Cebu Offers A Modern Venue For The PBA Games

SPIN.ph reported that the city of Cebu is getting ready to welcome the opening of the SM Seaside Arena on 9 July. This is a 25,000-seat indoor venue that is projected to rival the best Metro Manila could offer and help establish the highly-urbanized central Visayas city as a viable alternative for grand festivities, including major sports events.

The new facility is probably a version of SM's Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City that over the years since its opening in 2012, has also become a venue of choice for sports, concerts and other activites requiring a big air-conditioned covered arena.

The arena features a distinctive wave-shaped, seven-storey façade. Inside, it boasts advanced center-hung LED displays, professional-grade 360-degree ribbon boards, 5G connectivity, and exclusive corporate premium suites.

The PBA, according to SPIN.ph sources, is already looking at the arena as venue for its Cebu games. Also showing interest, the same sources said, are the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and the East Asia Super League (EASL).

For starters, the Cebu Arena will hold its first big event this Saturday (11 July) with the holding of the "BINI Cignals: Anniversary Celebration", featuring the popular all-female, all-Filipino pop group formed by a defunct broadcast company.

The PBA can still hold playoff matches for its Season 50 Governors Cup later this year, but there might not be enough time to fix the schedule and most likely, the league will play in the new venue in Season 51.

The SBP on the other hand, previously hinted bringing some of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup games down South in 2027. The country was chosen as host of the continental meet last year by the FIBA Regional Office-Asia.

EASL CEO Henry Kerins, meanwhile, likewise expressed the intention of holding the 2027 EASL Finals at the new playing arena located within the SM Seaside Complex, as per SPIN.ph sources.

The regional league hosted the 2024 EASL Final Four at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, which proved to be a huge success even without a Filipino team.