As a “legacy” partnership with the NBA brings to the Philippines the first ever pre-NBA season game featuring Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets, the popularity of franchise stars like Paul George and George Hill (of the Pacers), as well as Jeremy Lin and Dwight Howard (of the Rockets), is jacking up ticket sales at the SM group’s Mall of Asia Arena.

As early as the first week of September, tickets were almost sold-out for the game, according to West Avenue Theatres Corp. (WATC), which manages the Arena, SM Cinema, SM Tickets, Snack Time and e-Plus.

WATC senior vice president Edgar Tejerero said talks of a possible partnership with the NBA already started even before the completion of the Arena. And with this NBA partnership, more of such big-time events may take place in the future.

The arena has a capacity of 15,000, which can be extended up to 20,000 with dedicated platforms put up in every section for standing customers.

With this NBA pre-season game, the SM group is super-proud that MOA Arena is making sports history—and that basketball-crazy Filipinos are part of it.—Doris C. Dumlao