Pureblends Corp acquires NorthPort’s PBA franchise

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

After three years, a new team is ready to vie for glory in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

The last time that a new team joined the PBA was in 2022, when the Converge FiberXers completed a buyout of the Alaska Aces franchise.

This upcoming PBA conference, food and beverages company Pureblends Corporation decided to enter the big boys’ league, after purchasing the NorthPort Batang Pier franchise, for 90 million pesos.

However, multiple reports confirmed that their formal inclusion in the league is still subject for approval of the PBA Board, which will tackle the matter today.

Pureblends Corp. will need at least two-thirds of the majority votes from the panel to receive final recognition as the newest team to compete in the PBA.

If given the go signal, team owner Bryann Calantoc will look to sign NorthPort’s holdovers who are still under contract until the end of the year.

Players who are still inked to a deal are Calvin Abueva, Evan Nelle, Fran Yu, Jio Jalalon, Jerrick Balanza, Sidney Onwubere, Joshua Munzon, and Cade Flores.

Calantoc is no stranger to the PHL basketball landscape after taking part in team ownership transactions in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the Pilipinas Super Liga.

It remains to be determined whether Calantoc will bring in new players to the team, as well as the final composition of the coaching staff.

The last coach who mentored NorthPort in the PBA Philippine Cup was Bonnie Tan, assisted by Rensy Bajar, Pido Jarencio, and Jeff Napa.