TV to further boost image of Phl football

Football stakeholders and supporters have batted for a comprehensive television coverage of football tournaments in the country to help give the sport a mainstream appeal and at the same time help generate revenues for the local clubs.

In the recent Business FootballPhilippines Convention organized by MMC Sportz, top-notch executives of organizations such as AFC, PFF, PFL, LaLiga, Dentsu X, SMG Insight, Globe Telecom, RSportz, Toby Sports and Manila Times said the football is now tipped to become the fastest growing sport in the country with the largest potential for success commercially and in terms of onpitch success.

The sport, which is currently No. 3 in the Philippines in terms of popularity and participation, after basketball and boxing, is said to be still lagging behind compared to other sports, such as volleyball, billiards, etc., in terms of TV coverage.

“Research in this market, shows that TV is still the number one platform here in the Philippines, and is the number one medium that advertisers are looking for, to spend their budgets on,” said MMC Sports CEO Eric Gottschalk during the convention which drew close to 200 local and foreign delegates at the New World Makati Hotel.

“We also learned that live TV coverage actually stimulates stadium attendance, and not vice versa. If there’s more football on TV, we will see more fans in the stadium. Currently football is not ranked among the top 100 TV programmers in the Philippines and is only No. 3 sport in terms of participation and popularity after basketball and boxing. Football needs media in order to drive commercial revenues for the clubs,” he added.

But the recent success of the Azkals, with their Asian Cup qualification, and their FIFA ranking at its highest at 111, has given football a renewed confidence and a positive outlook in terms of the growth of the sport in the country.