Finals season: December belongs to the UAAP, the PBA and the PVL

Philippine sport saves its loudest weeks for the end of the year. Three leagues reach their finals in one five-week run: the Premier Volleyball League from 24 November, the UAAP men's basketball finals through the first half of December, and the PBA Governors' Cup Finals from 16 December to as late as the 30th. Almost all of it plays in two buildings, the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay and the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, with the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan taking PVL dates. One honest note before the detail: the finals dates on our calendar for these series are windows, labelled tentative, because the leagues settle game-by-game dates once the standings do. The shapes of the series, though, are announced and fixed.

First up: the PVL, 24 November to 3 December

The PVL has rebuilt its All-Filipino Conference for its tenth season into three series, Siklab, Sigla and Sinag, whose points accumulate towards a first Philippine Grand Champion next year. Series 1, running since 10 October, is a single round robin with an all-to-play rule: every player named on the game sheet must get on court. The top four reach the semifinals, where the top two seeds hold a twice-to-beat advantage, and the winners play a best-of-three championship. Our calendar carries the semifinals and finals window as 24 November to 3 December, tentative, because the league's own fixture list firms up with the table. The format means the December games count twice: once for the series title, and once for the season-long race.

The UAAP: a best-of-three in mid-December

Season 89 opened on 13 September and the second round is running now, with UP and National University setting the pace and La Salle, the reigning champions, in the Final Four race. UP and La Salle have contested each of the last three finals, and that rivalry is the December draw if the bracket allows it. The men's basketball finals are a best-of-three between the Final Four winners, split between the Mall of Asia Arena and Araneta. The UAAP publishes finals dates only once the matchups are set, so our calendar carries a 5 to 16 December window, labelled tentative. Practically: keep those two weeks flexible, expect tickets to move within days of the Final Four ending, and expect the student sections to be the loudest part of either building.

The PBA: finals across Christmas

The Governors' Cup is the season-ending conference of the PBA's 50th season, and its calendar bends around the national team: the league pauses from 9 November to 3 December for Gilas Pilipinas' FIBA World Cup qualifying window, then runs a best-of-five semifinals from 4 to 13 December and a best-of-seven Finals from 16 December to as late as 30 December. The commissioner's announced schedule puts a finals game on Christmas Day itself, a Friday this year, which is peak Philippine basketball: a title series as the country's Christmas outing. Game-by-game venues alternate between the Mall of Asia Arena and Araneta as the series dictates, so our record carries the window as tentative and the venues as that pair of arenas.

Getting into the big games

Finals tickets in all three leagues are released series by series, once matchups are known, and the best seats go first. The working method: pick your league, watch for the game-by-game announcement in the days after the semifinals, and buy through the arena's official ticketing as soon as your game exists. Base yourself near the buildings rather than across the city: Pasay for the Mall of Asia Arena, Cubao for Araneta, both covered on the hotels page. And if you are choosing one night only, choose a potential clincher late in a series, when the building knows the trophy is in it.

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