Starhorse to take over Terrafirma franchise in PBA

Sports

THE Terrafirma Dyip is ending their 11-year run in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Terrafirma has reportedly agreed to sell its franchise to Starhorse, which will take over after the league’s ongoing 49th season.

In multiple reports, Starhorse, a shipping company based in Lucena, has already made a down payment. Although the two companies have already come to terms, the sale will still be presented to the PBA board.

For it to make official, the deal must at least get two-thirds of the votes from the board. The league is set to tackle the matter soon.

Once approved by the board, Starhorse will take over the team lock, stock and barrel - which means it will absorb all the players and coaches during the transfer.

Terrafirma currently has a group of young guns such as Mark Nonoy, Kemark Carino, Louie Sangalang, Paolo Hernandez, Brent Paraiso, Didat Hanapi, and Aljun Melecio.

The Dyip also have veterans Terrence Romeo, Stanley Pringle, Kevin Ferrer, and Aldrech Ramos. The squad also owns the playing rights to Christian Standhardinger, the 6-foot-8 Fil-German, who decided to retire after he was traded to Terrafirma from the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

Terrafirma joined the PBA as one of the two expanion teams in 2014. The team joined the league under the KIA banner before its franchise was transferred from the Columbian Autocar Corporation to its affiliate company Terra Firma Realty Development Corporation in 2020.(CCM)