Is the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Playoffs, Boring?

(c) PBA Media Bureau

The 2019 Philippine Cup is down to four teams. One of the surprising omissions from the semifinals cast of this conference is the Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel, the most popular ball club in the country.

Other than finding a scapegoat, several fans of the team also laughed at the low attendance of the games in the semifinals.

And that was actually a fact.

Eyes do not lie. And of course, numbers do not lie.


Other than attendance, there is also this growing notion that the current playoffs is boring.

Let us be honest about it, it is actually boring.

It is not boring in terms of "watchability". The level of play is way higher than in the elimination round. Heroes and villains are present in the storylines. 

It is boring in the sense that the PBA universe and especially the Philippines do not show much care about what is happening.

Just look at the fans of the four teams that are currently on contention. Yes, the fan bases of the four squads are not as big as Ginebra but man, they are playing in the semifinals of the most prestigious conference of the league.

And yet, the fans cannot sacrifice money to pay for tickets and support their team? Yes, they are watching the games, either through social media, live streams and television. But, they actually do not care that much about what is on the line to be at the venue and show their support to their teams.

How about looking at the fans of the other teams?

In the NBA, no matter what franchise you are supporting and no matter if your favorite team is already out, you will still be watching the playoffs because of the prestige of the crown that they are fighting for.

In the PBA, that is not the case. Almost all the fans of the other teams that are not participating in the semifinals are already focused into the next conference, which is several weeks away, already.

Actually, even the media is not into it. The coverage of the current playoffs is so laughable that I do not even think if the playoffs even matter.

Maybe, that is really the question that the PBA may need to realize. Thus the playoffs really matter to the fans?