Marvin Espiritu on MPBL's Future: "They Need to Study"

The Maharlika Basketball Pilipinas League (MPBL) postponed the remainder of the 2020 playoffs due to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic and fast forward to January 2021, there has been no word yet as to how the league will move forward with the remaining games or will they even complete the postponed season. As Benny Benitez said on Saturday's episode of Bull By the Horn by Benny Benitez, the MPBL is like "the forgotten league". 

If and when the MPBL gets the go-signal from the government to resume games as an amateur league, there are things for the player agent, Marvin Espiritu, that the league can do moving forward.

First things first, the league needs a new media partner. "They need to include that among their agendas before they start. One of their tools that allowed the league to be recognized by the mass is ABS CBN (as a broadcast partner)," Espiritu said.

While he hailed the MPBL as a league that continues to provide another platform for players who want to play while waiting for a call-up from Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) teams, the MPBL, as a league, still has a lot of room for improvement according to Espiritu. "There are many teams. You can look up at the Euroleague model that has a relegation. The costs would be smaller. Our format is different, In other countries, their professional league is club-based. PBA is commercial-based. For example in the MPBL, there are teams that we can call club-based teams. Of course, you need a budget to run that team. There are teams like Zamboanga who is well-funded and has a backer in the form of the Family Brand Sardines. Not every team has a backer as Zamboanga does. I think Senator Manny Pacquiao needs to study how to sustain (the league) because we should all learn lessons from the NBA (National Basketball Association),"

In the end, it's about the longevity of the league. "For the MPBL, they need to really study on how to move forward, to sustain that league, to run the league, for the league to last long," 

Photo is from Manila Times