A NEW safety net has been introduced by the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) as safeguard against poaching attempts on rookie draftees as well as premature contract terminations.
Under one of the new rules introduced by the pioneering league in consultation with team owners, each PVL team will hold the rights to its draftees for ‘at least three years,’ according to league president Ricky Palou.
Such a measure was made to shut down an indirect exit pipeline for draftees in the event that they won’t reach an agreement with their teams on the contract terms.
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Moreover, the rule discourages the practice of teams convincing players not to renew their contracts with their mother clubs to be able to sign them up.
According to league insiders, draftees and their mother teams can negotiate a release on the third year of the contract.
Palou bared the stipulations of the draft rights rule at the conclusion of the first-ever PVL Rookie Draft on Monday.
“If the teams that drafted them want the players tapos hindi sila nagkasundo, the players don’t become free agents,” said Palou.
“As long as the team complies with the rules that we set, that we put in place, the players that they drafted still belongs to them. If after one year wala pa rin, the signing rights will belong to them for at least three years.
“What we are afraid of is ayaw namin yung sasabihin ng teams (sa players na magpapa-draft) na ‘wag ka na (pumirma) next year, ako na ang kukuha sa’yo.’ Ayaw natin ‘yung ganun, ‘di ba? So for three years, the rights (to a rookie) will belong to the team that drafted them.”
Rookie salary cap
As confirmed by PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo to SPIN.ph prior to draft night, the league’s rookie salary scale is all set to take effect.
The No. 1 overall draft pick (Thea Gagate) is entitled to a P150,000 a month offer, followed by P135,000 for the No. 2 pick (Leila Cruz), P120,000 for the third pick (Julia Coronel) and P110,000 for the fourth pick (Maicah Larroza).
The remaining first-rounders drafted fifth to 12th will receive offers ranging from P50,000 to P100,000 while all succeeding draft picks from the 13th to 23rd picks, including rookie free agents may be offered contracts ranging from P50,000 to P80,000.
Historic draft night ‘a success’
Even Palou himself was surprised by the huge success of the league’s inaugural draft activities, from the lottery to the two-day combine all the way to the draft proper.
With 23 players drafted, the PVL president also reassured the 24 undrafted prospects to keep their hopes up as teams still have until July 15, or one day before the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference goes underway, to sign free agents.
“We’re very happy kasi we did not expect it to be this successful and everything turned out really well. We’re happy for everybody, we’re just sorry for those who were not drafted,” said Palou.
“After the draft, I went to talk to the players who are not drafted and I told them that this is not the end. Pwede pa naman kayong maglaro sa PVL, ngayon you are free to try out for any team since free agents kayo. I told them also na those who got drafted, hindi pa naman sila sigurado na papasok sila sa team that drafted them.
“(The undrafted players) are free agents and they can try out for any team. So sana, they don’t lose hope.”
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