PBA Esports Bakbakan is an

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

league in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is organized by the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA) in partnership with Dark League Studios. The league consists of the esport squads of the PBA's twelve franchise teams. The first tournament featured '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' while the following competition had '' PUBG: Battlegrounds''. The third tournament which had ''StreetBallers'' featured eight teams from outside the PBA.

History

The

(PBA) has planned to organize esports games in-between its league games during its 46th season in 2021. However the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

caused such plan to be placed on hold. In 2022, the PBA revisited its plans to get involved in esports and accepted an invitation by Dark League Studios to check their Kings League tournament. The PBA would enter in an entered a formal partnership with Dark League Studios in October 2022. The PBA would launch an esports league, the PBA Esports Bakbakan, in January 2023. The tournament would be held in partnership with Dark League Studios. The inaugural season would feature the PBA's twelve franchise team with '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' as the video game title featured. The draft for the first tournament was held on February 13, 2023. The TNT Tropang Giga became the inaugural champions. In September 2023, the PBA organized a '' PUBG: Battlegrounds'' tournament with the 12 franchise teams.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.), a subsidia ...

won the tournament. Within the same month, the PBA launched the ''StreetBallers'' tournament. The final tournament had eight teams which qualified from 20 teams across the country. ''StreetBallers'' is a mobile game developed by PlayPark.

Teams

;The twelve PBA franchise teams (''Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' and ''PUBG: Battlegrounds'') ;''StreetBallers'' *Batang 90s *Diablo *HGL *Minana *MNN *Ovlord *Southstars *Triple Threat

Seasons

References

{{PBA Esports competitions in the Philippines Philippine Basketball Association 2023 establishments in the Philippines Sports leagues established in 2023 Professional sports leagues in the Philippines Mobile Legends: Bang Bang competitions