San Beda-Letran duel earns P.4M

The San Beda-Letran showdown last weekend generated P424,430 in ticket sales with the NCAA management expecting to draw in a bigger crowd as action in the men’s basketball tournament heats up in the second round.

This after the 82-year-old league had sold out a total of 6,509 tickets during the July 28 game between the Red Lions and the Knights, which the former won, 57-49, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

"After the first round, we expect the ticket sales to increase," said Management Committee chair Bernie Atienza of St. Benilde.

San Beda, Letran and last year’s runner-up Philippine Christian U proved to be the league’s biggest crowd-drawers.

The PCU-Letran contest last July 14, in fact, was the second best attended game with 2,685 tickets sold while the San Beda-PCU match last June 28 was third with 2,287.

"San Beda, Letran and PCU are this year’s biggest crowd-drawers and with the way they’re playing, we expect more people to come and watch them," said Atienza.

The Ninoy Aquino Stadium, which could accommodate from 6,000 to 7,000 fans, is this year’s basketball venue after it was chosen in favor of a bigger Rizal Memorial Coliseum, which has a capacity of 8,000. — Joey Villar