Puerto Rican Basketball Revival Driven by Reggaeton Stars and Fans

The resurgence of Puerto Rico’s professional men’s basketball league is attributed to the involvement of reggaeton stars and a loyal fan base. This renaissance marks a new era for the sport, attracting celebrities and energizing communities across the island.

Vianca Braña never used to attend basketball games in her hometown of Carolina, Puerto Rico—or anywhere else on the island. But in recent years, the 23-year-old has left arenas with a hoarse voice, often wearing a T-shirt that reads “Carola,” a nickname for her town.

“We started making this fun, and I wanted to represent the town where I’m from,” said Braña, who attended her first game the year Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny bought a team in the island’s professional men’s basketball league. Around that time, she began placing bets with her friends on different teams across Puerto Rico.

Braña’s enthusiasm illustrates how Puerto Rico’s professional men’s basketball league is experiencing a revival. This revival is driven by reggaeton stars like Bad Bunny, Ozuna, and Anuel AA, who are stepping into the financial game, buying local teams, and helping to build a loyal fan base that the island hasn’t seen in over 40 years.

A Cultural Phenomenon

What were once half-empty arenas in Puerto Rico are now packed with families and young fans cheering for their favorite teams, from Los Capitanes de Arecibo in northern Puerto Rico to Los Leones de Ponce in the south. Attendance more than doubled from 2018 to 2023, skyrocketing from approximately 480,000 tickets sold to nearly 1 million, according to Puerto Rico’s professional men’s basketball league, BSN. The league’s digital presence has also soared in the past few years.

A pivotal moment in the league’s revival came in 2021 when three-time Grammy winner Bad Bunny became co-owner of Los Cangrejeros de Santurce and 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 quickly followed, buying Arecibo’s Capitanes team before a new owner took over in 2023, and Ozuna acquiring Manatí’s team, renaming it Los Osos, in 2022. The league has 12 teams playing, compared with nine just four years ago.

Basketball games have transformed into premier events, attracting celebrities like NBA legend LeBron James, former boxer Floyd Mayweather, and reggaeton artists including Arcangel and Rauw Alejandro. These games capture audiences of all ages, hoping to glimpse their favorite stars.

“When Noah and Bad Bunny came along, we generated a lot of noise,” said Ricardo Dalmau, president of BSN. “It was an explosion of attention,” Dalmau noted that local TV ratings also increased after they began broadcasting some games in 2021, with the biggest surprise being their largest viewership block: women ages 18 to 49, a new audience also reflected in the bleachers. “You never know what artist you’ll find in the league,” he said.

Economic Challenges and Community Impact

Before its recent surge in popularity, the league was under financial strain. Although Dalmau did not provide specific numbers, he said there used to be significant uncertainty about whether specific teams would participate or whether the league could fulfill players’ contracts. “We don’t have those problems anymore,” he said.

Javier Sabbath, a famous basketball commentator on the island, said he is witnessing what his father—a sports commentator himself decades ago—describes as the environment in the 1980s, the league’s heyday. “New generations have never seen this before,” Sabath said. “The boom with urban artists revived the Puerto Rican sports history that had been forgotten.”

Sabbath emphasized that the momentum created by artists has fueled fans’ excitement beyond just seeing reggaeton stars. “Indirectly, these artists are attracting enough attention to make people interested in our league,” he said. “It’s a domino effect.”

A bittersweet moment occurred recently when Puerto Rico’s national men’s basketball team, composed 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, which last competed in 2004, beating the USA team in the Athens Olympics. However, this also means a temporary loss for the league’s teams playing later in the summer.

Revitalizing a Legacy

The league’s renaissance comes after its peak over 40 years ago. Teams in Bayamón, Quebradillas, Ponce, and other towns had produced renowned players, including Butch Lee, the first Puerto Rican player to enter the NBA; Raymond Dalmau, whose son currently presides over the league; and Rubén Rodríguez, who played for Los Vaqueros in Bayamón.

As part of the current frenzy, ex-NBA players have recently moved to Puerto Rico to join the league. Will Barton and Jared Sullinger play for San Juan’s team, while other ex-NBA players like DeMarcus Cousins, Lance Stephenson, and Brandon Knight joined before moving on to other stints.

Despite the revival, some challenges remain beyond the league’s control, including severe budget cuts. The government has slashed the island’s sports and recreation department budget by more than half over the past decade. A lack of investment and maintenance in sports arenas across the island has caused leaks, leading to game suspensions after heavy rains.

“Despite the lack of economic resources, we’ve been able to sort it out,” said Ray Quiñones, secretary of sports and recreation of Puerto Rico, whose infrastructure budget was cut from about $15,300 in 2014 to barely $7,500 in 2024.

Sports arenas face the additional problem of chronic power outages across Puerto Rico, which is still rebuilding its electric grid after Hurricane María. This Category 4 storm ravaged the island in September 2017. In June, a game in Carolina between the home team, Los Gigantes, and Los Indios of Mayagüez was suspended after a widespread power outage left over 340,000 customers without electricity. A month earlier, a game in San Juan’s main arena was also suspended due to a power outage.

A New Sense of Pride

Despite the challenges, younger generations are finding refuge outside their homes—also contending with frequent power outages—and a new sense of pride by attending the games, for fans like Annais Ramírez, basketball arenas feel like safe spaces, especially for women looking to engage in historically male-dominated areas.

“There are so many artists coming to the games, and you wonder if you’ll run into one,” the 27-year-old said as she stood next to her friend, who sported a necklace with a diamond-encrusted “C” for the town of Carolina.

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Her love for Carolina’s team has grown beyond her expectation of running into a celebrity. During her free time, Ramírez goes on social media to catch up on the games she couldn’t attend in person, checking out highlights, halftime performances, and crowd reactions. “Those motivate you to be part of the movement,” she said. “On weekdays, this helps me unwind.”

All interviews and quotes were originally reported by the Associated Press.