This article needs to be updated.(July 2020) |
Current season, competition or edition: 2022 The Nationals | |
Sport | Esports |
---|---|
Founded | 2018 |
First season | 2019 |
President | Kevin Chung [1] |
Commissioner | Ren Vitug [1] |
No. of teams | 6 |
Country | Philippines |
TV partner(s) | eGG Network 5 Plus |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Relegation to | None |
Related competitions | Challenger Series Academy Series |
Official website | Official Website, archived from the original on June 1, 2021 |
The Nationals is an electronic sports (Esports) league in the Philippines which had its inaugural season in 2019. It is the first franchise-based electronic sports in the Philippines. The tournaments are sanctioned by the Esports National Association of the Philippines (ESNAP). [2]
The Nationals was first announced in June 2018 with its inaugural season which began in the first quarter of 2019. The league was announced to feature four titles. The Nationals was envisioned to act as the main pool for national Esports athletes who could compete for the Philippines in international tournaments such as the Asian Games. [3]
The league had six founding corporations: [4] [5]
The inaugural 2019 season commenced on March 24, 2019, featuring three video game titles. Two conferences were held for each title. Both double round-robin group stage and single-elimination playoffs were adopted as the competition format with the top players in each title and conference playing against each other in the season finale. Six teams entered for the inaugural season, with STI joining mid-season after the Dota2 competition. [6]
For the 2021 season, two divisions were introduced opening The Nationals to non-professionals; These divisions are: The Challenger Series which was open to amateurs and the Academy Series which was for players who are enrolled in schools at the time of their participation. The Nationals Draft Series will be introduced with the top players of the Challenger and Academy series eligible to enter. [7]
The Nationals would introduce a new title, Call of Duty: Mobile for the 2022 season. It would join the three titles present in its lineup since its inaugural season. [8]
The six founding corporate partners of The Nationals fielded teams for the inaugural season of the Esports tournament. As of August 2018, two more franchise slots are still open which if filled would see eight teams participating in The Nationals. [9] The six participating franchise teams including a new team, Suha, were confirmed by Gariath Concepts in February 2019. A team of one of the founding corporate founders. [10] [6]
Team | Company | First season |
---|---|---|
Bren EPro | BrenPro Inc. | 2019 |
Cignal Ultra Warriors | Cignal TV Inc. | 2019 |
Happy Feet Emperors | HappyFeet Esports | 2019 |
Smart Omega | Smart Communications | 2019 |
STI eOlympians | STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc. | 2019 |
Laus Auto Group Playbook Esports Eagles | Laus Auto Group / PlayBook Esports | 2020 |
Team | Company | Last Season |
---|---|---|
Suha-XCTN Punishers | – | 2019 |
The league follows a franchise model, the first Esports league in the Philippines to adopt this format. Other franchised based leagues in the country are the Philippine Basketball Association, the Philippine Super Liga, Premier Volleyball League, and the Philippine Football League. [11] The Nationals is recognized by the Esports National Association of the Philippines [12]
Three titles, belonging to three categories: PC gaming, Mobile gaming, Console gaming, are the main Esports titles played in The Nationals. [12] [3] Gariath Concepts will handle the operations and logistics of the league. [3]
Three titles were featured in The Nationals upon the launch of its inaugural season in 2019: [13] [14] Dota 2 for PC Gaming and Mobile Legends for Mobile gaming and Tekken 7 for the Console gaming category. NBA 2K19 was also proposed to be played in The Nationals. [12] A fourth title, Call of Duty: Mobile was introduced in the 2022 season. [8]
Title | Category |
---|---|
Call of Duty: Mobile | Mobile Gaming |
Dota 2 | PC Gaming |
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | Mobile Gaming |
Tekken 7 | Console Gaming |
Season | Year | Dota 2 | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | Tekken 7 | Call of Duty: Mobile |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2019 | Cignal Ultra Warriors | Cignal Ultra Warriors | Alexandre "AK" Laverez [15] | — |
Suha-Execration Punishers [16] | Bren Epro [17] | Alexandre "AK" Laverez [15] | |||
2 | 2020 | Cignal Ultra Warriors [18] | Bren Epro | AK (Laus Playbook) [19] | — |
3 | 2021 | — | Cignal Ultra Warriors | AK (Laus Playbook) [20] | — |
4 | 2022 | — | — | — | Smart Omega [21] |
The Nationals has been broadcast at 5 Plus on ESPN 5 in the Philippines. League matches were also aired at the One Sports through Cignal TV and Cablelink for Philippine-based viewers as well as eGG Network for the viewers across Southeast Asia and Australia. [1] Matches of Road of The Nationals were aired live in the country on ESPN 5. [3]
Smart Communications Inc., commonly referred to as Smart, is a wholly owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., a telecommunications and digital services provider based in the Philippines. As of November 2023, it is currently the largest mobile network with 55.2 million subscribers.
TV5 is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is headquartered in Mandaluyong, with alternate studios located in Novaliches, Quezon City. TV5 serves as the flagship property of TV5 Network, Inc., which is owned by MediaQuest Holdings, the multimedia arm of telecommunications conglomerate PLDT. The network is commonly referred to as "The Kapatid Network", using the Filipino term for "sibling", a branding introduced in 2010.
One Sports, currently rebranding to Sports5, is the sports division of TV5 Network, Inc. and jointly-operated with sister company Cignal TV. One Sports supplies and airs major sporting events in the Philippines and the world for free-to-air TV channels TV5, RPTV, One Sports channel, Cignal-exclusive channels One Sports+, PBA Rush, NBA TV Philippines and UAAP Varsity Channel, and online esports streaming channel GG Network.
Aksyon TV was a Philippine free-to-air television network. It was a joint venture of Nation Broadcasting Corporation and TV5 Network, Inc., both under PLDT media arm MediaQuest Holdings. Its programs were primarily produced by TV5's divisions News5 and ESPN5. AksyonTV formerly broadcasts terrestrially through DWNB-TV in Metro Manila, as well as on UHF channel 29 in Cebu, Davao and other relay stations, and on a digital subchannel via channel 5.2 in Metro Manila. It occupies the frequency previously used by MTV Philippines, a subsidiary of MTV Networks Asia Pacific from 2001 until 2006.
NBA Premium TV was a Philippine pay television sports-oriented network owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation. The channel is a joint venture between Solar and NBA TV. It was a live simulcast broadcast of NBA TV, the league's dedicated channel in the United States.
The PBA on One Sports is the branding for presentation of the Philippine Basketball Association basketball games which started since the 2011-12 season. Telecasts are produced by One Sports, the sports division of TV5 Network Inc., and aired through One Sports and PBA Rush, with simulcast and livestreaming on Cignal Play, Pilipinas Live and Smart LiveStream. Also, there is a separate coverage in English commentary on PBA Rush since July 15, 2016.
TV5 Network Inc., commonly known as TV5, is a Philippine media company based in Mandaluyong. It is primarily involved in radio and television broadcasting, with subsidiaries and affiliates dealing in various media related businesses. TV5 is owned by MediaQuest Holdings, an investee company of Philippine telecommunications giant PLDT, through its Beneficial Trust Fund, and headed by business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan.
The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines consisting of 30 teams.
The Road to The Nationals is a series of tournaments which serves as the prelude to the inaugural 2019 season of the eSports league in the Philippines known as "The Nationals". The winners will be part of a pool of players which the six pioneering teams of the league will draw players from.
Esports at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines was held at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, Metro Manila from 5 to 10 December 2019. It was the first esports contest as a medal event in a multi-sport competition sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee after the discipline featured as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
One Sports is a Philippine free-to-air television network owned by Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and jointly operated by TV5 Network, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. media arm of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund. One Sports is currently carried through analog via DWNB UHF TV Channel 41 in Metro Manila and other relay and affiliate stations nationwide, and as a digital television subchannel in select areas of the country. It operates Mondays to Saturdays from 6:00 AM to 12:00 MN and Sundays from 6:00 AM to 1:00 AM. as well as on truncated hours during the Paschal Triduum. However, starting Holy Week 2024, it continues to sign off from Maundy Thursday from 12:00 mn to Easter Sunday at 6:00 am.
The following is a list of notable events and developments that are related to Philippine sports in 2019.
Smart Omega Esports, formerly known as PLDT–Smart Omega, is a Philippine franchise-based professional esports team which competes in The Nationals, the top esports league in the Philippines sanctioned by the eSports National Association of the Philippines, and MPL Philippines. It was formed as a result of a partnership between esports team Sterling Global Dragons and corporate firms, PLDT Inc. and its mobile arm, Smart Communications.
The 2019 The Nationals is the inaugural season of The Nationals, an electronic sports (Esports) league in the Philippines. The season features three titles, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Tekken 7 with two conferences each.
AP Bren, formerly Bren Esports is a Southeast Asian professional esports organization based in the Philippines. It has competitive teams in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, CS:GO, PUBG, League of Legends, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Clash Royale, Arena of Valor, Rules of Survival, Valorant, and Tekken 7. In the Philippine esports league The Nationals, the team competes as Bren EPro. The organization was founded on 16 August 2017 by Bernard "Bren" Chong who is part of the Chong clan that owns World Balance.
Cignal TV, Inc., also known by its legal trading name Mediascape Inc., is a Filipino media and telecommunications firm in the Philippines. A wholly owned subsidiary of the media company MediaQuest Holdings under the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, the firm operates its pay television services, subscription television networks, television and film entertainment production, and fiber broadband internet.
NBA TV Philippines is a Philippine pay television sports-oriented network owned by MediaQuest Holdings through its subsidiary Cignal TV. The channel is a joint venture between Cignal and NBA TV and is a live simulcast broadcast of NBA TV, the league's dedicated channel in the United States.
The 2020 The Nationals is the second season of The Nationals, an electronic sports (Esports) league in the Philippines. The season features three titles, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Tekken 7. The season will run from September 5 to sometime around December 2020.
The Philippines national esports team represents the Philippines in international esports tournaments. It is organized under the Philippine Esports Organization.
PBA Esports Bakbakan is an esports league in the Philippines. It is organized by the Philippine Basketball Association (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.