The

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA) has played its games across a variety of venues throughout its more than fifty-year long history, but the league has also sought to build an

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

of its own. The idea was first brought up by

Noli Eala Jose Emmanuel "Noli" Macasaet Eala is a Filipino sports executive and disbarred lawyer who served as the 11th chairperson of the Philippine Sports Commission from August 30 to December 28, 2022. He previously served as the sixth commissioner o ...

during his tenure as commissioner and again by then-chairman Buddy Encarnado in 2010. In 2024, plans for the PBA-specific venue were revived once again, with groundbreaking targeted for 2025 or 2026.

History

Background

In the Philippine Basketball Association, teams are represented by the companies that own them, which differs from most leagues where teams represent locations, thus there isn't a need for each team to have a "home venue" since there is no home-and-away format. Although most games are played within

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

, the venues themselves, particularly the

Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Quezon City#Cubao, Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. ...

and

SM Mall of Asia Arena The SM Mall of Asia Arena, also known as the Mall of Asia Arena or the MoA Arena, is an indoor arena within the SM Mall of Asia complex, in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. It has a seating capacity of 15,000 for sporting events and ...

, are still subject to availability due to other factors such as concerts. The idea for the Philippine Basketball Association to build its own arena can be traced back to

's time as commissioner in the 2000s. In 2010, the idea was brought up once more by then-chairman Buddy Encarnado. However, both proposals didn't get far before they were shelved during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Planning stages

On July 23, 2024, during a planning session for the

2024–25 PBA season The 2024–25 PBA season, also referred to as PBA season 49, is the 49th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The season began on August 18, 2024 and will conclude sometime in 2025. The league reverts to a three-conference for ...

, at

Swissôtel Nankai Osaka is a hotel situated directly above Namba Station on the Nankai Railway lines in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The hotel is owned by Nankai Electric Railway, Nankai Electric Railway Co., Ltd., and managed by the Switzerland, Switzerl ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the league once again revived plans of building its own arena. Board chairman

Ricky Vargas Victorico "Ricky" P. Vargas (born February 24, 1952) is a Filipino executive who served as the 10th President of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) from March 5, 2018, after winning over Jose Cojuangco Jr. in a court-ordered elections held o ...

stated that the league had found a partner to build the proposed venue while commissioner

Willie Marcial Wilfrido "Willie" O. Marcial (born October 12, 1961) is a Filipino sports executive who serves as the tenth commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association. He became the league's officer-in-charge after Chito Narvasa resigned on December ...

added that the arena will be located in

and be two to three hectares in size. Marcial also stated that the arena has a "70 to 75 percent chance" of it pushing through. Atty. Ogie Narvasa would lead negotiations regarding the arena. On October 28, 2024, it was reported that Marcial began discussing with

Chavit Singson Luis Crisologo "Chavit" Singson (; born June 21, 1941) is a Filipino businessman and politician who last served as the mayor of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur from 2019 to 2022. He was also the governor of the province of Ilocos Sur, starting from 1972 ...

, founder of

LCS Holdings The LCS Group of Companies, also known as LCS Holdings Inc., is a Philippine conglomerate. The company was founded in 2016 by Filipino politician Luis Crisologo Singson who serves as its chairman. Ventures Aviation The LCS Group operates a cha ...

, for the potential site of the arena. LCS Holdings controls the Metrowalk commercial hub in

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig (), is a highly-urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the eastern border of Metro Mani ...

at the site of the former ''Payanig sa Pasig'' amusement park. On November 16, in an interview with Eala on his Power Play radio program, Singson stated that he has "agreed in principle" for the league to build the arena at Metrowalk. On April 11, 2025, during the league's 50th anniversary gala at Solaire Resort North. The league showed a video presentation for its plans for the coming year, during which

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...

governor Robert Non stated that "hopefully, we would be able to hold a groundbreaking ceremony soon."

History

Background

Planning stages

References

See also