Basketball in Manila

Philippines is among those few countries that started playing basketball at first. Today, basketball is one of the most beloved and popular sports in the whole country and is widely reputed as the national sport. Basketball in Manila is also the most popular sport played now days.

The Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) or Metroball is the professional basketball league based in Manila. Founded in 1998 MBA League brought basketball sport more close to people of not only Manila city but of whole Philippines. It was only due to MBA that rationalization plan of Philippines Basketball Association was cancelled.

MBA has a similar season program to that of National Basketball Association (NBA). Teams are grouped into two: Northern that comprises of Luzon and Metro Manila and other one is Southern that includes Visayas or Mindanao.

Basketball in Manila is the most spectacular sport and has its own professional team. Most of the basketball league matches or other tournaments are played in Rizal memorial Stadium. Another venue that host basketball matches is Araneta Coliseum. Formerly called as Manila Carnival Grounds, RMS was built in 1934 and is the national sports complex of the country.