PBA 3×3 now has the green light.
On Friday, the league’s board of governors approved the staging of its inaugural season should it get the much-important nod from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
According to PBA 3×3 Dickie Bachmann, the league is looking at eighteen teams to join the standalone tournament — including 12 from the current PBA ball clubs. Among the other teams rumored to join is Family’s Brand Sardines.
The format, on the other hand, depends on what the IATF will suggest. Still, Bachmann said that they have already prepared their game plan for both a bubble and a non-bubble set-up.
Should the Task Force allow PBA 3×3 to run its games through a closed-circuit model, the league will hold a three-conference season. Each conference will then consist of five legs, culminating in the Grand Finals.
But if it has to play in a bubble — as the Games and Amusements Board has suggested earlier for pro leagues — then a 13-day tournament will take place, made up of three two-day legs and a two-day Grand Finals.
“For now, this season, it’s totally separate from 5-on-5. So we’ll be playing in different venues for now. But maybe, later on, the plan is basically to be held with the 5-on-5. We’re doing this kasi we’re looking at 2024 and hopefully, we can give SBP a pool of players earning points. That’s to help out SBP,” said Bachmann.
The number of players per roster will also be based on which kind of format will the IATF recommend. “For the non-bubble, six players. But for the bubble, it’s limited to five,” said Bachmann, who’s also the governor of Alaska.
There will also be a prize money after each leg, although the long-time executive did not divulge the amount.
