The Nationals (esports)

The Nationals is an electronic sports (Esports) league in the Philippines which will have its inaugural season in 2019. It will be the first franchise-based electronic sports in the Philippines. The tournaments are sanctioned by the Esports National Association of the Philippines (ESNAP).
History.
Establishment.
The Nationals was first announced in June 2018 with its inaugural season set to commence in the first quarter of 2019. The league will feature four titles. The Nationals is envisioned to act as the main pool for national Esports athletes who will compete for the Philippines in international tournaments such as the Asian Games.
The league has six founding corporations:
The Nationals (2019–).
The inaugural 2019 season will commence on March 24, 2019 and will feature three video game titles. Each title will feature two conferences. Both double round-robin group stage and single-elimination playoffs will be adopted as the competition format with the top players in each title and conference playing against each other in the season finale. Six teams entered for the inaugural season, with STI set to join mid-season after the "Dota2" competition.
For the 2021 season, two divisions were introduced opening The Nationals to non-peofessionals; These divisions are: The Challenger Series which is open to amateurs and the Academy Series which is for players who are enrolled in schools at the time of their participation. The Nationals Draft Series will be introduced with the top players of the Challenger and Academy series eligible to enter.
Teams.
The six founding corporate partners of The Nationals will field teams for the inaugural season of the Esports tournament. As of August 2018, two more franchise slots are still open which if filled would see eight teams participating in The Nationals. The six participating franchise teams including a new team, Suha, were confirmed by Gariath Concepts in February 2019. A team of one of the founding corporate founders.
Organization.
Format.
The league will follow a franchise model, the first Esports league in the Philippines to adopt this format. Other franchised based leagues in the country are the Philippine Basketball Association, the Philippine Super Liga, Premier Volleyball League, and the Philippine Football League. The Nationals is recognized by the Esports National Association of the Philippines
Video game titles.
Three titles, belonging to three categories: PC gaming, Mobile gaming, Console gaming, will be the main Esports titles to be played in The Nationals. Gariath Concepts will handle the operations and logistics of the league.
Three titles has been featured in The Nationals: "Dota 2" for PC Gaming and "Mobile Legends" for Mobile gaming and "Tekken 7" for the Console gaming category. "NBA 2K19" was also proposed to be played in The Nationals.
Broadcasting rights.
The Nationals will be broadcast at 5 Plus on ESPN 5 in the Philippines. League matches will also aired at the One Sports through Cignal TV and Cablelink for Philippine-based viewers as well as eGG Network for the viewers across Southeast Asia and Australia. Matches of Road of The Nationals were aired live in the country on ESPN 5.