Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. expressed interest in obtaining a PBA franchise from the original Barako Bull Energy Boosters team, owned by Energy Food and Drink, Inc., in March 2011. The approval of 7 out of 10 PBA Board of Governors members was required, but they fell short.
Lina Group purchased the Barako Bull Energy Boosters brand in July 2011 for 50 million pesos. It was known as the Shopinas.com Clickers before becoming the second Air21 Express squad. The franchise was sold to Manila North Tollways Corporation in June 2014 and renamed the NLEX Road Warriors.
Phoenix Petroleum paid Lina Group 100 million pesos for the second Barako Bull squad in January 2016. Instead of waiting, they were unanimously approved to compete in the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. Contracts and commitments that were already in place were kept.
Phoenix Fuel Masters officially entered the PBA on February 10, 2016, with a press conference. They made their debut in the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, defeating NLEX Road Warriors 118-106, led by Nigerian Kenny Adeleke, who Kevin Pinkney subsequently replaced.