NATIONAL Basketball Association (NBA) 2K League head of branded content Ade Mangum said that the decision to hold the NBA 2K League (2KL) APAC Invitational in the Philippines for the second consecutive year wasn’t hard.
At the invitation over the weekend, Mangum told media members, “I feel like basketball, specifically the NBA, goes hand in hand with the Philippines. You can just see it in terms of the numbers. It ranks second and third as far as sales and users in Southeast Asia. I feel like it’s the perfect home, it’s the perfect marriage between the two.”
“I don’t know if you’ve seen the game’s comeback story, but it just makes it more intense. Even the spectators are cheering, and I can hear every single person’s breath and every single gasp that they make. You can feel that electricity in the air. It’s contributing to the gameplay. I feel like the players also feel it, and it’s just taking the competition to another level,” Mangum continued.
According to NBA 2K’s partner Cignal, fans can genuinely anticipate more NBA 2K events for the Philippines because of the thrilling basketball atmosphere there.
“There are a lot of things to look forward to in the upcoming year. We’re really looking forward to more regional competitions, more international competitions for our [players] so that they also get the experience and hopefully next year we get to win the championship as well,” Gerald Milan, chief revenue officer at Cignal TV, stated. “We’re really looking forward to working with the NBA on more activities, even maybe grassroots activities and outside Metro Manila also.”
The expansion of NBA 2K in this nation has been a dream come true for Ian Serranilla, director of operations for Laus Group Esports.
“This is part of our dream. When we started this, it was like we were the only ones playing. There was no such thing as a professional team. It was just like basketball clubs. And as you can see, it’s now gaining traction and momentum. It’s gaining interest Actually, there are college esports players already that can go into the professional scene. Which is what our dream is, for it to be a sustainable community,” Serranilla said.#