List of former Philippine Basketball Association teams

Last updated

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) currently has twelve active teams, but there have been numerous teams that departed the league whether through acquisition and dissolution. Additionally, some teams, local and foreign, also competed as guest teams that took part in a number of conferences.

Contents

Defunct franchises

*Denotes team that won a championship
TeamCompanyPrincipal ownerYears activeSeasons playedOverall win–loss recordWin %ChampionshipsAcquired by
Carrier/Quasar/FiberliteConcepcion Industries, Inc.José N. Concepcion Sr. 1975–1976 226–4437.1%0none
7-Up (Syjuco group)Seven-Up Bottling Company of the PhilippinesSantiago Syjuco 1975–1977 325–7425.2%0Filmanbank
FilmanbankFilipinas Manufacturers Bank Ricardo C. Silverio Sr. 1978–1979 232–5735.9%0Galleon Shipping/CDCP
Galleon Shipping/CDCPGalleon Shipping Corporation/
Construction and Development Corporation of the Philippines 		Rodolfo Cuenca 1980–1981 232–2853.3%0none
TefilinFilipinas Synthetic Fiber CorporationPatricio L. Lim
Carlos Palanca Jr.		 1980–1981 229–3346.7%0none
U/Tex Universal Textile Mills, Inc.Patricio L. Lim
Walter Euyang Sr.		 1975–1982 8210–18752.9%2Manhattan/Sunkist/Winston/Country Fair
Mariwasa Noritake/Mariwasa Honda/Finance Inc./Galerie DominiqueMariwasa/
Galerie Dominique		Emerson CoSeteng/
Nikki CoSeteng 		1975–1983 9117–21735.0%0none
Toyota Delta Motor Corporation Ricardo C. Silverio Sr. 1975–1983 9338–17865.5%9 Beer Hausen/Manila Beer
Crispa P. Floro and Sons, Inc.Pablo B. Floro 1975–1984 10403–18668.4%13 Shell
Manhattan/Sunkist/Winston/Country FairSanyu Group of Companies 1983–1984 215–4823.8%0none
Beer Hausen/Manila Beer Asia Brewery Lucio Tan 1984–1986 379–7650.9%0none
Tanduay/YCO-Tanduay (Elizalde group)Elizalde and Company, Inc. Manolo Elizalde 1975–1987 133 Purefoods/Magnolia*
Presto/N-Rich/Great Taste/Tivoli CFC Corporation John Gokongwei Jr.
Ignacio Gotao		 1975–1992 186 Sta. Lucia
Pop Cola/Sarsi/Sunkist/Swift RFM Corporation Jose Ma. Concepcion III 1990–2001 124 Coca-Cola/Powerade
Tanduay (Tan group) Tanduay Distillers, Inc. Lucio Tan 1999–2001 30 FedEx/Air21/Burger King/Barako Bull Energy
Shell Helix/Shell Rimula X/Shell Azodrin/Pilipinas Shell Oilers/Formula Shell Pilipinas Shell Petroleum CorporationPilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation 1985–2005 214 Welcoat/Rain or Shine*
Sta. Lucia Sta. Lucia Realty & Development Corporation Exequiel Robles 1993–2010 172 Meralco*
Red Bull/Barako Bull Photokina Marketing Corporation Tony Chua 2000–2011 103 Shopinas.com/Air21
Coca-Cola/Powerade Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. 2002–2012 112 GlobalPort/NorthPort*
FedEx/Air21/Burger King/Barako Bull Energy Airfreight 2100, Inc.Alberto Lina 2002–2016 140 Phoenix*
Shopinas.com/Air21 Lina Group of CompaniesAlberto Lina 2011–2014 30 NLEX*
Alaska/Hills Bros. Coffee Alaska Milk Corporation Wilfred Steven Uytengsu 1986–2022 3514 Converge*

*Acquiring team still active

Franchise lineage

As a result of franchise acquisitions, teams share their lineage with the teams acquired by their respective companies.

Active lineages

The lineages listed below are sorted from oldest to newest based on the establishing team. Bold indicates the active team in the lineage.

Ended lineages

The following lineages have ended due to the final team having dissolved without any acquisitions.

Record-keeping

Once a franchise is acquired by a new entity, the previous team is considered to be ceased and all of its records are kept with that team. The new team resulting from the acquisition will then start its records fresh akin to an expansion team. However, there have been a few special cases.

Special cases

Pepsi Mega Bottlers transfer to Lapanday Holdings

When Frederick Dael took over as president of Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc. (PCPPI), which owned the Pepsi Mega Bottlers, changes were made in the company's priorities which would see the team be disbanded. [1] PCPPI chairman Luis Lorenzo Sr. sought to transfer ownership of the franchise to one of his other entities, and in January 1996, the team's franchise was transferred to Lapanday Holdings, Lorenzo's holding company. The new team became known as the Mobiline Cellulars after partnering with the Pilipino Telephone Corporation (now PLDT Communication and Energy Ventures), now known as the TNT Tropang 5G, with the records of the 7-Up / Pepsi franchise carrying over. [2]

Tanduay's return

Tanduay's first PBA franchise was owned by Elizalde & Company Inc. It was one of the PBA's founding teams, competing from 1975 to 1987. In 1988, Tanduay was sold to Lucio Tan's Twin Ace Holdings Corporation while the PBA franchise was acquired by Pure Foods Corporation, forming today's Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots.

Tan's LT Group would later bring Tanduay back to the PBA in 1999 with the Tanduay Rhum Masters and with it the records of the company's previous franchise carried over. The new Rhum Masters played until 2002 when the team was acquired by the Lina Group, forming the FedEx Express.

Air21 and Barako Bull switch names

Timeline of the Air21–Barako Bull name switch
2011 Governors' Cup2011–12 Philippine Cup2012 Commissioner's CupCurrent lineage
Air21 Express (I) Barako Bull Energy Barako Bull Energy Phoenix Fuel Masters
Barako Bull Energy Boosters Shopinas.com Clickers Air21 Express (II) NLEX Road Warriors

When the Lina Group acquired a majority stake in Energy Food and Drinks, the distributor of Red Bull to the Philippines, the group now owned the Barako Bull Energy Boosters alongside their existing team, the Air21 Express. In the 2011–12 PBA Philippine Cup, the Energy Boosters were renamed to the Shopinas.com Clickers while the Express were renamed to the Barako Bull Energy. In the following Commissioner's Cup, the Clickers were renamed to the Air21 Express, meaning that the two franchises had switched names.

To prevent any confusion, most of the Shopinas / Air21 (II) franchise history and records were separated from the Red Bull / Barako Bull Energy Boosters franchise as if the Lina Group acquired the latter, with the only elements carrying over being the transaction history and lineage. As with most cases, the Barako Bull Energy franchise retained its history and lineage with FedEx / Burger King / Air21 (I).

To create a distinction between the two Air21 franchises, the original is abbreviated as "AIR21" and the second one as "AIR21X" in the official PBA annual, Hardcourt. In some instances, the team records of the original Air21 franchise is "shared" with the second Air21 franchise. An example would be during the jersey retirement of Vergel Meneses – although he played for the original Air21 franchise, his jersey was retired by the second Air21 franchise.

Air21 (II) were acquired by Manila North Tollways Corporation in 2014, becoming the NLEX Road Warriors, while Phoenix Petroleum acquired the Barako Bull Energy in 2016, establishing the Phoenix Fuel Masters.

Guest teams

Local teams

TeamOriginal leagueSeasons playedChampionships
Northern Consolidated Cement N/A (National team)2 (1984, 1985)1 (1985 Reinforced)
Philippine national team 5 (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2003)
Smart Gilas 2 (2009–10, 2010–11)

Foreign teams

TeamCountryOriginal leagueSeasons playedChampionships
Ramrod Blocks (Melbourne Panthers) [3] Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia —1 (1977)
Emtex Sacronel [3] (S.E. Palmeiras)Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Brazil São Paulo State Championship 1 (1977)
Adidas Rubberworld [3] Flag of France.svg France —1 (1980)
Nicholas Stoodley [3] Flag of the United States.svg United States —1 (1980)1 (1980 Invitational)
South Korea Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea N/A (national team)2 (1982, 2003)
KK Novi Sad Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg Serbia and Montenegro —1 (2003)
Magnolia-Jilin Tigers (Jilin Yiqi)Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China Chinese Basketball Association 1 (2003)
Yonsei University Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea —1 (2003)
U.S. Pro-Am SelectionFlag of the United States.svg United States —1 (2004)
UBC Thunderbirds Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada —1 (2004)
Bay Area Dragons Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong East Asia Super League 1 (2022–23)
Eastern Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong Hong Kong A1 Division Championship 1 (2024–25)

Graphical timeline

List of former Philippine Basketball Association teams

See also

References

  1. ↑ Asensi, Francis (January 5, 1996). "Mega Bottlers for sale". Sports Weekly Magazine.
  2. ↑ "Pepsi signs off". Sports Weekly Magazine. May 10, 1996.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Welcome to the PBA: A history of guest teams in the competition". ESPN.com. September 13, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
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