While weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz's first Philippine Olympic gold medal in 2021 will forever be etched in history, and 22 Filipinos in different disciplines have qualified for Paris this year, basketball is still the single sport that the FIBA cited as having a "passionate and phenomenal fan base" on this side of the globe.
That we cannot contest.
There was no letdown when Brazil won, 71-60, and bid the Philippines farewell.
Gilas' close 94-96 loss to Georgia was not met with disdain as it was all that was needed to advance to the next round after ending the country's 64-year history of not beating a European team. That was at the expense of OQT host Latvia, 89-80.
Prior to the OQT, Gilas also ended a 61-year Asian gold medal drought when they won the second most important sports quadrennial for the Philippines in 2021. Like in the OQT, the team was led by Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone.
That's how far the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) had steered the Nationals since industrialist Manny V. Pangilinan had taken the leadership of the sport in 2007.
Pangilinan is mum on the money being spent for the Gilas program. Recently, however, MVP had approached another tycoon — San Miguel Corporation (SMC) president and CEO Ramon S. Ang — for a lift in the national basketball campaigns.
It's not only MVP and RSA who shell out for the Nationals, however.
Also a big but silent contributor to the program is the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and its 12 teams, half of which are companies owned by the two conglomerates.
The league cancelled one of three conferences to accommodate the Gilas schedule. It translates to substantial losses in dividends from league earnings — about a fifth or fourth of about P300 million each team spends at the minimum to be competitive.
A recent RSA interview confirms to spending P1 billion annually to keep SMC squads in fighting form.
These dividends come from sponsors, tickets, television coverage, and advertising sales.
"What remains, less all expenses for PBA operations and others, are divided equally among the teams," PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial told InsiderPH. "There's no big or small team. All's equal."
Other than dividends, the 12 teams have also lost a substantial amount of advertising and exposure.
The teams are their advertising tools, keeping their products and services in public consciousness that translates to cash. A conference struck out means four months of lost primetime television and other media opportunities.
They mean a lot to any team.
The recent PBA Commissioner's Cup championship won by Meralco over San Miguel Beer was the most watched local sporting event on television this year. That's on RPTV alone.
Philippine National TV Audience Measurement (PHINTAM) and National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) by GB Nielsen Media Research Philippines rated Game 6 of the finals at 3.8 of about two million households fixed on their television sets for the PBA. The eliminations rated 1.8 while the semifinals were at 2.5.
Cignal, which covers the PBA, said it was the highest-rating sports event for the year, so far.
Still, the teams lost indirect product endorsements and quad-media publicity.
But nobody is complaining.
"We have an understanding that we are doing this for a purpose," Marcial said in sharing the PBA Board's decision to go all out for the Gilas campaign. It's a higher calling."
"We make all our players available for a national cause. We'll stop the PBA clock for the National Team. Because for us, we owe the Filipino basketball fans a lot," Marcial said. "So, when they need us to answer the call of country, we drop everything 'para sa bayan’."
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