PBA opening game draws 52,612 fans!!!

The PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) wrote history this weekend by drawing a record-breaking crowd of 52,612 for the season opener between Kia Sorento and Blackwater Elite 80-66 !!

It’s been said that basketball unites the Philippines and boxing legend Manny Pacquiao can, well, unite the Philippines. And when the Philippines’ favorite pastime and the Philippines’ favorite boxer converge in one place, thousands of souls will naturally go to it. And that place is the Philippine Arena and that event is the opener for the 40th season of the PBA wherein 52,612 people showed up.

Boxing legend Pacquiao, the playing-coach of the Kia Sorento, did not only grace the event but played, albeit not on par with his boxing exploits, in the opening game against the Blackwater Elite. PBA’s attendance in the Philippine Arena is by far the largest attendance in the league’s 40-year history. The previous record is 24,883 during the Game 7 Philippine Cup semifinals between the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers, now the Purefoods Star Hotshots, and the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in 2013 which was held at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.