The MPBL Preseason Invitational is the preseason pocket tournament of the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...

(MPBL). The tournament was first held in 2021, intended to make up for the long gap between the 2019–20 and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

seasons. The Preseason Invitational returned with a smaller eight-team format in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

before being cancelled for the

2025 MPBL season The 2025 MPBL season is the seventh season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and its fourth under professional status. The regular season began on March 8, 2025 with the opening ceremony at the Capital Arena in Ilagan, Isabela ...

History

The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

forced the league to temporarily suspend league play on March 12, 2020, in the midst of its 2020 playoffs. The league also cancelled its plans to start its fourth season in June of that year and instead aimed for a return in June 2021, which also didn't push through. As the league began its transition to professional status, it also looked to start an invitational tournament in December. On November 16, 2021, during the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum, league commissioner

Kenneth Duremdes Kenneth Celera Duremdes (born January 31, 1974) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who currently serves as the commissioner of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). Nicknamed as "Captain Marbel", Duremdes played i ...

formally announced the Invitational as the league settled on starting its fourth season in

. The tournament would also be supervised by the

Games and Amusements Board The Games and Amusements Board (GAB; ) is the government-run regulatory body of professional sports in the Philippines. History The Games and Amusements Board initially started its operation in 1951 with the issuance of Executive Order No. 392 ...

(GAB) and monitored by

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

. The

2021 MPBL Invitational The 2021 MPBL Invitational was the preseason tournament for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2022 season and the first edition of what would become the MPBL Preseason Invitational. The tournament began on December 11, 2021 and ende ...

went underway on December 11, 2021. It was the first event of the MPBL under professional status. The entire tournament was held at

SM Mall of Asia Arena The SM Mall of Asia Arena, also known as the Mall of Asia Arena or the MoA Arena, is an indoor arena within the SM Mall of Asia complex, in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. It has a seating capacity of 15,000 for sporting events and ...

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

and fans were allowed in the arena at 50-percent capacity, though tickets were only provided to the participating teams to give to fans. The inaugural tournament featured 22 teams and was won by Basilan Jumbo Plastic. The Invitational has since become the league's preseason tournament in the seasons that followed. The next two editions of the Invitational (

and

) took place at Lagao Gymnasium in

General Santos General Santos, officially the City of General Santos and abbreviated as GenSan, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Soccsksargen, Philippines. According to ...

. The tournament is now held every February to align with the city's Kalilangan Festival. This is also the only event in the league's calendar to feature guest teams. Since 2023, the ''GenSan Bulalakaw'', a General Santos-based club, have become a regular competitors at the tournament. Now renamed as the MPBL Preseason Invitational, the

Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines The Zamboanga Sikat (stylized as Zamboanga SiKAT), alternatively known as Sikat Zamboanga, is a Filipino professional basketball team based in Zamboanga City. The team currently competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a ...

won the 2023 edition while the

Pampanga Giant Lanterns The Pampanga Giant Lanterns (shortened as PGL and also known as Pampanga Giant Lanterns – AMG3 Construction for sponsorship reasons) are a Filipino professional basketball team based in San Fernando, Pampanga. The team competes in the Maha ...

won the 2024 edition. On January 23, 2025, the league announced that it would cancel plans to hold a preseason tournament for the 2025 season.

Format

The format of the Preseason Invitational follows that of traditional FIBA tournaments. Since 2023, each tournament consists of eight teams that are divided into two groups of four teams. Each team plays one game against each team from within the same group. The top two teams advance to the

single-elimination A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

playoffs, where the top four positions are settled.

Prize pot

The Preseason Invitational also features a prize pot, which is included in every tournament to date. In 2021, only the top three teams were given prize money. This was changed in 2023 so that every team is given prize money.

Teams

A total of 28 teams have made an appearance in a Preseason Invitational tournament. Teams are listed under their name as of the 2024 season, the last time the event was held. ;Notes

List of tournaments

References

{{MPBL Preseason Invitational Recurring sporting events established in 2021