UAAP Season 72 is the 2009–2010 season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. It will be hosted by Far Eastern University, with opening rites on July 11 at the Araneta Coliseum. The men's basketball tournament and the women's volleyball tournament will be aired by ABS-CBN's UHF Studio 23 for the tenth consecutive year.
With ABS-CBN's contract to broadcast the UAAP expiring on March 31, 2010, two other TV networks are bidding for exclusive television rights for the league, although ABS-CBN has the right of first refusal. Solar Entertainment Corporation's sports section Solar Sports will join the bidding for the TV rights, with a Solar official naming GMA Network as another interested party. The UAAP has been broadcast by ABS-CBN for ten years already at their UHF station Studio 23.[1] UAAP president Anton Montinola said the league considers "to project the league not just nationally but also globally" due to "a lot of followers abroad, mostly alumni". Montinola further said the league has been satisfied with ABS-CBN's coverage of both the basketball and volleyball games; the volleyball tournament has even been moved from the first semester (July–October) to the second semester (November–March) to maximize the TV coverage.
Confirming Solar's earlier revelation, GMA has joined the bidding, submitting theirs at a UAAP board meeting on March 19, 2009. In order to strengthen its position, ABS-CBN's bid includes airing the men's basketball championship series at their flagship VHF station Channel 2 instead of airing it on Studio 23, where ABS-CBN has aired the men's basketball tournament for the past nine seasons. Solar will air it on VHF C/S 9 of which they a block-timer. All three submitted five-year bids. GMA will air the games on its VHF channel Q.
Despite the TV rights row on the Pacquiao-Hatton boxing bout between ABS-CBN on one hand and Solar Sports and GMA on the other, Solar has confirmed it will stand by their UAAP bid, with Solar offering a possible linkage either to ABS-CBN's The Filipino Channel (on which the games currently air) or to GMA Pinoy TV to air the games internationally. With ABS-CBN's current contract is worth P75 million, Montinola has expressed delight that "there are three TV networks that are very, very much interested to become our partner next season," noting that it is "the first time that this is happening." Montinola clarified that the UAAP is not "rushing things" to determine which among the three networks have the best offer, and declined to comment on the financial offers, saying, "We [UAAP, GMA 7, ABS-CBN and Solar] are still far from that discussion.
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