The league earned P23,867,861 in ticket sales in the double-round classification phase of the All-Filipino tourney, getting 18.44 percent increase in gate receipts and 20.42 percent in attendance from last year.
During the same stretch of the 2005-06 Philippine Cup, the league grossed P20,151,855 in ticket sales.
The league has been attracting an average paying crowd of 7,062 in the current tourney, compared to 5,866 every game date in the last All-Filipino.
The big Christmas Day crowd of 17,779 that watched the doubleheader between San Miguel and Air21 and Barangay Ginebra against Talk ‘N Text is a record for this conference.
"We’re very pleased at the way the league has been performing early into the season," said PBA commissioner Noli Eala. "Rest assured that we’ll continue to give basketball fans more quality games as we enter the year 2007."
The significant gains achieved in both gate receipts and attendance augur well for the league’s objective of increasing last season’s live gate attendance and league income by 20 percent. PBA board chairman Ricky Vargas calls it the league’s "20/20 vision" this season.
In setting that goal, Vargas and the other PBA officials are also looking forward to break the league’s all-time record in gate receipts and attendance posted during the 1996 season.
The tourney is expected to attract even bigger crowds as it enters the playoff phase in January.
Games resume on Jan. 3 with Sta. Lucia Realty and Purefoods clashing in a playoff for the third and last outright seat in the quarterfinals.
The winner joins Red Bull and Talk n Text in the quarters while the loser will be relegated into the wildcard round with Alaska Milk, Air21 and Coca-Cola.
The four teams in the wildcard round carry over their prelims record in a one-round-robin battle. The best team in the wildcard advances to the quarters versus Red Bull. Talk n Text clashes with either Sta. Lucia or Purefoods in the other best-of-five quarterfinals matchup.
Ginebra San Miguel and San Miguel Beer gained automatic seeding in the semifinals by topping the classifications with identical 13-5 win-loss cards.