53-855: The 2018 MPBL season , also known as the MPBL Rajah Cup or the MPBL Anta–Rajah Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the inaugural season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League . The regular season began on January 25, 2018 with the opening ceremonies at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City , and ended on March 17. The playoffs began on March 20 and ended on April 19 when the Batangas City Athletics defeated
106-780: A finals series similar to the format of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in North America . The league was planned to start as early as September 23, 2017 with at least six teams. A preseason tournament was held with the Bulacan Kuyas finishing as champions. Snow Badua was the league's inaugural commissioner, but he did not take on the role when the first season eventually began as six-time PBA champion Kenneth Duremdes succeeded Badua as league commissioner on November 22, 2017. The MPBL began its inaugural season on January 25, 2018, at
159-423: A focus on physicality. Following dissatisfaction from a non-call during a 2023 playoff game against Zamboanga, Quezon team manager Donn Kapunan stated that “there's no problem with a physical game; that's part of it. But intentionally hurting someone, action should be taken by the officials to be fair to every team, so that that kind of incident does not happen again.” In 2024, Manila player Greg Slaughter described
212-504: A focus on showcasing local talents. By 2023, the league was promoted to a professional league and has run for five seasons. On June 15, 2023, Pacquiao shared his intent to create a home-and-away volleyball league similar to the MPBL that will cater to women athletes. On September 15, 2023, Pacquiao formally launched the MPVA in a press conference with commissioner Michael Tavera. Announced in
265-515: A new partner. Other networks which previously held the broadcast rights include Fox Sports Asia , which held the broadcast rights for Monday games throughout the 2018–19 season. Afterwards, it was the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation broadcasting all games during the 2021 Invitational, with TAP Digital Media Ventures Corporation 's TAP Go service streaming the games. Currently, Cignal TV holds
318-466: A press conference. The youth-oriented league's inaugural season began on July 9, 2023, with teams competing in 14-under, 16-under, and 18-under divisions. The junior league will soon feature a 21-under division, billed as the "Junior MPBL D-League", which will commence in May 2024. In the same press conference announcing the junior league, Pacquiao also shared intent to create a volleyball counterpart similar to
371-437: A result of managerial and/or sponsorship changes. Some teams share its name with their respective basketball counterparts in the MPBL. The league has a set of roster regulations, putting restrictions on which and how many players each team can place onto its roster. As of 2023, the roster regulations are as follows: The current season format involves all participating teams competing in a double round-robin tournament during
424-412: A single round-robin tournament format, where each team plays against all of the other teams once, regardless of division alignment. The league uses FIBA rules for all of its games. The league uses the number of wins as its first metric for determining rankings and any ties are broken using the quotient system. Two or three games are scheduled each day to be played in a single venue, thus a majority of
477-399: A single round-robin format, playing one game against all other teams in the league. In each gameday, a series of games is played in a designated home arena, with the home team usually playing in the final game. The top eight teams overall advanced to a three-round, single-elimination playoffs, playing in best-of-three series in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and a best-of-five series in
530-447: A team has yet to win multiple titles, three teams have made two appearances in the national finals thus far. Due to the league using a single round-robin format in every season thus far, the league’s rivalries mostly revolve around their playoff match-ups, where they play mutliple games in a series. Throughout the history of the MPBL, it has had multiple networks acquire the league's broadcast rights. In its first season, ABS-CBN became
583-468: Is a women's developmental volleyball league in the Philippines consisting of nine teams. The MPVA was founded in 2023 by eight-division boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao , who also founded the similarly-named Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) in 2017. Similar to its basketball counterpart, it is meant to be a grassroots league with a focus on showcasing local, homegrown talents. It
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#1732791323190636-610: Is the third league under the Maharlika Pilipinas name, following the MPBL and the Junior MPBL. The Bacoor City Strikers are the current defending champions, after defeating the Negros Blue Hawks in the finals of the 2023 MPVA season . On August 29, 2017, Manny Pacquiao founded the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League , a semi-professional basketball league that uses a home-and-away system with
689-659: The 2018 finals against the Muntinlupa Cagers In the 2018–19 season , the league added sixteen expansion teams, bringing the total to 26 teams. Five of the sixteen expansions are based in Visayas and Mindanao, thus marking the league's national expansion. The North and South Divisions were introduced and the playoff pool doubled to sixteen teams, eight per division. The league also placed roster restrictions on teams, only allowing one Filipino-foreigner and up to five ex-professional players. This season also saw
742-478: The 2023 MPBL finals . Pacquiao formally launched the MPBL on August 29, 2017, with the intent to feature both the commercial and barangay -level side, with teams on the commercial side to have a home locality in addition to a corporate sponsor. The plan was for the league to begin with Luzon -based teams only and then expand to Visayas and Mindanao later on. The expanded league would have two divisions, North and South, where one team from both divisions face in
795-698: The COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines , the league suspended play on March 12, 2020. Nearly a year later, on March 6, 2021, the league announced the resumption of its playoffs. The remainder of the league's 2020 playoffs was held at a bubble at the Subic Bay Gymnasium. In a rematch of the 2019 national finals series, the Davao Occidental Tigers won the 2021 national finals against the San Juan Knights. Because of
848-558: The Games and Amusements Board . The MPBL is the oldest in a series of leagues under the Maharlika Pilipinas name. It is followed by the Junior MPBL, the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association (MPVA), and the upcoming Women's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (WMPBL). Pampanga Giant Lanterns are the current defending champions, beating Bacoor City Strikers in three games during
901-717: The Mandaluyong El Tigre . Roster restrictions were also relaxed, allowing more Filipino-foreigners and ex-professional players to play in the league. In December 2019, Chooks-to-Go of Bounty Agro Ventures became the title sponsor of the league under what was initially a five-year deal. This season also saw the debut of the International Invasion series, which saw games being played in the United Arab Emirates and in Canada . Due to
954-546: The Muntinlupa Cagers in four games in the 2018 MPBL finals . The inaugural season featured ten teams, all based in Luzon , making it the only season to not have divisions nor feature teams from Visayas or Mindanao . It is also, to date, the smallest season in terms of size. The inaugural season featured ten teams, all based in Luzon , with no division alignment. Since the MPBL was a semi-professional league at
1007-558: The Philippines consisting of 29 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao , the MPBL is not intended to be a competitor to the top-flight Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), but rather to provide a gateway for local, homegrown talents to showcase their skills. The league uses a home-and-away format, similar to the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association . The MPBL started an amateur league before being granted professional status in 2021 by
1060-596: The Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City . The inaugural season featured ten teams, all based in Luzon, with the requirement of each team having three homegrown players. In the opening game, the Parañaque Patriots scored a 70–60 victory over the Caloocan Supremos . The playoffs only had eight teams due to the small size, concluding with the Batangas City Athletics winning the inaugural title in
1113-638: The Ynares Center in Antipolo , Rizal with the opening ceremonies followed by a doubleheader of matches. The inaugural season was won by the Bacoor City Strikers . The league's 2024 season is set to begin on August 11, 2024, which is referred to by the league as its first season of full length. It will feature nine teams, one more than last season. In its first season, the MPVA consisted of eight teams. For its second season in 2024,
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#17327913231901166-543: The 31 teams from the previous season. The season marked a new sponsorship with sports betting platform OKBet, succeeding Chooks-to-Go as the title sponsor. The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards became the first team to achieve a regular season sweep and subsequently won the 2022 national finals against the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines . The succeeding 2023 season featured 29 teams, including two expansion teams and five returning teams. The season culminated with
1219-514: The Commissioner's Office. Before the regular season begins, an invitational tournament is usually held as part of the preseason. The tournament is divided into two phases: the group stage and the playoffs. In the group stage, the participating teams are divided into multiple groups, where each team will play against their group opponents once. The top two teams of each group advance to a single-elimination playoffs. The regular season utilizes
1272-471: The MPBL finals, the higher-seeded team hosts games 1, 2, and 5, while the lower-seeded team hosts games 3 and 4. This season marked the first of three years of ABS-CBN 's broadcast rights with the league. Games were aired on the S+A channel in both SD and HD quality. Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League ( MPBL ) is a men's professional basketball league in
1325-517: The MPBL that will cater to female players. That league would be known as the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association (MPVA) and began on October 22, 2023, with eight teams. On October 27, 2024, it was reported that a direct women's counterpart, the Women's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League , will begin its inaugural campaign in January 2025. UST Growling Tigers coach Haydee Ong is set to be
1378-443: The MPBL was granted professional status by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB). This also allowed the league to feature collegiate players on team rosters, as long as the player itself is a Special Guest Licensee. The league's first professional event was the 2021 Invitational . During which, all roster restrictions were lifted. The 2022 season would finally begin over a year after last season's conclusion, which featured 22 of
1431-598: The North and South Divisions are composed of fifteen players from each division, all of whom are declared as the season's all-stars. Alongside the All-Star Game are the various festivities held at the same day, including the Executives' Game, Three-Point Shootout, and Slam Dunk Contest. Since the 2018–19 season, top eight teams in each division advance to the playoffs. In the first round or the division quarterfinals,
1484-404: The final round, dubbed as the MPBL finals or the MPBL national finals, where the two teams play in a best-of-five series to determine the series champion. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, two games from within the same division are played in the same gameday at the same venue. Because of this, a different system is used to determine homecourt advantage for those two rounds, shown in
1537-409: The finals, with homecourt advantage alternating between the higher seeds of each series (excluding the finals). Not all games are in home–away format. Each team plays every team once. Number of asterisks after each score denotes number of overtimes played. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its division, and the numbers to
1590-635: The first commissioner of the women's league. On November 7, 2023, the league launched its social arm, the MPBL Kalinga , with the goal of providing medical assistance to MPBL players, former and current, as well as league officials and staff. In October 2024, a party-list sharing the same acronym, the Maharlikang Pilipino sa Bagong Lipunan party-list, was created in an effort to extend their grassroots program into other sports. The MPBL began with ten Luzon -based teams in 2018 , which
1643-485: The first seed matches with the eighth seed, the second with the seventh, the third with the sixth, and the fourth with the fifth. The division semifinals will then have the winner of the 1–8 series match with the winner of the 4–5 series, and the winner of the 2–7 series with the winner of the 3–6 series. The winners of both series then meet in the division finals. All three divisional rounds are played in best-of-three series . The champions of each division will then meet in
2018 MPBL season - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-557: The homegrown-laden Pampanga Giant Lanterns sweeping the Bacoor City Strikers in the 2023 national finals . During this time, a trend began of teams participating in other leagues during the MPBL offseason. This first occurred in FilBasket during the Subic 2021 and Summer 2022 championships, which saw multiple teams participate due to the long gap between the 2019–20 and 2022 seasons. In recent years, teams that were eliminated for
1749-736: The inaugural edition of the MPBL All-Star Game, which was held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay . The San Juan Knights would win the title that season against the Davao Occidental Tigers in the 2019 national finals , which is to date, the only series to go the full length of five games. The following 2019–20 season featured 31 teams participating in the league, the most the league had in its history, adding six expansion teams but also saw its first departing team,
1802-412: The league also had an ex-professional player limit, where teams are only allowed to sign a limited number of players with prior professional experience. This was replaced with an ex-PBA player limit in 2022, and in 2024, the limit was scrapped in its entirety. The league also schedules a window during the middle of the season where teams can partake in free agency and propose trades, all to be approved by
1855-541: The league began exploring the possibility of joining the East Asia Super League . However, this was later refuted by EASL CEO Henry Kerins in October that year, stating that "there were no exploratory talks" while also sharing his respect for the league. Following the success of the MPBL, Pacquiao has made further developments in grassroots-based sports. On June 15, 2023, the Junior MPBL was unveiled in
1908-455: The league was criticized for its classification of and restrictions on Filipino-foreigners. Intended to maintain parity and to keep in line with the league's grassroots foundations, the rule became controversial among fans, coaches, and players, particularly, Filipino-foreigners who have played in the PBA such as Rob Reyes and Abu Tratter . The league's officiating has also been criticized with
1961-619: The league will expand to nine teams. Metro Manila and Calabarzon both have the most teams out of any region with four each. The Negros Blue Hawks are the only outlier, being the only team based in the Negros Island Region . In terms of island groups , Luzon has eight while Visayas has one. Out of the nine active member teams, all except the Bacoor City Strikers share a locality with an active MPBL team. Teams are usually owned and/or back by their respective local governments and team sponsors. Team names can change as
2014-413: The league's first broadcast partner in 2018, and aired the games on television via the main channel, S+A , Liga , its various regional stations in regional markets, and The Filipino Channel in international markets. The networ's iWantTFC streaming service aired the games worldwide. Due to the shutdown of ABS-CBN broadcasting , its last broadcast was the 2021 MPBL finals before the league had to find
2067-436: The league's games are considered neutral-site games. The home team typically plays in the final game, although in some occasions, it may also be a neutral-site game. Should any games be postponed or suspended, most commonly due to natural disasters like typhoons, the games would be moved towards the end of the regular season schedule. The affected games will only be played or resumed if there are any playoff implications for any of
2120-567: The league's physicality as "fouling that isn't called" in an interview with SPIN.ph's Homer D. Sayson. The league has also been noted for its game-fixing problem, which has been one of its long-standing issues. The league began cracking down on game-fixing ahead of the 2019–20 season, a season that went on to have multiple such cases. Ahead of the 2024 season, the league banned 47 players and officials who were allegedly involved in such acts. Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association The Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association (MPVA)
2173-507: The league. Being based in the grassroots level, each team is required to have at least three homegrown players who come from the team's home locality. Since 2022, with the transition to professional status, the league has also allowed collegiate players to join as long as the player is granted a Special Guest License from the Games and Amusement Board . (Since June 1, 2024, the NCAA no longer allows SGLs to play professionally.) Prior to 2024,
2018 MPBL season - Misplaced Pages Continue
2226-399: The preliminary round, meaning each team plays two matches against all other teams. The league's pool standing procedure prioritizes match points over wins. The top four teams of the prelims advance to a two-round playoff tournament where the top two get twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals. Meanwhile, the finals is a best-of-three series . During the 2023 season, the preliminary round
2279-437: The press conference was a list of ten teams that were set to compete in the inaugural season, with all but one of them having a set locality. The league's future plans include a men's division in 2024 as well as its own junior's division. One month later, in another press conference, the lineup was decreased to eight teams, with three teams deferring and one team joining. The MPVA's inaugural season began on October 22, 2023 at
2332-416: The restrictions imposed by the government due to the pandemic, the league's 2020–21 season would be cancelled. The league's fourth season would be postponed multiple times before it eventually began in 2022. In October 2021, Chooks-to-Go took over the league's basketball operations. On November 9, 2021, it was announced that the MPBL would turn into a professional league. A month later, on December 9, 2021,
2385-487: The right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. Teams with home court advantage, the higher seeded team, are shown in italics . In the quarterfinals, the first- and second-seeded teams host games 1 and 3, while the third- and fourth-seeded teams host game 2. In the semifinals, the highest seeded team hosts games 1 and 3, while the second-highest seeded team hosts game 2. Due to Batangas City advancing after game 2, Muntinlupa instead hosted game 3. In
2438-617: The season would compete in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) during the offseason. It is also around this time where multiple PBA prospects, such as Justine Baltazar , CJ Cansino , and Adrian Nocum , began playing in the MPBL before declaring for the draft. The 2024 season features 29 teams, which includes the arrival of two expansion teams but also the departure of three teams. The ex-professional player limit will also be removed, allowing teams to sign any number of professional players onto their rosters. In April 2024,
2491-627: The table below. The division finals uses a 1–1–1 format, while the national finals uses a 2–2–1 format. A majority of the league's awards are given out during the national finals, such as the Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Two awards, the Finals MVP and Coach of the Year, are given out after the finals. As of 2023, five teams have won the championship once, with no team winning it multiple times. While
2544-537: The teams are located in Luzon, which has 22 teams. Meanwhile, Mindanao has four teams while Visayas has three. There is no draft held during the off-season, instead, teams acquire their players through the signing of contracts. Teams must have a minimum of 15 players in their roster, with the maximum being 22. In each game, however, teams can only field a 15-man roster into the court. All local players are eligible, although teams can also sign up to two Filipino-foreigners. The league currently doesn't allow imports to join
2597-499: The teams involved. Similar to the PBA, league also schedules series of out-of-town games throughout the regular season, known as Invasion series, where consecutive gamedays take place in areas far from the Greater Manila Area , such as Visayas and Mindanao. Invasion series also cover the league's international games. Near the end of the regular season, the league holds its seasonal All-Star Game. Two teams representing
2650-508: The television broadcast rights. Since 2022, One PH airs the primetime game via delayed telecast while Media Pilipinas TV (MPTV) airs all games live since 2023. The games are also streamed on Cignal's Pilipinas Live streaming service. The league broadcasts all of the games online via its social media channels. The league provides a single broadcast feed that is utilized across all platforms. It also employs its own broadcast team of commentators and analysts. In 2018, ahead of its second season,
2703-456: The time, its initial set of roster regulations are made to help promote local talents: The regular season began on January 25, 2018 with the opening ceremony at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City . It featured the inaugural game which saw the Parañaque Patriots beating the Caloocan Supremos with a score of 70–60. Daniel San Juan de Guzman of the Parañaque Patriots made the league's first basket in that game. The ten teams played in
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#17327913231902756-516: Was divided into two stages. After the traditional single round-robin, the teams were reorganized into two groups where they would play one match against other teams within the same group. All eight teams then took part in a three-round playoff tournament with the top four getting twice-to-beat advantage during the quarterfinals. The all other rounds were best-of-three. The league's broadcast rights are currently held by Media Pilipinas TV (MPTV), which airs every game on television. The league also streams
2809-628: Was then increased to 26 teams following the national expansion in 2018–19 . As of 2024 , the league has 29 active member teams, with Abra Weavers and Pangasinan Heatwaves as the newest expansion teams. The league divides the teams into two divisions based on geographic location: the North Division and the South Division . Metro Manila has the most teams out of any region with nine followed by Calabarzon with five and Central Luzon with four. In terms of island groups , most of
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