With the league told to have begun its search for a new broadcast home late last year.
On Friday, April 10, the Philippines’ National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) held the game 3 of the women’s volleyball finals series between the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and the College of Saint Benilde—with the former pulling off an upset against the latter, which is defending champions.
But another headline from the said event was regarding the league’s television broadcast itself.
In his spiels at the end of the presentation, Kapuso host and sports commentator Martin Javier delivered a poignant remark that celebrated the NCAA’s five-and-a-half years with its broadcast partner, GMA.
He told, “It is our final coverage here. From my end, we thank you guys for catching our coverage all throughout the five years—from season 96 when it was a studio show and then what came after that were five straight seasons—of just greatness here in the NCAA.”
Javier went on to thank the entire team, from the production crew, producers, directors, commentators, analysts, and reporters, as well as the NCAA management committee, GMA Synergy, and viewers.
“Kahit saan mapunta ang NCAA, sana kapitan ninyo,” the host said as he noted the stories of the coaches and players.
To mark the end of an era, he signed off for the final time by saying “Thank you for the last five years. This has been the NCAA on GMA.”
In a report by Tiebreaker Times, it was said that the league was told by GMA Network back in December 2025 that they will no longer pursue a renewal of the partnership.
Sources, they said, shared that it leaned more on a commercial decision, as the NCAA faced difficulty in securing advertising support and sponsorships.
Since then, the country’s oldest tertiary level sporting league has been exploring potential partners for its 102nd season onwards.
At present, GMA and NCAA have not yet commented on the matter.
It was back in November 2020 when GMA confirmed that it has signed a broadcast deal with the NCAA after its previous partner, ABS-CBN, closed its sports division due to the non-renewal of its franchise.
Major NCAA games in athletics, aquatics, volleyball, and basketball then began airing on GTV in 2021, with select men’s basketball championships in its earlier years airing on the flagship GMA channel 7.
Eventually, that was tweaked, with the television setup being arranged that both GTV and Heart of Asia channels carrying the games, which were also made available online via GMA Network’s website and social media pages, as well as abroad via GMA Pinoy TV and GMA News TV.