The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) will introduce two significant format changes for its upcoming seventh season which begins March 8 at the Capital Arena in Ilagan City, Isabela.
No less than legendary boxer and league founder Manny Pacquiao presided over the gathering of MPBL officials, team owners and media on Sunday to discuss details on how to further strengthen the organization.
Pacquiao called on team owners, led by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada of the San Juan Knights, to help eliminate game-fixing in the league by excluding players and coaches suspected of collaborating with illegal gamblers.
MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes also led the dinner meeting with team owners, including representatives from newcomer Ilagan Isabela Cowboys and returning team Basilan Starhorse held at Milky Way Cafe in Makati.
In response to a recommendation from team owners, the MPBL will expand the North and South Division Finals to a best-of-five series, replacing the previous best-of-three format.
The National Finals, where the North and South champions will face off, will also remain a best-of-five series.
Additionally, the league will implement a play-in tournament to determine the final two qualifying spots in each division following the round-robin elimination round.
In this new setup, the top six teams in both the North and South will advance directly to the quarterfinals. The seventh and eighth-ranked teams will compete for the remaining two spots in a play-in similar to the NBA format.
The seventh and eighth-seeded teams will face off, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. The loser will have a second chance, playing the winner of a knockout game between the ninth and tenth seeds for the final spot.
While most of the 29 teams, including defending champion Pampanga and runner-up Quezon Province, have confirmed their intention to participate, others have requested additional time to finalize their decisions ahead of the MPBL Seventh Season, which is set to conclude in December.
MPBL chief executive officer Joe Ramos and Head of Operations Emmer Oreta also joined the meeting.