Are we reaching for the stars here? Not exactly.
How about we fill up the Philippine Arena in the 2023 FIBA World Cup opener?
Such was the request of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas less than three months before the event dubbed as the "new Thrilla in Manila" unfolds.
The SBP is eyeing a new FIBA attendance record when Gilas Pilipinas take on Dominican Republic on August 25 at the 55-seater venue in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“What we would like to do is to break the record of 32,000-plus attendance in a FIBA game. If we play at the Philippine Arena, we’ll definitely go for that record,” said SBP president Al Panlilio in a Senate presentation in 2022.
Panlilio was of course referring to the 1994 FIBA World Championship gold medal game between USA and Russia in Toronto, Canada. The said game, which saw superstars like Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller, Dominique Wilkins, and Shawn Kemp representing the star-spangled flag, drew a mammoth crowd of 32,616. The Americans drubbed the Russians, 137-91.
In a basketball-crazy nation like the Philippines, which is co-hosting the event with Japan and Indonesia, surpassing that number is not impossible. After all, the PBA almost filled up the Arena when the Barangay Ginebra beat guest team Bay Area Dragons in Game 7 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals last season. To be exact, 54,589 fans, mostly Ginebra fans, trooped to the Bulacan venue.
So is the SBP reaching for the stars here? Not exactly. The Filipino fans will deliver.
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(GM)