IN basketball, winning isn’t everything for Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards team owner Vicente “Bong” Cuevas III

It is also about playing well everytime and everywhere regardless if it is a no-bearing game or a championship match

It is about providing a good and entertaining game that will always keep the loyal fans up to their feet, with smiles on their faces.

It is about seeing friends and enemies set aside their personal differences and sit together to cheer for their favorite teams.

That’s why Cuevas, head coach Jerson Cabiltes and the rest of the Rice Vanguards already feel like winners of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Season 5 even before the playoffs begin next month.

“The people of Nueva Ecija are always very happy to see our team (Rice Vanguards) play, especially at home. The whole team — from top management to the coaching staff and team personnel to the players — will always put the happiness of our people as our priority.That has no price tag.” said Cuevas during a dinner-meeting with media friends in Makati recently.

But while Cuevas said forming the MPBL, the grassroots development league established by boxing legend Sen. Manny Pacquiao on Aug. 29, 2017, is a very good idea in a basketball-loving country like the Philippines, he pointed out several steps that the league needs to do to catapult it to greater heights.

“There’s no doubt that the MPBL, “ang Liga ng Bawat Pilipino”, is already up there. Our games are always getting big audiences, not only in Nueva Ecija but in other major cities and provinces as well. Most of our games are very exciting and entertaining,” claimed Cuevas, whose team Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards are the reigning MPBL champions.

“We’ve already seen the league’s success. But there are still a lot of things to do for both the MPBL and the teams. I think we need to encourage the team owners to keep supporting the league by spending some more to boost its popularity,” added Cuevas, who is now taking the initiative to keep the league a lot more sustainable.

“Once we start doing more to bring awareness to our own league, our own games, the other team owners will surely follow,”added Cuevas, whose team is based in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija.

Among the ideas that Cuevas is bringing up to his fellow team owners is the creation of a long-overdue MPL Board.

But the well-known sports patron from Neuva Ecija clarified that like in the PBA, the MPBL Board will set the vision and direction for the semi-professional league.

“The MPBL Board we envision will not exactly interfere with the day-to-day operations of the league being handled by Commissioner Kenneth Durmendes,” explained Cuevas, who said that at least two to three more teams are set to join the MPBL next season.

Another topic discussed by Cuevas is how to minimize the actual cost of maintaining a team, like actively looking for sponsors and generating enough funds from broadcast rights and sales of team merchandises.

Cuevas claimed the Rice Vanguards spend an average of about P700,000 per out-of-town games alone, mostly on air fares.

With no ticket sales for most teams, the revenue streams for owners to recover their investment are limited to what the league is already earning and individual team sponsors.

“We have to continue to find ways, similar to what the league did by signing an agreement with global sports brand ANTA for the uniforms of all teams. Maybe we can work out some deals with airline companies, too,” explained Cuevas, adding the league’s home-and-away format similar to the NBA could really be very expensive to some teams.

Cuevas admitted some of MPBL’s 29 member-teams from both the South and North Divisions are now experiencing financial difficulties in maintaining a competitive team.

.“I know there are MPBL teams which do not even have a big sponsor or a strong financial backing. But like Nueva Ecija, they are l happy because of the reception they receive from their fans each time they play at home. But for how long can the teams be able to sustain it is another matter.”

Cuevas also urged his fellow team owners to help Sen. Pacquiao and the MPBL in keeping the integrity of the league against unscrupulous teams.

He lamented the practice of some teams entering the league but could not even put up a competitive line-up. A few teams even applied for a franchise, but later put it on lease.

“We have to remember that the MPBL vision is for its members to put up a competitive team that will make the city and province they represent proud. They’re carrying the name of the province or the city and the players are even hailed as midern-day heroes. They are not just professional players, but representatives of the city or province competing in the MPBL.”

Also discussed was the formation of the MPBL Press Corps composed of members of the national media from broadsheets, tabloids and even radio-TV, to bring the excitement of the games to an even broader audience not only in the country but in other parts of the world.

“I am a firm believer of our product here — the MPBL. But we also have to continue to bring it closer to the people,” added Cuevas.