The 2024 MPBL Preseason Invitational was the preseason pocket tournament for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2024 season and the third edition of the MPBL Preseason Invitational. The tournament began on February 21, 2024 and ended with the final game on February 27, 2024.[1] The Pampanga Giant Lanterns were the tournament champions after defeating the South Cotabato Warriors with a score of 93–75.[2]
Similar to the previous edition, the tournament was held at the Lagao Gymnasium in General Santos and used the same eight-team format as before. The tournament coincided with the city's Kalilangan Festival.
A total of eight teams competed in the tournament. These include seven MPBL teams, as well as returning guest team GenSan Bulalakaw. Making their first Invitational appearances were the Bataan Risers, Pampanga Giant Lanterns, and Quezon City Toda Aksyon.[3]
↑Competed as Batangas City Embassy Chill during the 2023 season. The name was later changed to Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters for the 2024 season.
↑The name was later changed to Manila Batang Sampaloc for the 2024 season.
↑Competed as GenSan Warriors during the 2023 season. The new name would remain for the 2024 season.
↑Competed as Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. during the 2023 season. The new name would remain for the 2024 season.
Format
The tournament was divided into two stages: the group stage and the playoffs. The eight participating teams were divided into two groups of four. Both groups play in a single round-robin format, wherein each team plays one game against all other teams within the same group. The top two teams in each group advance to a two-round, single-elimination playoffs consisting of all knockout games.[3]
Every team was given prize money based on their standings: ₱1.5 million for the champion, ₱500,000 for the runner-up, ₱300,000 for the third-place team, ₱200,000 for the fourth-place team, and ₱125,000 for all non-playoff teams.[4]
Source: Schedule – via Genius Sports Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2a) If two teams are tied, head-to-head match-up; 2b) If three or more teams are tied, head-to-head point quotient; 3) overall point quotient; 4) coin toss.
Source: Schedule – via Genius Sports Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2a) If two teams are tied, head-to-head match-up; 2b) If three or more teams are tied, head-to-head point quotient; 3) overall point quotient; 4) coin toss. Notes:
↑ 1.01.11.2Quezon City (1.119), Valenzuela (1.063), and GenSan (0.832) are ranked based on head-to-head point quotient.
The Pampanga Giant Lanterns became the first Luzon-based team to win an MPBL Invitational championship, as the previous two (Basilan and Zamboanga) were all based in Mindanao.
Unlike previous Invitational tournaments, no Most Valuable Player award was given out at the conclusion of the tournament. Pampanga's Encho Serrano was declared the Player of the Game in the Finals.
Media
This is the second MPBL Invitational under Cignal TV's ongoing broadcast partnership with the league. The games are broadcast on Media Pilipinas TV (MPTV) on television and are streamed live via Pilipinas Live. The league continues to stream all of the games online on Facebook and YouTube.
