Pacquiao backs P5-million MPPT launch to grow Philippine pickleball

Manny Pacquiao is putting real money and structure behind Philippine pickleball, and that is the part that matters most. The Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour is set to launch later in 2026 with a prize package of at least P5 million, a sanctioned pro league under the Games and Amusements Board that gives the sport more than buzz. It gives it a ladder.

The format is built to create that ladder. The MPPT is eyeing eight pioneering franchises, with three teams already confirmed and the full roster expected to be finalized this month. The first run will be a five-leg invitational, played on weekends and organized around Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Each team will carry three men and three women into men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles, a setup that makes the circuit more than a showcase. It makes it repeatable.

That is where Pacquiao’s name carries weight. He is trying to do for pickleball what he once did with the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League: turn a scattered, regional sports scene into a recognizable competition with identity, travel and stakes. For players, that means more than one-off medals. It means ranking value, recurring matchups and a clearer path from local club play to elite competition. For clubs and sponsors, it means a product they can plan around instead of another isolated tournament weekend.

The timing is not random. Pickleball first arrived in the Philippines in Cebu in 2016, when clinics and borrowed equipment helped seed the game in churches, parking lots and even on Emerald Avenue in Manila before it spread through more formal clinics. Since then, the growth has been steep enough to force organization. By March 2026, the country had more than 320 registered clubs, while earlier reporting put the number above 250 clubs, with thousands of active players spread across Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.

The domestic pathway is already starting to take shape. The first-ever Philippine Pickleball National Championship was staged at Dink and Shot in Marikina from May 30 to June 1, 2025, and the Philippine Pickleball Federation used the elite gold medalists from that event as the basis for national-pool selection. That matters because it shows the sport is no longer running only on enthusiasm. It is building a selection system.

Pacquiao said the goal is to give athletes a chance to represent their cities and provinces, and the MPPT fits that idea cleanly. If the league delivers on its schedule, prize money and regional reach, the Philippines will not just have another pickleball event. It will have a model for how Asian pickleball can move from club growth to a proper professional circuit.