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Sport | Basketball |
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Founded | March 7, 1998 |
Ceased | July 26, 2002 |
Commissioner | Ramon Fernandez (first) Chito Loyzaga (last) |
No. of teams | 16 (total) |
Country | Philippines |
Last champion(s) | RCPI-Negros Slashers (1st title) |
Most titles | 5 teams (1 title each) |
TV partner(s) | ABS-CBN NBN |
The Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), also shortened as Metroball, was a professional basketball league in the Philippines that ran for five seasons from 1998 until 2002.
The MBA was established to rival the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The MBA contained between 8 and 15 teams which represented cities and provinces who played at home and away. Initially, the league was divided into two conferences: the Northern Conference for teams based in Luzon and the Southern Conference for teams based in Visayas and Mindanao. At the end of each season, the champions of each conference faced each other at the MBA National Finals to determine the league champion. Later, the MBA allowed companies to sponsor teams and attach their brand to the teams' names—and by the final season, used a three-conference format. The MBA's rules also differed slightly from the basic rules of basketball.
Each of the five seasons had a different champion: the Pampanga Dragons, Manila Metrostars, San Juan Knights, Batangas Blades, and Negros Slashers. The Negros Slashers had the most finals appearances, with four. The Northern Conference produced the most champions, with four, while the Southern Conference produced only one. A total of sixteen teams have competed in the MBA.
MBA games were broadcast on ABS-CBN Corporation's television networks. ABS-CBN also provided funding for the league. The MBA folded in 2002 due to high costs of maintaining the league and ABS-CBN withdrawing its funding.
The MBA played its first game on March 7, 1998 at the Don Narciso Ramos Sports Complex in Lingayen, Pangasinan. [1] The MBA was widely viewed as broadcast giant ABS-CBN's attempt to undermine the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after failing to snatch its broadcast rights in 1998, even as far as raid the PBA for talent in order to compete.
Metroball allowed foreigners to play for their teams, not requiring Philippine passports of them, nor requiring those foreigners to have Filipino blood. All the league required was that these players be born in the Philippines.
As a direct result of this practice, the MBA and its foreign-born players began attracting attention away from the PBA, forcing the PBA to escalate their own players' salaries and practically rendering the PBA draft useless through a "direct hiring" process. This allowed PBA teams like Talk 'N Text and Tanduay to negotiate directly with MBA players or MBA prospects (like Asi Taulava and Sonny Alvarado) for their services.
The league then folded on July 26, 2002, due to the high expenses in funding a regional basketball league, with ABS-CBN also withdrawing the funding for the league. Several players went to the semi-professional Philippine Basketball League en route to the PBA.
The MBA had a format similar to that of North America's National Basketball Association (NBA). The teams were divided into two conferences: the Northern Conference composed of Luzon-based teams, and the Southern Conference composed of Visayas- and Mindanao-based teams. The season concluded with the MBA National Finals, where the champions of both conferences face off to determine the season champions.
After the league adapted a semi-commercial format, in which teams are sponsored by companies, several methods were used to in determining the champion. In their final season, they have adapted a three-conference format, similar with the PBA.
Teams | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
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Batangas Blades / LBC-Batangas Blades | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Cagayan de Oro Nuggets/Amigos / Casino CDO Amigos | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Cebu Gems / Cebuana Lhuillier Gems | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Davao Eagles / Professional Davao Eagles | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Iloilo Volts/Megavoltz | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
Laguna Lakers / FedEx-Laguna Lakers | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Manila Metrostars | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
Negros Slashers / RCPI-Negros Slashers | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Nueva Ecija Patriots | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
Gilbey's-Olongapo Volunteers | ![]() | ||||
Pampanga Dragons/Stars | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Pangasinan Presidents / Osaka Pangasinan Waves | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
Pasig Blue Pirates/Pasig-Rizal Pirates | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
San Juan Knights / Andok's-San Juan Knights | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
SocSarGen Marlins / Taguig Marlins | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Surigao Miners/Warriors | ![]() | ![]() |
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The MBA had a set of its unique rules compared to the PBA:
Season | Player | Team | College |
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1998 | John Ferriols | Negros | USJ-R |
1999 | Alex Compton | Manila | Cornell |
2000 | Rommel Adducul | Manila | SSC-R |
2001 | Eddie Laure | LBC-Batangas | Adamson |
Teams in bold won the MBA National Championship.
Season | Northern Conference | Southern Conference | Series |
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1998 | Pampanga Dragons | Negros Slashers | 4-1 |
1999 | Manila Metrostars | Cebu Gems | 4-2 |
2000 | San Juan Knights | Negros Slashers | 4-2 |
2001 | LBC-Batangas Blades | Negros Slashers | 3-1 |
2002 | LBC-Batangas Blades | RCPI-Negros Slashers | 0-3 |
Metropolitan Basketball Association | |
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Country of origin | Philippines |
Original languages | Filipino English |
Production | |
Camera setup | Multiple-camera setup |
Running time | 150 minutes+ |
Production companies | ABS-CBN Sports ABS-CBN Regional Network Group |
Original release | |
Network | Studio 23 (now S+A) Sarimanok News Network (now ABS-CBN News Channel) PTV/NBN The Filipino Channel (Internationally) |
Release | March 7, 1998 – December 19, 2001 |
The MBA on ABS-CBN was a branding for presentation of the Metropolitan Basketball Association games by the ABS-CBN Sports. [7] The MBA on ABS-CBN premiered on March 7, 1998, when the league inaugurated its first season, [8] and ended on December 19, 2001. After that, the NBN officially take over the coverage in 2002. [9]