CAROLINA, Puerto Rico– Vianca Braña never attended basketball games in her hometown of Carolina, Puerto Rico – or anywhere else in the United States. But in recent years, the 23-year-old has left the arena hoarse-voiced, often wearing a T-shirt that says “Carola,” a nickname for her hometown.
“We started making this fun and I wanted to represent the town where I’m from,” said Braña, who attended his first game of the year. Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny He bought a team from the island’s professional men’s basketball league. It was also around that time that she began placing bets on different teams in Puerto Rico with her friends.
Braña’s fervor illustrates how Puerto Rico’s professional men’s basketball league is experiencing a resurgence, fueled by reggaeton stars like Bad Bunny, Ozuna and Anuel AA, who are getting into the financial game, buying local teams and helping to build up a base. of loyal fans on the island. he hasn’t been a witness in over 40 years.
What were once half-empty stadiums in Puerto Rico are now full, packed with families and young fans cheering on their favorite teams, from Los Capitanes de Arecibo in northern Puerto Rico to Los Leones de Ponce in the south.
Attendance more than doubled between 2018 and 2023, skyrocketing from about 480,000 tickets sold to nearly 1 million, according to Puerto Rico’s professional men’s basketball league, whose digital presence has also skyrocketed in recent years.
A pivotal moment in the league’s resurgence came in 2021, when Bad Bunny, three-time Grammy winner He became co-owner of Los Cangrejeros de Santurce, along with his manager, Noah Assad.
Bad Bunny’s frequent game day visits sparked a resurgence in Puerto Rico’s basketball scene. Other artists like anuel aa He quickly followed, purchasing the Capitanes de Arecibo team before a new owner took over in 2023, and Ozuna acquired the Manatí team, renaming it Los Osos, in 2022. The league, known as BSN, currently has 12 teams playing, compared to nine just four years ago. .
Basketball games have become high-profile gathering events, attracting celebrities such as NBA legend LeBron Jamesformer boxer Floyd Mayweather and reggaeton artists like Arcangel and Rauw Alejandro, capturing audiences of all ages hoping to see them.
“When Noah and Bad Bunny arrived we generated a lot of noise,” said Ricardo Dalmau, president of the BSN. “It was an explosion of attention.”
Dalmau said local television ratings also saw an increase after they began airing some games in 2021, with the biggest surprise being their largest audience block: women ages 18 to 49, a new audience that was also reflected in the steps.
“You never know what artist you’re going to find in the (league),” he said.
Before its recent surge in popularity, the league was under financial pressure. Although Dalmau did not provide specific figures, he said there used to be a lot of uncertainty about whether certain teams would participate or whether the league would be able to honor players’ contracts. “We don’t have those problems anymore,” he said.
Javier Sabath, a popular basketball commentator on the island, said he is witnessing what his father, also a sports commentator decades ago, describes as the atmosphere of the 1980s, the league’s heyday.
“The new generations have never seen this before,” Sabath said. “The boom of urban artists revived the history of Puerto Rican sports that had been forgotten.”
Sabath said the momentum created by the artists has fueled fans’ enthusiasm beyond simply seeing reggaeton stars. “Indirectly, these artists are attracting enough attention to get people interested in our league,” he said. “It’s a domino effect.”
A bittersweet moment occurred recently when the Puerto Rico men’s national basketball team, comprised of several of the league’s star players, qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The victory over Lithuania broke a 20-year drought for the team that last competed in 2004, beating Team USA at the Athens Olympics. It’s also a loss for teams in the league that will play later in the summer.
The league’s rebirth comes after its heyday more than 40 years ago. The teams from Bayamón, Quebradillas, Ponce and other cities had produced renowned players, among them Butch Lee, the first Puerto Rican player to enter the National Basketball Association; Raymond Dalmau, whose son currently chairs the league; and Rubén Rodríguez, who played for Los Vaqueros de Bayamón.
As part of the current frenzy, former NBA players have moved to Puerto Rico in recent years to join the league. Will Barton and Jared Sullinger play for the San Juan team, while other former NBA players such as DeMarcus CousinsLance Stephenson and Brandon Knight also joined before moving on to other seasons.
Still, some problems remain outside the league’s control, including severe budget cuts, and the government cut the budget of the island’s sports and recreation department in more than a half on the last decade. Lack of investment and maintenance in sports stadiums across the island has led to leaks, leading to game suspensions following heavy rain.
“Despite the lack of economic resources, we have been able to solve it,” said Ray Quiñones, Puerto Rico’s secretary of sports and recreation, whose infrastructure budget was reduced from about $15,300 in 2014 to just $7,500 in 2024.
Sports stadiums face the additional problem of chronic power outages throughout Puerto Rico, which is continues to rebuild its electrical grid after Hurricane Maríaa Category 4 storm that devastated the island in September 2017.
In June, a game in Carolina between the local team, Los Gigantes, and Los Indios de Mayagüez was suspended after a widespread power outage left more than 340,000 customers without power. A month earlier, a match at San Juan’s main stadium was also suspended due to a power outage.
Despite the challenges, younger generations are finding refuge outside their homes, which also face frequent power outages, and a new sense of pride in attending the games.
For fans like Annais Ramírez, basketball stadiums feel like safe spaces, especially for women looking to participate in historically male-dominated areas.
“There are so many artists that come to the games and you wonder if you’ll run into one,” the 27-year-old said while standing next to her friend, who was wearing a diamond-encrusted “C” necklace. for the people of Carolina.
His love for the Carolina team has grown beyond his expectations of meeting a celebrity. During his free time, Ramirez takes to social media to catch up on games he couldn’t attend in person, checking out highlights, halftime performances and crowd reactions.
“That motivates you to be part of the movement,” he said. “On weekdays, this helps me relax.”
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