The Women's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (WMPBL) is a women's professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

league in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

consisting of fourteen teams. It serves as the women's counterpart 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 league launched in November 2024 by boxing legend and former Senator

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...

and is fourth league under the ''Maharlika Pilipinas'' name, following the men's MPBL, the Junior MPBL, and the volleyball counterpart

Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association The Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association (MPVA) is a women's developmental volleyball league in the Philippines consisting of nine teams. The MPVA was founded in 2023 by eight-division boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao, who also found ...

(MPVA). It first began play as an amateur league in January 2025 with an invitational tournament before turning pro in April that year. The Pilipinas Aguilas are the current defending champions, after defeating the UST Growling Tigresses in the WMPBL Invitational Tournament finals.

History

Previous attempts

There have been two previous attempts at establishing a women's professional basketball league in the Philippines prior to the WMPBL. The first was the

Pinay Ballers League Pinay Ballers League (PBL) is a women's basketball league based in the Philippines. It was formed in 2014 by Ewon's Sports Association, Inc., a group of local women's basketball stakeholders, They were led by former Adamson Falcons player Ewon Ar ...

in 2014 which gained the support of the

Philippine Sports Commission The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC; ) is an agency of the Philippine government that tackles matters concerning sports in the country. The sports agency is independent from the Philippine Olympic Committee, a privately-ran organization that e ...

. The

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

followed in 2019 which turned professional a year later.NBL women’s league fires off this weekend
Michael Angelo S. Murillo,

Business World ''BusinessWorld'' is a business newspaper in the Philippines with a nationwide circulation of more than 117,000 (as of March 2014). Founded in 1967 as ''Business Day'', it is Southeast Asia's first daily business newspaper. History ''Busin ...

Online, April 5, 2019 Aside from the aforementioned leagues, the

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

(PBA) also hosted women's 3x3 basketball on two separate occasions, the first from 2015 to 2016 and the second in 2024.

Establishment

Following the success of the

expanded on its grassroots format by creating new leagues under the ''Maharlika Pilipinas'' name. After the launch of the Junior MPBL in June 2023, Pacquiao founded the

in October that year, the first to feature female athletes. Reports of a direct women's counterpart were first published in October 2024, when Haydee Ong, head coach of the UST Growling Tigresses basketball team, accepted an offer to become the league's inaugural commissioner. The league formally launched on November 24, 2024 at the Winford Hotel in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, with Ong stating that "women's basketball now has evolved into a more exciting brand compared to the previous era", alluding to the Caitlin Clark effect seen in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Although the league initially targeted eight to ten teams for the start of league play, fourteen ended up turning in. The league would begin as an amateur league for the Invitational Tournament before transitioning to professional status by mid-2025, during which it is expected to run its first full season. The league began play with the Invitational Tournament on January 19, 2025 at the Quadricentennial Pavilion on the campus of the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

Sampaloc, Manila Sampaloc is a district of Manila, Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of is ...

. It concluded on April 23 with the Pilipinas Aguilas defeating the UST Growling Tigresses. The next day, the league announced its transition to a professional league.

Teams

For the Invitational, the league will feature fourteen teams with a mix of local, commercial, and corporate teams.

Roster regulations

For the Invitational Tournament, all players must be at least 18 years old. Teams will also be able to have one import and up to two Filipino-foreigner players. In addition, each team is limited to two players who play for the Philippines women's national basketball team. Once the league turns professional, the age requirement will be increased to 21.

Season format

Invitational

The league divides the teams into two groups: Group A and Group B. Each team will play one game against each team from the opposing group, for a total of seven games for each team. The top four teams in each group will advance to the playoffs, with the top two earning twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals will both be

best-of-three series There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

Championships

Media

The league’s inaugural broadcast partner is the

Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network based in Quezon City. It is a state broadcaster owned by the Government Communications Group under the Presidential Communications Of ...

(IBC), which previously broadcast 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 ...

. Similar to other ''Maharlika Pilipinas'' leagues, all games are also streamed on the league's social media channels.

Commissioners

References

{{Navboxes, list1= {{Sports leagues in the Philippines {{Basketball in the Philippines {{Women's basketball leagues {{Metro Manila Sports {{Maharlika Pilipinas leagues {{Manny Pacquiao Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Basketball leagues in the Philippines Sports leagues established in 2024 2024 establishments in the Philippines