one that will have a greater chance of surviving.

Lawrence Chongson, head coach of the Pangasinan Waves, told the weekly SCOOP Sa Kamayan forum that the MBA has already paid the back wages of the LBC Batangas Blades, Cebuana Lhuillier Gems and Professional Davao Eagles. The remaining five teams (including Chongson’s) will meet with MBA Chairman Santi Araneta this week.

Meanwhile, former MBA Commissioner Chito Loyzaga is laying down the blueprint for a more conservative amateur league that will parallel the concept of the MBA. The new organization, which may be called the Regional Basketball Association (RBA) or Regional Basketball league (RBL) — for lack of better names at this point — will have eight teams, three representing the south. But all eight teams will be based in Metro Manila to cut down on travel cost, and will only travel out of town once a week. Southern teams will probably play at home only twice or thrice.

"Since the new league will be amateur in nature, the pay scale, in the form of allowances, will be much smaller," the former Tanduay assistant coach said.

"For me, I just want to be able to give jobs to the people who were displaced, and not just the players.

There are also the ball boys, utility men and others to think about."

The new RBA or RBL is pencilled to start on Nov. 9, and will initially have the five remaining MBA teams as members, though not necessarily representing the same regions. LBC has been reported to be eyeing a slot in the PBL. The teams will play their regular season until April, when the playoffs begin. The league ends in June, to allow the players to participate in international competition like the Jones Cup, SEABA and SEA Games.

"The advantage of this is, since the teams are based here -- with most of the games being played at Rizal Memorial -- players tapped for the national team will also be able to practice regularly," declared Chongson, who was assistant coach to the last Jones Cup team that only had four practice days to prepare for competition.

As for the lack of sponsorship which inevitably caused the demise of the MBA, Chongson said the lower costs will enable teams to set aside a certain amount per year, and manage to survive.

"There are already figures on the table, much smaller than those of the MBA, which will show us how much we will need to survive even if nobody watches us at all, there are no gate receipts or television ads," Chongson says. "Just in case."

As it is, there are already a few daring companies who want to sponsor the new league, considering it is less of a risk. Although the games will not be aired live, at least they will be broadcast consistently. There are still certain kinks that need to be ironed out. What about the existing contracts of players that pay them more than the P50,000 maximum "allowance" allowed for amateur play? What about players like Romel Adducul, who are obviously going to get paid more than the limit? Chongson says that, since Adducul is going to the PBA next year anyway, they may just work out a contract that will allow him to play for the new league until January. Others may be given "endorsement" contracts that will split the money into their allowances and "other services" they perform for the sponsors.

In a corporate setting, problems are washed away by the formation of a new entity. However, since the MBA remained an unfinished league, and some of the same personalities are involved in the new regional league, there may arise an uncertainty with regards to its credibility. This should be resolved first if the new league is to fully function. Or else, it may face the same problems that the MBA did.

The league is still deciding what to call the teams.

If they stick to a purely regional format and name the teams after the places they represent, they may not get as much corporate sponsorship, After all, advertisers want to hear their products’ names on television and see their names in the papers. That’s the whole point. A compromise could be for the teams to carry the names of their regions, but have the sponsor logos emblazoned on their jerseys, although this proposition will probably not draw as much revenue.

With all this activity, former MBA officials must make sure that all loose ends with their old league be tied up. After they pay back all the players, there are still other employees of the league whose needs must be addressed, and paperwork to put the MBA to rest. It will be hard for the Regional Basketball League to move forward if it is still dragging the skeletons from the MBA with it.