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| (Image Source: Tiebreaker Times/Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) |
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), the premiere professional regional commercial and inter-provincial basketball league in the Philippines founded by eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, has officially found its new home in time for its fourth season after forging a partnership deal with Cignal TV, the leading pay TV provider in the country, and Pilipinas Global Network Ltd. (PGNL), the company operating TV5's international channels outside the country Kapatid Channel and Aksyon TV International.
As first reported by Tiebreaker Times, the partnership was sealed and signed by Pacquiao, MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes, PGNL President and CEO Ernesto "Bong" Santamaria and Cignal Chief Revenue Officer Guido Zaballero last April 8, 2022 (Friday) at the Conrad Manila Hotel in Pasay City. The signing was witnessed by majority of the representatives of the league's participating teams, Cignal vice president for channels and content management Sienna Olaso, Cignal head of channel management and programming Miguel Vea, Cignal news content head Patrick Paez, MPBL operations manager Emmer Oreta and MPBL operations coordinator Joe Ramos. Through the newly forged agreement, Filipino viewers in and out of the country can enjoy great basketball actions from the top players from across the provinces with MPBL games airing on One PH for more than four million Cignal TV subscribers and digital TV box users nationwide and Kapatid Channel for Filipino viewers in North America and the Middle East.
The league's inaugural champion Batangas City Athletics and Datu Cup champion San Juan Knights head the teams slated to compete in the round-robin elimination round of the tournament starting on April 25 inside the Batangas City Coliseum. Joining Batangas and San Juan are Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Makati, Bataan, Valenzuela, Manila, Zamboanga, Imus, Bacolod, Saranggani, General Santos City, Negros Occidental, Mindoro, Pasig, Rizal, Bacoor, Laguna, Pasay and Bicol. During the opening ceremonies, Pacquiao stated that the league will hand out the trophy and rings of the MPBL Lakan Cup champions, the Davao Occidental Tigers. Each team will have a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 24 players, including seven former PBA players, five varsity players with special guest licenses from the Games and Amusement Board, at least three homegrown, and two Fil-foreigners, who must be at least 18 years old and Philippine passport holder.
Catch the fourth season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), the "Liga Ng Bawat Pilipino", every Monday and Tuesday at 9:00 pm beginning April 25 on One PH (Cignal TV channel 1, digital free TV channel 497.143/695.143 nationwide). MPBL games are also available via live streaming on Cignal Play, while overseas viewers can enjoy the exciting MPBL action on the Kapatid Channel by contacting their pay TV provider.
