Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Willie Marcial is confident the Philippine Cup finals will still draw significant gate attendance sans the presence of the league’s most popular team in Barangay Ginebra.

Marcial believes championship protagonists San Miguel Beer and the TNT Tropang 5G have a strong fan base that could fill game venues in the best-of-seven series, allaying fears of a lean audience following the Kings’ semifinals exit.

“Fans flock during playoffs, starting from the quarterfinals. We could see that in the eliminations, a few fans came to watch the games. But come playoffs, especially during the finals, they are there,” Marcial said.

Game 1 of the all-Filipino title contest began Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen snapped what could have been a finals trilogy between TNT and Ginebra this season for their return to the biggest stage after missing the playoffs entirely in the Commissioner’s Cup.

Crowd-darling Ginebra was sent packing by San Miguel in Game 7 of the semifinals last Wednesday, drawing a 12,279-strong crowd.

Marcial is convinced of a sustained huge gate attendance even without the Ginebra crowd.

“I expect a packed arena. The fans are really looking for quality games and this finals series has it,” he said.

The Tropang 5G and the Kings’ Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup finals had revived the interest of live spectators after the league saw a decline in gate attendance.

A total of 16,783 fans trooped to the Big Dome in Game 4 of the Governors’ Cup finals won by Ginebra, which eventually lost the series in six games. On the other hand, Game 1 of the Commissioner’s Cup finals, won by TNT, drew 11,802 spectators.

Ginebra’s 2023 Commissioner’s Cup championship-clinching Game 7 victory over the guest team Bay Area Dragons held in Philippine Arena drew an all-time record crowd of 54,589.

Meanwhile, there will be no changes in the scheduled game venues even if the series reaches Game 6 or 7, according to Marcial.

The finals series will be played at the Big Dome in the first three games before transferring to the Mall of Asia Arena for Game 4. Game 5, if necessary, is back at the Big Dome while a possible sixth or seventh meeting will be held at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

“As of now that’s the schedule that we have. We’ve already checked other possible venues but unfortunately, they’re already fully booked, so we can’t transfer to bigger venues. As much as we wanted to play in a bigger venue, we can’t for now,” Marcial said.

The Philsports Arena only has a 10,000-seat capacity — a bit small for a growing crowd considering what’s at stake in a series that could go the distance.

“But we’re okay with Philsports. We can’t change venues for now. We’ve been talking to possible venues two months before to book a schedule,” the amiable PBA official said.

“As of now we’ll stay with Philsports.”