INSIDE SPORTS: THE TRIUMPH OF A COMMON CAUSE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 29 Mar 2015
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In what must surely be recognized as a television coup of the highest order, eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao and his longtime partners at Solar Sports headed by its amiable CEO Wilson Tieng, have worked together tirelessly to fulfill Manny?s dream of unifying our country and people and using bitter rivals in the broadcast and telecommunications industry to prove it can be done.
Pacquiao?s hope has always been to use his fights to serve as a unifying force in our country amidst the daily, debilitating divisions that mark our lives and erode our hopes.
Manny has parlayed his persuasive powers anchored on his charisma and a straightforward approach to helping get things done, to hammer out an agreement between the three major television networks ? ABS-CBN, TV 5 and GMA 7 as well as GMA Radio?s dzBB and several other platforms, to telecast his eagerly anticipated multi-million dollar showdown with undefeated pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr on a slightly delayed basis on free TV but with the radio coverage as well as the pay-per-view accessible on a ?live? basis.
As Wilson Tieng of Solar Sports confessed, it was no easy task getting an agreement acceptable to all the TV networks and that in pursuit of Pacquiao?s unification dream ? both in the ring as far as the titles of the various boxing organizations are concerned ? and all across our land with May 3 the starting point, he spent ?sleepless nights.?
The only time we recall that an event was simulcast on television was the Dolphy Special which was a tribute to the quintessential Filipino comedian and President Marcos? public affairs program ?Pulong Pulong sa Kaunlaran? which, quite honestly, was more of a viewership burden than an enjoyable one.
The multi-network deal in the Marcos era was AN agreement which the broadcasters had to comply with as it was hammered on the anvil of Martial rule unlike the deal on the Pacquiao-Mayweather telecast which was, by all accounts, a gift to the Filipino people crafted by parties ready and hopefully willing, to allow Pacquiao his moment of glory and our people, their opportunity to witness an epic ?Battle for Greatness.?
In the end it didn?t turn out to be a case of the highest bidder winning out but rather the triumph of a common cause to reach out to a projected audience of 90 million Filipinos from Aparri to Jolo.
Nobody could have done this other than a genuine national sports hero whose remarkable concern for his people, especially the poor, has characterized his journey in life.
It is one more compelling example of the wide difference in character of Pacquiao and Mayweather and effectively seals Manny?s place in the hearts and homes of millions of his countrymen and millions around the world.
But while we give all praise to Manny who in turn will surely look up to the heavens and praise and worship God for His infinite wisdom and goodness in helping make this happen, there are two other entities that need to be given the credit they richly deserve for making this happen.
The first of course is Solar Sports and CEO Wilson Tieng. They have had the exclusive rights to Pacquiao?s fights for the past 12 years and they were under no obligation to share what was lawfully theirs with their competitors in a sense since Solar Sports also has its own TV platforms.
The other is GMA 7 who also had an agreement with Solar Sports for exclusive telecast of the Pacquiao fights on the network.
That the leaders of GMA 7 agreed to a multi-network deal instead of holding on to their inherent rights which, from a business and TV ratings standpoint could have been huge, speaks well of individuals like executive vice president Felipe Yalong who put it very simply when he said ?we owe it to the Filipino people? and conceded the fact that they reached out ?in deference to the request of Manny Pacquiao.?
One cannot exclude ABS-CBN and Manny Pangilinan?s TV 5 from the resulting gratitude of our people because it was a tough ask for them and ultimately agreeing to be part of an unprecedented tie-up, reflects their own commitment to a common cause articulated by Pacquiao.
Now that the deal has been done, its time for everybody who cares for Pacquiao and wish him success in the awesome task of ensuring that ?Mayweather?s 0 has got to go? to give him space to train without hindrance or distractions and to refrain from bothering him for tickets and similar favors that take up his time and undermine his focus.
Manny Pacquiao is surely one of the heroes of our time and his heroism has been further enhanced by his commitment to bringing our broadcast entities together so that as many Filipinos as possible can witness the ?Battle of the Greatest.?
Many years ago when he was beginning to carve a niche in boxing, Manny told his manager and father-figure Rod Nazario in our presence that he wanted to enter public service. The late Rod brushed it off but Manny insisted.
We clearly recall his words which ring in our mind to this day ? ?I want to help my people, especially the poor people in our country.?
Congressman Manny Pacquiao ? unquestionably a hero of our time.
Photo (L-R): SM's Edgar Tejero, GMA7's Mike Enriquez, GMA7's Felipe Yalong, Solar Sports' Wilson Tieng, Cignal TV's Oscar Reyes, TV5's Chot Reyes and ABS-CBN's Dino Laurena during last Wednesday's press conference announcing the unprecedented tie up of the Philippines' network giants. Photo by Dong Secuya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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