(8 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Juan, Puerto Rico – 01 July 2024
1. Various of cheerleaders at the basketball match between Mets de Guaynabo and Vaqueros de Bayamon
2. Game
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: San Juan, Puerto Rico – 30 May, 2022
3. Reggaeton singer Bad Bunny entering the stadium and greeting his fans
4. Young fans cheering after seeing Bad Bunny
++IMAGES OVER SOUNDBITE++
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricardo Dalmau, President of the Puerto Rico Professional Basketball League:
“The entry of urban genre artists, in 2021 Bad Bunny – even if maybe he is not that new now- and Anuel, and last year Ozuna, generated a huge interest.”
6. Various of fans cheering the players
++IMAGES OVER SOUNDBITE++
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricardo Dalmau, President of the Puerto Rico Professional Basketball League:
“There was a mix of factors that generated growth, not only of the older people who followed (the games) but also of the youth. There are many young people following the BSN (Baloncesto Superior Nacional) and there has been much international growth.”
8. Various of people entering the stadium Ruben Rodríguez Coliseum
ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Juan, Puerto Rico – 1 July 2024
++IMAGES OVER SOUNDBITES++
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jessibelle Millan, Mets de Guaynabo supporter:
“We love them (reggaeton singers), and I also see it as a way for them to inject the sport with the youth.”
10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Victoria Ortega, Mets de Guaynabo supporter:
“I feel that this is something that they should continue to do with sports in Puerto Rico, so that it reaches the courts more. Something they should continue to do in the future.”
11. People watching the game
12. Mascot cheering the game
STORYLINE:
Puerto Rico’s professional basketball league is experiencing a renaissance thanks to reggaeton artists like Bad Bunny, Ozuna, and Anuel AA stepping into the financial game and stacking up a loyal fan base.
Basketball games transformed into premier rendezvous, attracting celebrities and audiences of all ages hoping to see them.
A pivotal moment in the league’s revival came in 2021, when three-time Grammy winner Bad Bunny, along with his manager Noah Assad, became co-owner of Los Cangrejeros of Santurce.
What were once half-empty stadiums in Puerto Rico are now packed, filled with families and younger fans carrying percussion instruments like “pleneras” and cheering for their favorite teams, from Los Capitanes of Arecibo in northern Puerto Rico to Los Leones of Ponce in the south.
Attendance more than doubled from 2018 to 2023, skyrocketing from some 480,000 tickets sold to nearly one million, according to the league.
The league’s digital presence also has soared, with its YouTube channel attracting over 85,600 subscribers last year, Instagram followers have surged from 52,800 in June 2019 to 220,000 so far this year.
Ricardo Dalmau, president of the island’s professional men’s basketball league, said that when artists Noah and Bad Bunny came along, "we generated a lot of noise.”
Dalmau said local TV ratings saw an upward tick after they began broadcasting some of their games in 2021, with the biggest surprise being their largest viewership block: women ages 18 to 49.
This new audience also was reflected in the bleachers.
After Bad Bunny, other artists like Anuel AA quickly followed, buying Arecibo’s Capitanes team before a new owner took over in 2023, and Ozuna acquiring Manatí’s team, renaming it Los Osos in 2022.
The league currently has 12 teams, compared with only nine playing four years ago.
AP Video by Alejandro Granadillo
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/96c90fe13d9f44e29b3f9e601bad83f9
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in July 13, 2024, 9:04 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
