Almost done.
The Philippine Basketball Association and its prospective coveror TV5 are close to finalizing a deal for the telecast of the games of the 37th season of Asia’s first professional league, according to PBA commissioner Chito Salud.
"Both camps have given in to certain conditions and there are only a few things that need to be ironed out," said Salud. "We're still negotiating, but we believe that we are still at the right time.”
The PBA Board of Governors had earlier asked Commisioner Salud to explore all possible options for the league's television broadcast, including the possibility of producing the games itself. TV5, the only bidder for the PBA's television rights, made a lengthy presentation before the board on Monday, in a lengthy meeting that lasted about four hours.
"We had presentation of the financial status while several items were also discussed," said Salud.
According to Salud, TV5 executives Bobby Barreiro and head of sports Vitto Lazatin were present in the meeting presided by board chairman Rene Pardo of B-MEG.
Commissioner Salud said the board expects to reach a decision in the coming days.
Previously, TV5 initially came up with a five-year proposal for the PBA rights worth P900 million. But after ABS-CBN pulled out of the bidding, the offer reportedly went down to P800 million.
The deal reportedly involves P650-million in cash to be paid to the PBA, with the remaining P150 million to be used for marketing and promoting the league.
InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5.
Source: Reynaldo Belen, InterAksyon.com
