Rumors have been put to rest as the MPL Philippines has officially shifted to a franchise model starting in Season 8, the league revealed in a press conference on Wednesday, July 14.
With the new model patterned after MPL Indonesia, MPL Philippines will have a more professional and standardized management system, providing the teams, players and other people involved with stability.
The fresh system will guarantee full protection of the rights and interests of the players and the teams such as minimum salary and weekly subsidiaries. A projected revenue of P400 million in three years will be shared among the teams.
A code of conduct is being finalized to maintain professionalism in the league that will feature a revamped tournament format and rulebook.
The franchise model is also expected to provide stable jobs for other people within the league such as the casters and backend workers while also giving back to the fans through various projects.
"We want this to be sustainable and we want to impose professionalism in the league," said Matt Jaron, MPL-PH director of business development, during the Zoom presscon.
"We are hoping that the franchise model will offer greater opportunities for everyone in the ecosystem," he added.
Blacklist International, Bren Esports, Smart Omega, Onic PH, Nexplay EVOS, Echo, RSG PH and TNC Pro Team are the eight teams that have secured their spot in the MPL-PH Season 8 for a certain franchise fee.
With no qualifiers to be held, the league will immediately start with the regular season which will run online from August 13 until the third week of October followed by the playoffs under a bubble setup.
The top two teams will be seeded straight to the upper bracket semifinals while the next four will start in the upper bracket first round. The bottom two will be eliminated from playoff contention.
A total prize pool of $150,000 (P7.5 million) is up for grabs.
MPL-PH also bared key projects in the future, such as setting up the MDL (developmental league) in Season 9, offering new franchise team slots by next season or in Season 10 and establishing a local office by the end of the year.