MOA Arena, Raising the Stakes

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Last Thursday, June 23 2011, I had the privilege to attend a press conference in the IMAX arena of the SM Mall of Asia, it basically introduced the partnership of SM MOA and the NCAA. So what does the Sy-ran company have to do with the oldest collegiate league in the Philippines?

Well, for starters, a new arena is about to unfold before our very eyes.

The MOA Arena, which will be erected in the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City will be the new home of the NCAA after this year’s season. Letran, which will be hosting the 88th season of the NCAA, will have the privilege to conduct games under the new state-of-the-art sports complex which if I listened to the speakers correctly, should be the best arena that we’ll be having in the Philippines.

Yes. You heard it right. It is indeed promising.

The proposed arena, which should be finished by April 2012, can hold more than 20,000 people, with 16,000 guaranteed seats. It will feature suites for VIPs who would want to watch the games at the comfort of their own privacy and it will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities that are being used already in NBA arenas like The Philips Arena, the home-floor of the Atlanta Hawks.

So, what could be the implications of SM creating a new avenue for Philippine sports and the likes?

Big time implications. Big time.

UAAP season 75 will be hosted by NU, and since we all know that the NU Bulldogs are now being ran by the Sys, we can all expect the 75th season of the UAAP to be played in the new MOA Arena. This means, by next year, once the UAAP and the NCAA season goes full circle again for the 75th and 88th seasons respectively, we should all expect to see games at the Mall of Asia Complex.

Well, ugh, so what?

Well, duh, let us look at the big picture here, now that SM has raised the stakes for sports complexes and entertain venues here in the Philippines, we should expect more from their counterparts. Right now, I think it is just fair to expect the Araneta Colisuem, the arena that we are now considering as the best complex for major sports and entertainment events to try, and be competitive with SM’s new planned arena.

You know what that means? Better arenas are equal to better events.

Who knows, because of the recent developments, maybe watching an NBA game or a U2 concert here in the Philippines is not that far-fetched at all?