Content creators don’t usually end up running a basketball league. Viral Lab Productions — Powered by TBON, a Dubai group known for short films, vlogs, and skits, did exactly that with its first live sporting event.
The Viral Lab One Day League Basketball – Season 1 pushed the team past digital content into event organizing. On the back of that first league, the group is now planning a larger Season 2 along with other community projects.
Running it is Niño Ortega, known online as Ninvlogs — CEO of Viral Lab Productions, a vlogger, actor, and event organizer, and one of the original members of TBON Productions. He says his aim for Viral Lab is to give creators a place to develop skills, find work, and collaborate rather than just build an online following.
Ortega says his event background goes back years. By his account, in 2015 he helped bring PBA Philippine Cup games to Dubai featuring Barangay Ginebra, Alaska, and Mahindra, with Manny Pacquiao, then a PBA player-coach, among those involved. That experience, he says, shaped the decision to stage a basketball event of his own.
He credits the first season to the wider team, which took on preparation, logistics, and event-day duties outside their usual content roles: Nathaniel Franz, Dyessie Kons, Adrian Valencia, Sebastian Pierce, Karelle Gaa, Rjr Salunga, Arcee Nepomuceno, Khris Jane Caringal, Belle Albiola, MaeMay Aragon, Paula Chua, and Thea Aiz Queen, with the rest of the Viral Lab group.
“Viral Lab will never be about one person,” Ortega said. “Season 1 showed what we can accomplish when everyone contributes and works toward the same goal. We started as creators, but we’re discovering that together, we’re capable of doing much more.”
For Season 2, the team wants stronger competition, more collaborations, and wider community participation. Beyond basketball, Ortega says Viral Lab is looking at larger sporting events, creator collaborations, and community gatherings aimed at Filipinos, businesses, and audiences in Dubai and beyond.
