PBA Season 49 Records Significant Viewership Growth Ahead of Golden Anniversary

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) continues to dominate as the premier sports league in the nation, showing strong growth in viewership throughout its 49th season. As the league approaches its 50th anniversary, recent reports during the board of governors’ annual planning session in Las Vegas revealed substantial increases in audience engagement.

Television broadcasters TV5 and Cignal TV highlighted the resurgence of the league's traditional three-conference format, which significantly boosted viewer numbers. The mid-season Commissioner’s Cup attracted the largest audience, amassing a total viewership of 23.7 million across RPTV, TV5, and PBA Rush. This surpassed the 22.7 million cumulative viewers recorded during the season-opening Governors’ Cup, where TNT’s Tropang 5G edged out Ginebra in six games.

TNT’s thrilling Game 7 overtime win over Ginebra in the Commissioner’s Cup final further heightened interest, putting the team on the brink of a grand slam. Meanwhile, the season-culminating Philippine Cup—considered the league’s marquee event—drew 21.2 million viewers as San Miguel Beer reclaimed the All-Filipino crown, preventing TNT from achieving a triple championship.

Comparing the figures to the previous 48th season, which saw lower numbers with the Commissioner’s Cup garnering 16.9 million and the Philippine Cup 13.7 million viewers, this season’s upward trend is notable. Meralco’s landmark import-free title win and their upset over San Miguel Beer in the prior season had a respective clubbing of audience measurement.

The league’s digital platforms also experienced remarkable growth. The Pilipinas Live app recorded total watch times of 26 million for the Governors’ Cup, and 36 million each for the Commissioner’s Cup and Philippine Cup—significantly higher than last season’s figures of approximately 7.9 million and 7.4 million for the latter two conferences.

On social media, the PBA amassed a combined 1.8 billion views on YouTube and Facebook from November through July, underscoring the league’s expanding digital reach.

PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas emphasized the league’s sustained leadership, stating, "The PBA remains to be the No. 1 brand compared to other sports." TV5 President Guido Zaballero attributed part of this success to the establishment of RPTV as the league’s primary broadcast partner, noting, "We saw a huge increase in viewership in Season 49 and this has a lot to do with us establishing the PBA’s new home, which is RPTV."