Now that the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship is over, it’s time to assess if hosting the shebang was worth the estimated cost of over P2 billion, of which nearly P700 million came from government coffers. Bashing PNVF and Asian Volleyball Confederation president Tats Suzara during the recent competition served no purpose except to illustrate to the visiting 31 nations that participated in the games how disunited and fragmented the host country is. The brickbats should’ve come even before anyone thought of Manila staging the event so it could’ve been stopped. But once the bid was accepted, the only recourse was to throw support to the organizers in laying out the red carpet for the visitors, hoping their presence would redound to a positive impact on tourism.
But that’s not the end of the story. The time of reckoning has come. Suzara must be given a chance to explain if hosting justified the expense. There are quantifiable elements to consider but also qualitative factors that must be looked into. Private sponsors coughed up quite a sum to contribute to footing the bill. They don’t expect cash in return but surely, deserve some kind of compensation in terms of advertising mileage, goodwill or image-building. For the government, the return has to be measured in terms of economic impact and promoting the development of sport at the elite and grassroots levels. In the course of the competition, ticket prices were slashed first by 30% then by 50%. Tickets were also given away to stakeholders to fill up the venue.
Organizers should’ve anticipated the resistance to high ticket prices particularly as the men’s game isn’t as popular as the women’s. Fortunately, the Philippine men’s team created more than a ripple in the tournament, picking up its first-ever win at the world stage and falling a hairline short of crashing the Round of 16. Alas Pilipinas blew six match points in losing a five-setter to World No. 16 Iran, signifying its ascendancy. Iran went on to reach the quarterfinals. The Philippines finished No. 19 in the standings, outranking Asian powerhouses Japan, South Korea and China. Suzara called it ‘a first and historic (achievement) for us”. This wouldn’t have happened if the Philippines hadn’t taken an automatic slot to play as host.
When the Philippines hosted part of the group stage and the entire playoff phase of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the cost was over P2 billion, including $32 million that was paid to FIBA as a rights fee. But in the post-mortem, SBP president Al Panlilio said it created an economic impact of P17.8 billion, reeled in 1.5 billion cumulative viewers on TV and livestreams and delivered P1.9 billion worth of media value for Manila as host city. The event welcomed at least 10,000 tourists, 70% of whom mentioned they would recommend visiting the country to others and 77% remarked they would return. Additionally, fans were treated to a high level of basketball and witnessed some of the world’s greatest stars perform.
Suzara won’t shirk from the responsibility of accountability. He’s been involved in staging numerous big-time sporting events in the past, both here and abroad. Let’s wait for him to explain what went on at the FIVB Men’s World Championships and if hosting was worth the cost. In 2029, the Philippines will host the FIVB Women’s World Championships. Will that be worth the cost, too?