Cuneta Astrodome

Cuneta Astrodome
Location	Roxas Boulevard, Pasay, Philippines
Broke ground	April 1991
Opened	1993
Owner	Pasay City Government
Operator	Pasay City Government
Capacity	12,000
Tenants
PBA (1993-present) UAAP (1994-1999, 2004, 2006, 2007)

Cuneta Astrodome is an indoor sporting arena located in Pasay, Philippines. It is better known as the home of the Philippine Basketball Association from 1993, when it left the PhilSports Arena, then known as the ULTRA, until 1998. It also host to other basketball leagues and political and evangelical gatherings.

The arena is named after Enrique Cuneta, a prominent Pasay city official during the American colonial period.^[1]

Despite its name, the Cuneta Astrodome is not a dome-shaped indoor arena, since its exterior is rectangular in shape.

Basketball

Philippine Basketball Association

Built in 1993, the arena became the PBA's home after the league signed a five-year deal with the Pasay City government^[1]. During the first two years, the league played all of its games (except those played in provinces) at the Astrodome before limiting its schedule to Tuesday and Sunday games, as the league played its Friday games at the Araneta Coliseum in 1995.

In 1999, after the agreement expired, the league decided to hold most of its games at the PhilSports Arena and the Araneta Coliseum, its previous home for many years. Although the league hosted a few games at the said venue, it was not used for the duration of the 2000 season. Since 2001, the league has host a decent amount of games at the Astrodome, including several recent PBA championship series games.

It has hosted more than 30 PBA championship series, most recently the Game 4 of the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference Finals.

Currently, it is an alternate venue for Araneta Coliseum in hosting the PBA games.

Metropolitan Basketball Association

The Metropolitan Basketball Association held two games at the Astrodome during the 1999 season. The first is between San Juan Knights and the Nueva Ecija Patriots, the other is between Pasig-Rizal Pirates and Davao Eagles.

Amateur/Collegiate Leagues

Aside from hosting PBA games, it also held several collegiate leagues such as the UAAP, NCAA, WNCAA and the UCAA. The UAAP held the men's senior basketball championships in 1994 and 1999. The NCAA hosted some championship matchups in the mid-90's with the most recent in 2003, when Letran defeated San Sebastian in the third and final game of the series, the only time it was held at the venue during the series.

In 2005 and 2008, the NCAA held majority of its games at the Astrodome while the UAAP played a series of games in the 2004 and 2007 seasons.

It also hosted the Philippine Basketball League during the mid-90's and during the 2005 PBL Unity Cup Finals between the champion Welcoat Paintmasters and the Montana Jewels.

Other events

Outside of sports, it also hosted several evangelical and political gatherings, the most recent by a political campaign for late-actor and Presidential candidate, Fernando Poe Jr. in 2004 and other functions by the opposition party.

It is also a usual gathering for evangelical events. Some religious organizations who have hosted the event are the Jesus Miracle Crusade, Eli Soriano's Ang Dating Daan and the frequent user of the astrodome is the JESUS CHRIST To God Be The Glory Church International who held their services every Sunday and some major event such as concert, anniverssary among others.

The biggest event hosted by far was in 1994, when the World Wrestling Federation held a live event at the said venue featuring a WWF World Championship match between the then-champion Bret Hart and his brother, challenger Owen Hart.

In 1996 The Cranberries also held their "To the faithful departed" tour in the Cuneta Astrodome as well.

Sharon Cuneta's 1993 Concert was also held at the Astrodome it was dubbed as Cuneta sa Cuneta.

Taekwondo competitions of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games were hosted in the venue.

Also Tau Gamma Phi held its 39th Founding Anniversary last October 4, 2007

Renovation

In 2006, the Astrodome has been refurbished with new seats and a new floor for basketball games as the venue has shown a tremendous sign of deterioration over the past few years. It is the biggest renovation occurred at the Astrodome as past events resulted in minor refurbishment of the stadium.

The renovated Astrodome debuted on June 30, 2006 during Game six of the 2006 PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series and the Philippines-Lebanon goodwill series in August the same year.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} PBA signs memo of transfer to Pasay stadium, Manila Standard, October 31, 1992

See also

• Pasay
• Philippine Basketball Association

Coordinates: 14°32′41″N 120°59′31″E / 14.54472°N 120.99194°E / 14.54472; 120.99194