'There's Never Been a Better Time to Be a Fan of the NBA in the Philippines'

NBA Philippines officials invited Esquire Philippines and a few other journalists over to their headquarters recently to chat with NBA Asia managing director Ramez Sheikh. Appointed to the position earlier this year, Sheikh now directs all of NBA Philippines’ business groups such as media distribution, marketing, merchandising, events, digital media, and gaming. 

Sheikh joined NBA Asia in 2016, previously serving as Vice President and General Manager of Global Content and Media Distribution. He helped expand the league’s media and content business in Asia-Pacific, managed key relationships with broadcast, digital and social media partners, as well as oversaw the launch of various new media, content, and direct-to-consumer initiatives in this side of the world.

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With over 20 years of experience in the media industry with previous stints at NBC Universal and the Walt Disney Company, he is now in charge of all things NBA not just in Asia-Pacific, but in the Indian region as well. Locally, he inherits a thriving market in the Philippines with Filipino fans hungry for NBA basketball.

“There’s never been a better time to be a fan of the NBA in the Philippines,” he says. “The state of the union is strong. It’s highly competitive. We genuinely don’t know who’s going to win the championship this year, which is exciting. We’re definitely off to a terrific start. 

“We got a tremendous social following in the Philippines,” he adds. “Just about 15 million Filipinos follow our local and global social handles which is tremendous for us. The NBA aggregate has just over two billion followers across all different social platforms which is the most for any sports leagues. The passion is there.”

The day after our meeting, Sheikh and a few other NBA executives watched one of the UAAP games and met privately with league officials at halftime. It’s proof of how serious the NBA wants to connect with local basketball’s movers and shakers.

Exciting times ahead

Our basketball-obsessed country finds itself in a very exciting position with two of the NBA’s young rising stars having Filipino heritage.

“We’ve got two really strong players,” Sheikh shares. “Jordan Clarkson (of the) Jazz doing exceptional work and Jalen Green from the Rockets are having a great season, so I’m proud of them that they’re showing up and taking care of business.” Also, with the Philippines set to host the FIBA World Cup next year alongside Japan and Indonesia, it’s great that the country has a legitimate NBA star donning the national colors. 

“I'm excited that (Clarkson has) chosen to represent the national team,” Sheikh says. “Excited to see him play in the World Cup. Having players from specific countries allows our fans to connect and it's a much more personal experience, and that’s really important.” 

There won’t be a shortage of NBA star power come August next year with most countries seen to send in their big guns for the quadrennial meet. “I imagine there’s a sizable number who will play,” Sheikh says. “To put it into perspective, there are close to 120 international players who currently play in the NBA. That's about 25 percent of our player base so I imagine there’s going to be significant representation at the World Cup. Obviously not just team USA, but all the other international teams.”

NBA Asia managing director Ramez Sheikh (center, in suit)

Photo by NBA Asia.

Manila also played host to an NBA Global Games pre-season match between the Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets back in October 2013 held at the Mall of Asia Arena. Despite the positive reception, the country has yet to see the return of live NBA action to our islands almost a decade later.

“A couple of months ago, we hosted our first international game since the pandemic in Tokyo,” Sheikh shares. “We had our Japan games there. It’s great to have our games back internationally. We’ll be having games in Mexico City next month and in January, we’ll have them in Paris. Currently, there are no concrete plans (to hold games) in Manila but we’re always open and we’ll continue to explore with interested parties here to see what we can do. Our priority is to always bring NBA experiences to the market. The game is a big one but whether it’s talent visits or local content, we try to focus on that as well.”

NBA's focus in the region

Despite the change in leadership, the NBA’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific region including the Philippines remains the same. Sheikh plans to focus on three important aspects as he takes on the challenge of being the league’s chief in the region.

“It’s really important that, in the Philippines especially, people continue to play basketball,” he says. “I’ll give you a couple of examples of where we see our role. Earlier this year, we got back on the ground and we were involved in a court dedication. Also in May, we had our first Junior NBA grassroots camp after many years. 

“Second is experiencing the game,” Sheikh adds, explaining how the NBA continues to find ways to bring the game closer to the fans. “We had Herb Jones from the Pelicans visit earlier this year. He was able to help with the camp. We also have merchandise available in our store. That’s another way for our fans to experience and interact with our game.”

Last but not the least is game accessibility. “With our Cignal and Smart partnership, we got a large volume of games available on free air, paid TV, and digital services. We also just relaunched the NBA App. That’s pretty revolutionary for the NBA because we have an algorithm that personalizes content for our fans. Other than the games, we’ve got access to over 3,000 hours of archival and local content. We also have a membership program. It’s the first time the NBA’s launched something called the NBA ID and when you register for this membership or loyalty program, you get access to a whole host of benefits. The idea is how do we continue engaging with our fans? How do we continue to personalize the experience? Because what may you like may be different from what we like so we’re trying to be thoughtful about that.”

It’s great to know that the league’s efforts in the region are in more than capable hands and under the leadership of someone we can relate with. “At the end of the day, as much as I’m the managing director of NBA Asia, I’m a fan of basketball.”