NEWSFLASH 

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GMA-7 OFFERS P50-M FOR PBL TV RIGHTS

Quezon City, Feb. 4, 2000 - The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) might air its games on GMA Network Inc. when the league launches its 2000 season next month.

The PBL is currently under contract with Vintage Sports, which is in charge of the television coverage of the games. The PBL-Vintage deal began during the 1999 season that also saw Welcoat Paints bag the first and second Yakult-PBL Challenge titles.

Vintage has taken in new partners led by Viva Entertainment and the Argosy consortium, a development that insiders claim could render the PBL’s contract with Vintage “null and void.”

A high-ranking member of the PBL board of governors told The Manila Times that GMA is offering the PBL P50 million for its television rights.

Incoming PBL chairman Dioceldo Sy told The Times that GMA’s offer is “interesting,”

“It’s a very interesting offer. But we still have to sit down and talk about this with the GMA officials to see whether everything can be viable,” said Sy.

Observers believe that GMA’s move to lure the PBL away from Vintage-Viva’s hands was an offshoot of its recent loss to the latter during the highly-publicized bidding war for the rights to cover the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).