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Draft:Expansion of the MPBL

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The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) has often been described as a regional league due to its location-based format differing from the commercial format of leagues such as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and Philippine Basketball League (PBL). This is further evidenced by its numerous expansions as well as contractions, which saw various cities and provinces join and depart the league over the years.

The league's biggest expansion occurred in the 2018–19 season when it added sixteen teams, including five from the VisMin area (Visayas and Mindanao), giving the league a nationwide presence. The league's most recent expansion team is the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys, who will join the league in the 2025 season as part of the league's Northern Luzon expansion.

Beginnings (2017–2018)

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Locations of 2018 MPBL teams based in Metro Manila
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Locations of 2018 MPBL teams based in Luzon

When then-Senator Manny Pacquiao founded the MPBL with then-commissioner Snow Badua in 2017, the league intended to have twelve teams compete in the inaugural season. The plan was for all founding member teams to be based in Luzon, with plans to expand to Visayas and Mindanao from there. The franchise fee at the time was ₱500,000.[1] By the time the league's inaugural season started, now under new commissioner Kenneth Duremdes, there were only ten teams, two less than expected. The Caloocan Supremos (now Caloocan Batang Kankaloo), Muntinlupa Cagers, Navotas Clutch (now Navotas Uni-Pak Sardines), Parañaque Patriots, Quezon City Capitals (now Quezon City Toda Aksyon), and Valenzuela Classic represent Metro Manila. The Bataan Risers and Bulacan Kuyas represent Central Luzon, while the Batangas City Athletics (now Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters) and Imus Bandera (now Imus Agimat) represent Calabarzon.[2]

National expansion (2018–2019)

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Locations of 2018–2019 MPBL expansion teams based in Metro Manila
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Locations of 2018–2019 MPBL expansion teams based in Luzon
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Locations of 2018–2019 MPBL expansion teams based in Visayas
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Locations of 2018–2019 MPBL expansion teams based in Mindanao

While the league's first season was still running, it was already accepting expansion teams for the league's 2018–19 season. Nearly half of the expansion teams originate from Metro Manila with seven: the Makati Skyscrapers (now Makati OKBet Kings), Mandaluyong El Tigre, Manila Stars (now Manila Batang Sampaloc), Marikina Shoemasters, Pasay Voyagers, Pasig Pirates (now Pasig City MCW Sports), and San Juan Knights. Completing the Luzon-based expansion teams were the Pampanga Lanterns (now Pampanga Giant Lanterns) from Central Luzon and the Bacoor City Strikers and Rizal Crusaders (now Rizal Golden Coolers) from Calabarzon.

Joining them were five VisMin-based teams, with the Cebu City Sharks (now Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol) being the only Visayas-based expansion team in the lineup. The remaining four teams come from Mindanao: the Basilan Steel (now Basilan Starhorse) representing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Davao Occidental Tigers representing Davao Region, the GenSan Warriors (now South Cotabato Warriors) representing Soccsksargen, and the Zamboanga Valientes (later split as Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines; now Zamboanga Master Sardines)[3] representing Zamboanga Peninsula. This major shift marked the league's national expansion, as it nearly tripled in size, going from 10 teams to 26.[4]

In the following 2019–20 season, the Mandaluyong El Tigre departed, becoming the first team to leave the MPBL. Despite that, the league made up for it by adding six more expansion teams, mostly from regions that haven't been represented up to that point. The Nueva Ecija MiGuard (now Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards) gives Central Luzon four teams while the Bicol Volcanoes (now Bicolandia Oragons) and Mindoro Tamaraws give the league representation from Bicol Region and Mimaropa, respectively. In Visayas, the Bacolod Master Sardines (now Bacolod City of Smiles) and Iloilo United Royals join Cebu City and adding Western Visayas to the mix. The Soccsksargen Marlins (now Sarangani Marlins) complete the list, sharing the region with GenSan.

Post-pandemic and Northern Luzon expansion (2021–2025)

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Locations of 2023–2025 MPBL expansion teams based in Luzon
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Locations of 2023 MPBL expansion teams based in Visayas

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a halt to league play in March 2020. Almost a year later in February 2021, the Negros Muscovados were admitted as an expansion team and were set to debut in the league's fourth season (which was postponed from 2021 to 2022).[5] Although they did participate in the 2021 MPBL Invitational, the team's regular season debut wouldn't happen until 2023.

Ahead of the league's first professional season in 2022, two teams moved to other leagues permanently: the Basilan Steel moving to the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup and the Davao Occidental Tigers moving to the Pilipinas Super League.[6][7] Seven others also left: the Bulacan Kuyas, Bicol Volcanoes, Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol, Iloilo United Royals, Navotas Uni-Pak Sardines, Parañaque Patriots, and Pasay Voyagers. This meant that for the first time, the league had no expansion teams join and thus contracted in size from 31 to 22. Things did turn around the following season in 2023, as the Negros Muscovados formally made their debut alongside an entirely new team, the Quezon Huskers. In addition, five of the nine teams that left last season made their return: Bicol, Bulacan, Iloilo, Parañaque, and Pasay. Cebu was also listed among the returning franchises, but their return didn't materialize for undisclosed reasons.[8]

For the 2024 season and continuing into the 2025 season, the MPBL began its expansion into the northern regions of Luzon. In 2024, it added the Pangasinan Heatwaves from Ilocos Region and the Abra Weavers from Cordillera to its lineup,[9] while the following year will see Cagayan Valley's entry to the league with the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys.[10][11] The 2024 season was also supposed to be the debut season of the Tarlac United Force, but were pulled put by the league before playing a single game due to financial concerns.[12] Both seasons also saw multiple teams return and depart. The Bacoor City Strikers, Makati OKBet Kings, and Pasig City MCW Sports departed after the 2023 season. The two teams that moved to other leagues in 2021 ended up going back with the Davao Occidental Tigers making a comeback in 2024 while Basilan's team is set to return as the Basilan Starhorse in 2025.[13][14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Henson, Joaquin (3 September 2017). "MPBL won't compete with PBA". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  2. ^ Leongson, Randolph (22 January 2018). "Maharlika basketball league tips off Thursday with 10 teams at Big Dome". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  3. ^ Go, R.G. Antonet (December 29, 2018). "'Valientes' to be re-launched as Zambo Family's Brand Sardines". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  4. ^ Luarca, Roy (2018-06-12). "MPBL: Expansion teams, new faces and stars headline Datu Cup curtain-raiser". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  5. ^ Luarca, Roy. "Negros Muscuvados fielding homegrown talents in MPBL". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  6. ^ Li, Matthew (March 29, 2021). "Basilan goes pro in VisMin, changes name to Peace Riders". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  7. ^ "Davao Occidental leaves MPBL, named founding member of PSL". Tiebreaker Times. December 27, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  8. ^ "MPBL welcomes Quezon Province, Negros Muscovados". Manila Bulletin. January 30, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  9. ^ "MPBL welcomes unlimited pros, expands with two new franchises". Tiebreaker Times. 2024-02-06. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  10. ^ "Ilagan City newest MPBL team when Season 7 opens on March 8". Spin.ph. 2025-01-16. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  11. ^ "Louie Gonzalez finds new home as Ilagan Isabela Cowboys join MPBL". Tiebreaker Times. 2025-02-02. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
  12. ^ Sayson, Homer D. (2024-04-18). "MPBL expels expansion team Tarlac for 'unfulfilled financial obligations'". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  13. ^ "Davao Occidental Tigers roar back to MPBL after two-year hiatus". Tiebreaker Times. 2024-03-30. Retrieved 2025-02-06.
  14. ^ Badua, Snow (2024-11-27). "Basilan team making an MPBL comeback after two-year hiatus". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
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