SWS: Purefoods, Ginebra tied as most popular teams in PBA

MANILA, Philippines - The Purefoods Giants and the Barangay Ginebra Kings are the most popular teams in the Philippine Basketball Association, a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations last March show. SWS, which released its results only Thursday night, said the two sister teams were cited when respondents were asked "which are your two favorite (PBA) teams, if any." Purefoods and Ginebra, sister teams belonging to conglomerate San Miguel Corp., "were cited by an equal 31 percent of adult Filipinos," the SWS said on its website (www.sws.org.ph). "Ginebra is most popular team in Metro Manila and Balance Luzon (areas outside Metro Manila in Luzon), while Purefoods is most popular team in the Visayas and Mindanao," SWS said. Following them were Magnolia Beverage Masters (21%), Alaska Aces (13%), Sta. Lucia Realtors (5%), Red Bull Barako (4%), Talk N' Text Phone Pals (3%), Coca-Cola Tigers (1%), and Air21 Express (1%). Ginebra and Air21 are currently slugging it out for the PBA's Fiesta Conference. The series is tied 2-2 going into Friday's Game 5. On the other hand, 18 percent of respondents said they have no favorite PBA team, 12 percent do not know, while 5 percent have not heard or read anything about the PBA. Half (50%) of adults in Metro Manila mentioned Ginebra as one of their two favorite teams, two-fifths (40%) mentioned Purefoods, about a fourth (24%) mentioned Magnolia, 10 percent mentioned Alaska, while the rest of the teams had single-digit scores. In Balance Luzon, about two-fifths (39%) cited Ginebra, followed by Purefoods (27%), Magnolia (20%), and Alaska (12%). In the Visayas, about a third (36%) cited Purefoods, followed by Magnolia (20%), Ginebra (18%), and Alaska (17%). In Mindanao, 29 percent cited Purefoods, followed by Magnolia (21%), Ginebra (15%), and Alaska (15%). About two-fifths (38%) among classes ABC cited Ginebra as a favorite team, followed by a third (33%) who cited Purefoods, and 21 percent who cited Magnolia. Among class D, about a third (32%) cited Purefoods, followed closely by Ginebra (31%), Magnolia (22%), and Alaska (13%). Among class E, Purefoods and Ginebra were cited equally 29%, followed by Magnolia (19%), and Alaska (16%). Ginebra is more popular among men, while Purefoods is more popular among women. About two-fifths (39%) of men cited Ginebra as their favorite PBA team, 31 percent mentioned Purefoods, 27 percent mentioned Magnolia, and 16 percent mentioned Alaska. On the other hand, 31 percent of women cited Purefoods as their favorite team, followed by Ginebra (23%), Magnolia (14%), and Alaska (11%). The SWS Sports Survey was conducted on March 30 to April 2, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults randomly selected from 240 locations throughout the country. The respondents were divided into samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages and ±6 percent for area percentages applied to the survey. SWS said it conducted the survey on its own initiative, in conjunction with the Leisure Time and Sports Survey of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). ISSP is a network of annual social surveys in 44 countries, in which SWS has represented the Philippines since 1991. - GMANews.Tv