The parties are continuing their six-year-long partnership.
On Friday, April 10, key personalities from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and leading pay television platform Cignal TV joined forces for a ceremonial contract signing.
The said event concerns their five-year partnership, which they have renewed for the next five seasons of the league.
In a report by Cignal’s affiliate One Sports, chairman Manny Pangilinan of its parent Mediaquest Holdings, Inc. was quoted saying: “We’re very glad and privileged to extend our coverage of the UAAP. It’s a five-year engagement, and we promise to improve the coverage of all the sports of the association.”
For his part, incumbent season’s chairman and UST rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. welcomed the extension and said, “Today’s ceremonial signing represents a shared vision to elevate varsity sports, empower young athletes, and bring the excitement of the UAAP games into homes across the nation.”
This deal renews the parties’ commitment since 2020 and reaffirms the earlier deal that they have both signed back in June 2025.
This means that games—especially the popular men’s basketball and women’s volleyball matches—would continue to be aired and streamed via Cignal’s channels and services.
Under the company are the free-to-air channel One Sports, the pay TV-exclusive UAAP Varsity Channel, Cignal Play, and the Pilipinas Live app.
Effectively, Cignal will remain as the official broadcaster from Season 89 (2026-27) to 93 (2031-32).
Prior to 2020, the UAAP games were previously handled by ABS-CBN Sports for 20 years since 2000.
However, its contract with ABS-CBN expired in May 2020, which was also coincidentally the same month that the network shut its terrestrial network, including the Sports+Action channel.
However, with the ABS-CBN Sports group eventually getting axed during the major retrenchment exercise as a result of the franchise loss, the UAAP entertained offers from rival stations.
Ultimately, the UAAP opted to move to TV5 and Cignal in July 2020, with the partnership officially starting the year after with the 84th season that was held entirely at the height of COVID-19 restrictions.
Aside from the collegiate association, Cignal also holds rights to other properties like the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Premier Volleyball League (PVL), among others.
