HERE we go again. Numbers, numbers, numbers.
It’s said that Game Two of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 77 men’s basketball finals last October 1 set an all-time attendance record at the tradition-steeped Araneta Coliseum when 24,896 people witnessed National University’s 62-47 spanking of Far Eastern University that forced a deciding Game Three to be held also at the 54-year-old Big Dome tomorrow, October 15.
That attendance figure supposedly broke the old mark of 24,883 that witnessed Game 7 of the 2014 Philippine Cup semifinals between San Mig Coffee and Barangay Ginebra in the professional Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) league.
Convince me these are the largest crowds ever at the Araneta Coliseum.
During the mid-seventies, newspaper reports estimated that more than 35,000 fans once watched league founders Crispa and Toyota slug it out (yes, literally and figuratively – that’s because sometimes fisticuffs erupted during their marquee duels and one of these brawls even forced a number of players to spend overnight at the Camp Crame prison during the dreaded martial law era) for the PBA championship.
As a Baby Boomer and a statistical freak at that, I had no reason to doubt the attendance figures being churned out at the Araneta Coliseum, which made its sports debut in March 1960 with the junior lightweight championship (return) bout between Philippine boxing icon Gabriel (Flash) Elorde (then defending his title belt) and African American Harold Gomez. Months earlier, Gomez had lost his crown to Elorde. In the rematch, Elorde quickly knocked out Gomes in the first round.
The Rizal Memorial Coliseum was the other venue for sporting events during the time. The arena was smaller in size and therefore could accommodate fewer customers. It was also aging since it was built during the pre-war times.
Then again, RMC had had a rich and colorful history as some of the biggest local and international basketball tournaments were held there.
During my younger years (sixties and seventies), the Araneta Coliseum appeared to be more spacious than at present.
That’s why it could have a bigger seating capacity – as much as 35,000 people packed like sardines from the bleachers to the ringside (now known as patron seats). The “open” bleachers section, which like now did not have numbered chairs, attracted the most customers. Add to that there were the standing-room-only viewers.
But as the decades went by, the Big Dome was renovated a number of times and subsequently configurated. Maybe that’s the reason why less people could be accommodated at the Big Dome now.
Maybe in Game Three of the UAAP Finals on October 15, more people are likely to witness it “live” at the Big Dome and establish another attendance mark.
In a few days more, I would hardly care.
The mother of all mother attendance figures will be registered on October 19 when the PBA opens its 40th season with a pair of games at the newly-built Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
The Philippine Arena reportedly could accommodate more than 55,000 people – making it possibly the largest crowd ever in world sports history for an indoor stadium.
Mark the unofficial sports holiday as Attendance Day.
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