PBA Controversy? The Unfair Scheduling Advantage of Ginebra

(c) PBA Media Bureau

There is no denying that Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel is the #1 ticket seller in the Philippine Basketball Association. So, the idea of maximizing their elimination games as much as possible is good for business.

Nine of Ginebra's games this conference were played during the weekends, Saturday or Sunday.

They were the curtain-raiser for the season on January 13, Sunday. There other Sunday games happened on January 20, March 3, March 10 and 17.


Their Saturday games happened on January 26, February 2 and 9.

Now, their last two games will happen on Wednesdays. Their game against Meralco on Wednesday will be their least-rested game, which was four days away from their NLEX game last Saturday.

And then they will be playing their last game on the last day of the elimination round. Which means they opened and will end the conference' elimination round.

So, if we count it, they will play their 11 games in 75 days span, which is almost 11 weeks.

Now, compare that to Magnolia Hotshots and Alaska Aces who played in the finals of the 2018 Governors' Cup.

Both teams started their conference on February 3, 2019. Magnolia will finish their conference on April 3, which means they play their 11 games in the span of 59 days.

Alaska is on a bigger disadvantage because they will finish their conference this March 27, which means they played their 11 games in the span of 52 days!

Like it or not, but the days-between-games is a big factor in the preparation of teams. With Ginebra playing one game a week, they are the most prepared team for the duration of the elimination round.

Think about this, Ginebra's shortest days-between-games was four. While Magnolia just played three games in six days, from March 17 to March 22!

Yes, business-wise, positioning Ginebra games on the weekends means more profit but what about the competitive imbalance that it creates in favor for Ginebra?

Is that fine?