Did You Know? Manny Pacquiao Founded a Pickleball League with a P5 Million Prize Pool

With a storied career spanning more than three decades, Manny Pacquiao has become synonymous with boxing. In fact, he remains the only boxer in history to have won world titles across eight different weight divisions. The Pambansang Kamao has long been open about his journey from poverty through boxing, recognizing the impact that sports can have on athletes and communities alike.

Today, he has his sights set on helping a different sport grow in the Philippines.

Pac-Man is banking on the meteoric rise of pickleball. Earlier this year, the Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour (MPPT) was unveiled, with the boxing legend serving as its founder and chairman. The professional league is sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board and aims to give Filipino pickleball players a platform to compete while representing their respective communities.

The inaugural MPPT will feature 12 regional teams from across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, representing Abra, Bangued, Pampanga, Muntinlupa, Alfonso (Cavite), Tacloban, Batangas, Rizal, Bacoor, Camarines Norte, Parañaque, and General Santos. Each team comprises three male and three female players, who will compete in men’s and women’s doubles, as well as mixed doubles.

The competition will unfold across five legs, beginning with round-robin matches before the top teams advance to the knockout rounds. The first leg kicks off on October 3 and 4 in Angeles, Pampanga, followed by two more legs in November. By December, the eight highest-ranked teams will advance to the final phase of the competition.

Joe Ramos, chief executive officer of the MPPT, revealed that the winner of each leg will take home P1 million, bringing the total prize pool to P5 million.

For Manny, the venture also hits close to home. He has taken up pickleball himself, playing recreationally with his wife, Jinkee Pacquiao, at their gym in General Santos City.

At the league’s launch, Manny shared that many have already expressed interest in joining and that there are hopes of expanding the competition after its inaugural season. “Marami tayong matutulungan nito at maraming ma-e-encourage para maglaro ng pickleball,” he said.