PBA BOARD APPROVES SALE OF AIR21 FRANCHISE TO NLEX
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 26 Jun 2014
Pangilinan.
The PBA board of governors has approved the sale of the Air 21 franchise to Nlex which was originally accepted as one of three expansion teams, the others being Blackwater and Kia Motors.
PBA chairman Mon Segismundo of Meralco told the Manila Standard that ?the sale was approved by the board? after Air21 and Nlex had agreed on the terms which have not been divulged.
Segismundo said Nlex would now only have to pay the PBA what he described as ?a small transfer fee? for the acquisition of the Air21 franchise.
The Manila Standard first broke the story weeks ago about the negotiations between Nlex whose president is Ramon Fernandez (not the four-time former MVP) and Air21 governor and former chairman Lito Alvarez who told us then, they would consider selling the franchise ?if the price is right.?
When we asked Alvarez what an acceptable price would be, he said ?anywhere between P200-P300 million? pointing out that the newcomer would acquire a ?very competitive team? and that Manny Pangilinan who will now have three teams in the PBA, the others being Talk N? Text and Meralco ?wanted a competitive team.?
Unable to get any meaningful concessions from the PBA board such as directly elevating the core of its DLeague champion team, Nlex president Fernandez told us they would explore the possibility of acquiring the franchise of one of the current ten teams, rather than pay a franchise fee of P100 million and become a whipping boy of the other current pro league squads.
Pangilinan himself told the Standard the P100 million franchise fee was ?exorbitant? and the so-called concessions made by the PBA board of protecting twelve players from each team was ?ridiculous.?
With the current Air21 line-up and the possibility of recruiting a couple of talented rookies in the Annual Draft before the start of the next conference, Nlex under coach Franz Pumaren would satisfy Pangilinan?s desire to have a competitive team.
In real terms Pangilinan would now, on paper at least, match the three teams that officially belong to the San Miguel Corporation franchise.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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