Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, the newest local amateur
basketball league founded by no less than eight-time Filipino world boxing
champion Manny Pacquiao, has finally found the right home where it aims to
bring its games and its participating teams closer to Filipino basketball fans
with the start of its maiden season on the horizon.
Starting January 25, 2018, the games of the Maharlika Pilipinas
Basketball League (MPBL) will be aired live and exclusive on ABS-CBN's S+A. The
announcement was made on social media following the forging of a partnership
deal between the league's management headed by ALV Events International and the
Philippines' premiere media and entertainment company ABS-CBN Corporation.
For both the MPBL and ABS-CBN Sports, the deal presents the right opportunity
for sports-loving Filipino viewers to see grassroots athletes and even those who
are yet to be drafted into the professional scene in action. On its inaugural
season, seven teams led by Tanduay Rhum Masters will be competing in home and
away games which is reminiscent of the format used in the defunct Metropolitan
Basketball League (MBL) twenty years ago.
The inaugural season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League will
take place at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and its games will be broadcasted live
every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 7:00 pm on S+A and S+A HD.
Speaking of ABS-CBN Sports, a few Filipino viewers have shared their
first experience watching the new sports channel Liga on their television
screens via social media especially Facebook. I was surprised to learn that the
new channel would turn out to be the reincarnation of the late Balls
considering that they watched replays of Alab Pilipinas games and FIFA World Cup
European Qualifier matches, and I thought it is a channel only dedicated to Spanish
football.