Latest news with #MajorLeaguePickleball
Forbes
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Forbes
LA Mad Drops Show Up Big At Major League Pickleball Daytona Beach
Quang Duong (R) and Hunter Johnson (L) led the LA Mad Drops to an undefeated weekend, raising ... More eyebrows around the sport. Major League Pickleball (MLP) presented by DoorDash held its third straight weekend of matches at one of the sport's most historic pro venues, Pictona in Holly Hill outside of Daytona Beach. This weekend featured a hodge podge of teams, including some of the best (St Louis and NJ), and some of the worst (NY, Carolina, and SoCal). All told, nine of the 16 teams were in action and we had some huge surprises on the court. Key Links for tracking the event this weekend, which featured livestreams from the two primary courts at the facility on MLP's YouTube channel and on Ahead of the weekend, the following transactions were announced: - Atlanta and Chicago swapped ladies in a trade: Atlanta traded Vivian Glozman to the Chicago Slice in exchange even-up for Vivienne David. It is a bit of a strange move: David is a right-sided expert and was just about 50% in all aspects this season (she won 50% of her Women's doubles, 50% of her mixed, and exactly 50% of the DreamBreaker points she's played despite not regularly featuring in singles). Meanwhile Glozman was just 5-10 in Women's doubles this season, splitting time with Atlanta's two females DiMuzio & Rettger. Now Glozman takes the right-side (?) teaming up with Callie Smith for Chicago, while David forces DiMuzio to play left and ramps up the pressure even more. There were reports of major team chemistry issues on Atlanta already, and this trade seems to make them worse. Meanwhile, Glozman remains in PPA contract purgatory, and is not getting any regular tournament reps at a time when the tour is rapidly improving. - Last week we tried to take note of all the bench players who got into the action, but it proved to be too difficult to keep up. Daytona Beach also saw a slew of bench players replacing the 'starters,' sometimes for absence and other times for performance (especially on the 2nd division teams). If notable, we'll call out bench players and their contributions day by day. On Friday both onsite subs were already called into action, and I wonder if the back-to-back nature of these events is starting to wear down the players. Ahead of the event, here's some news and noteworthy items for MLP. - 6/3/25: Word comes out that MLP did no paddle testing at its Arizona event .... because the testing machine was stolen somewhere between the Austin and Arizona events. This leaks out on various podcasts with two questions: Who would steal a paddle deflection testing machine, and why isn't there a backup? - 6/4/25: MLP shares slight tweaks to its Waiver period, moving up the challenger period and also clarifying that anyone signed to a UPA deal is now eligible to be picked. This is a slight change from the beginning of the year, where a deadline was initially imposed that players had to sign by in order to be eligible for the season. Clearly that's been relaxed, as teams have signed players a few minutes before they played. Will Howells (R) goes airborne for a backhand flip volley alongside New Jersey 5's teammate Zane ... More Navratil (L). Day 1 Observations Day 2 Observations Day 3 Observations St. Louis Shock's Hayden Patriquin makes a nifty little backhand cross court shot. Day 4 Observations Here's the teams who made moves up or down the Standings in this event. Reminder, thanks to the unbalanced schedule I refer points per match as the rankings determiner, not total points earned. In Premier In Premier What were our top Takeaways from the competition this weekend? MLP Super-Fan Matty Pickles (aka Matt Klitch) runs a season-long Media MLP Pick'em Contest on Twitter, where all the pundits in the sport are participating. Here's how we did this week, and where we stand overall. Summary: it was a brutal prediction weekend, with a slew of upsets. I count at least six major upsets this past weekend, fewer if you believed from the get-go that the LA Mad Drops were better than they were presenting early. I went just 4-4 for the weekend but remain in 1st place in the Pick'em contest through five weeks with a 32-8 overall record. Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, MLP takes a small hiatus for the third PPA Major of the year on the 6/22/25 weekend in San Clemente. Then, the MLP keeps the UPA players at the same facility for a second week with the 6th event of the MLP event the following weekend. Before then, MLP will have another waiver period and we'll cover it in this space. All match stats quoted in this article are courtesy of PickleWave. Visit for the premier source of Pro Pickleball data, including match replays, highlights, stats, and discussion. PickleWave has more than 22,000 matches in its database across all the pro tours. Also, a great thanks to The Dink's Erik Tice, who maintains a fantastic MLP detailed data breakdown and makes it publicly available at this Google XLS link. Tice's data has proved invaluable this year as MLP does not make match data available at this detailed level at present.
Forbes
02-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Dallas Flash Continue Their Unbeaten Run At Major League Pickleball Arizona Event
Jorja Johnson (R) and Hurricane Tyra Black (L) are on absolute fire in MLP this season. There's no rest for the weary. Major League Pickleball (MLP) presented by DoorDash picked up just a few days after its exciting Austin event and headed west to the (infamous?) Arizona Athletic Grounds for the 4th Stop in its 2025 season. I say 'infamous" because this host site is the basis of a $280M fraud lawsuit against its owners. It's a massive facility, with dozens of courts and has hosted a slew of pro events across all three tours over the years, and one can only hope the facility survives the legalities. Key Links for tracking the event this weekend, which featured livestreams from the two primary courts at the facility on MLP's YouTube channel and on No transactions were announced, but there is a major personnel issue covered in the News section. The next waiver period for both Premier and Challenger is in mid-June, just a couple weeks away. Bench Players who got in on the action this weekend, either by choice or due to player conflicts, included: - Utah played Erokhina as its Women's #2 instead of Safdar. - SoCal played both its bench players Hovenier & newly acquired Ingram in place of Bellamy and Tereschenko to start the event before Irina took over for Match day No. 2. Hovenier played the whole weekend and may have opened some eyes with his play. - Phoenix replaced Genie Bouchard with Alex Walker early, but then Bouchard was back in action by Friday. - Atlanta subbed in Rettger for DiMuzio towards the end of the weekend. Hopefully I didn't miss any player subs, but it is definitely interesting to see how much these teams are using their bench players. Ahead of the event, here's some news and noteworthy items for MLP. - Just ahead of the event on 5/29/25: UPA fines and suspends Quang Duong for playing in an unsanctioned (and clearly unapproved) event while traveling to Vietnam to support his new paddle sponsor. This will cost him $50k, one PPA event, and most of the upcoming MLP Phoenix event. He's replaced for the first four games of MLP Arizona by onsite sub Spencer Smith. Rachel Rohrabacher led her Brooklyn team to a 5-1 weekend. Day 1 Observations Day 2 Observations Tyler Loong (foreground) rips a forehand winner for his surprising Utah Black Diamonds team. Day 3 Observations Day 4 Observations Blaine Hovenier proved to be a spark plug for his SoCal Hard Eights team, leading them to their ... More first win of the season. Note: all standings are done by points-per-match. In Premier In Premier Here's a new section we're going to include going forward. Given the league structure and the varying attendance of teams at each event, here's some specific takeaways from the event. 1. Dallas is unstoppable. Between Jorja Johnson's leap forward improvement and the team's overall chip on their shoulder from last year, they're clearly the team to beat in 2025. Last year this team went through the motions a couple of times and dropped matches against inferior teams, which led to the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and a harder path to the title. This year they're collectively gunning for an undefeated season. 2. Utah is better than I thought. I had Utah 13th of 16 after the draft (my other pundits generally had them 11-12th). This placed them behind the likes of Carolina, Atlanta, and Phoenix. They're clearly better than all three of these teams right now, though probably not good enough to get into the playoffs unless they can beat the likes of LA (who they lost to 3-1 last weekend) or Chicago. 3. Phoenix is a lot worse than I thought. Just one win this weekend, over Atlanta, and they inexplicably lost to SoCal, who I legitimately thought was going to go 0-25 this season. Phoenix has absolutely no reason to be this bad, not with top players like McGuffin and Irvine who are getting results week-in/week-out on the PPA. What this says to me is that the Flames GM really, really overestimated the capabilities of Sock and especially Bouchard, and may not have understood the chemistry issues they were acquiring with Tyson. I had Phoenix 8th in my pre-season ranks, well ahead of where my fellow pundits had them ranked (10th-11th mostly, with Kloss having them 13th). Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule they're off to Daytona Beach for the third of three back to back MLP events next weekend. Teams in action next weekend include New York, Utah, 1st place St. Louis, LA, and New Jersey. Also back will be SoCal, Texas, Chicago, and the Carolina Hogs, who shouldn't have any lighting issues this time around since it's being held at the frequent pro tour hosting facility Pictona in Holly Hill. All match stats quoted in this article are courtesy of PickleWave. Visit for the premier source of Pro Pickleball data, including match replays, highlights, stats, and discussion. PickleWave has more than 22,000 matches in its database across all the pro tours. Also, a great thanks to The Dink's Erik Tice, who maintains a fantastic MLP detailed data breakdown and makes it publicly available at this Google XLS link. Tice's data has proved invaluable this year as MLP does not make match data available at this detailed level at present.
Business Wire
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Business Wire
Myles Garrett Rallies for Texas Ranchers at MLP Austin 2025 Pickleball Showdown
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Texas Ranchers, a premier Major League Pickleball (MLP) team, are set to host the highly anticipated MLP tour stop in America's pickleball capital, Austin, from May 23–26. Myles Garrett, NFL Cleveland Browns defense and team co-owner, is eager to see his MLP team take center stage at the Austin Pickle Ranch Memorial Day Weekend. Watch Myles Garrett Video Here The Texas Ranchers, a premier Major League Pickleball (MLP) team, are set to host the highly anticipated MLP tour stop in America's pickleball capital, Austin, from May 23–26. The MLP Austin four-day event is expected to draw over 6,000 fans and features elite-level competition, food trucks, live music, beach volleyball, and a family-friendly immersive village for patrons to relax between matches. 'Our general manager, Ryan Dawidjan, assembled a championship-caliber 2025 team. That, alongside our owners like Myles Garrett's passion for pickleball and winning is exactly what connects the Texas Ranchers organization and ownership group to our fans around the country. We hope first-time spectators at MLP Austin this weekend will be pleasantly surprised and excited to see where professional pickleball has come in just a few years,' said Evan Floersch, Principal Owner of the Texas Ranchers. 'It's going to be a Texas-sized party.' Other MLP teams competing alongside the Texas Ranchers include Mark Cuban's Dallas Flash, Patrick Mahomes' Miami Pickleball Club, Gary Vaynerchuk's New Jersey 5s, the Orlando Squeeze (DeVos Family), among others. The Texas Ranchers' 2025 all star team includes players Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins, Michael Loyd, Etta Tuionetoa, Tina Pisnik and Helena Jansen. Garrett is part of the Texas Rancher's ownership group that includes other NFL alumni Micah Parsons, C.J. Stroud, Scottie Scheffler, and Taylor Fritz, united in their mission to elevate pickleball into a premier national sport and help turn the Texas Ranchers into America's Pickleball Team as the sport globalizes. Tickets range from $25 Grounds Passes to $250 VIP experiences and can be purchased at m
Axios
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Axios
Jefferson Parish opens $2 million pickleball complex
Jefferson Parish opened a $2 million pickleball complex over the weekend in Metairie at Mike Miley Playground. Why it matters: Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. The big picture: The pickleball complex has nine new covered courts and four refurbished ones with lights for free play, leagues and tournaments, according to the parish. It also has two small covered areas for spectators and players, along with a new parking lot. By the numbers: At the groundbreaking in 2023, the parish estimated the project would cost about $1 million, which would be funded from the recreation millage tax. The actual pricetag came in a touch over $2 million, parish spokesperson Rachel Strassel tells Axios New Orleans. She said the original project ended up costing more than quoted. The parish paid $1.25 million from the millage, and council member Deano Bonano covered the remaining $800,000 from a discretionary fund, she said. Zoom out: Pickleball participation nationally has grown more than 220% in the past three years, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Even Drew Brees is getting in on the action. He hosts an annual pickleball tournament in New Orleans and is part owner of a Major League Pickleball team in Austin. New Orleans metro has at least 30 pickleball facilities, including options through NORD and City Park, according to which maps courts and their amenities. The Exchange Pickleball + Bar on Tchoupitoulas Street, Brees' Pickle N Pins and Ochsner Fitness Center in Elmwood have indoor courts available for a fee too. If you go: The new pickleball facility is open daily from 8am to 9pm. It's next to the Ree Alario Multi-Purpose Center at 500 Pickleball Court.
Forbes
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
St. Louis Sweeps And Johns Brothers Quit At Major League Pickleball Columbus
St. Louis' ladies (Kate Fahey on the left and Anna Bright on the right) power the Shock to an ... More dominant, undefeated weekend in Columbus. Event two of the compact 2025 Major League Pickleball (MLP presented by DoorDash) season saw most of the Premier teams travelling to the uniquely decorated Pickle & Chill facility in Columbus, Ohio for an interesting weekend of team pickleball. Key Links for tracking the event this weekend, which featured livestreams from the two primary courts at the facility on MLP's YouTube channel and on Premier League Recap Day 1 Observations Wow that's a lot of Orange. The Orlando Squeeze entire team gathers around their coach for a ... More mid-match strategy session. Day 2 Observations A quick editorial about this situation: The reaction to the Johns brothers' withdrawal online in the pickleball-sphere was fast and furious, from players, fans, and MLP team representatives. Ben doubled down on social media with discussions about ambient light wattage and what not, which is fine … if the entire pickleball world didn't already know the truth. The problem is, Ben Johns has been overtly showing a lack of effort in MLP dating back to mid-season last year. Collin Johns famously ranted about the MLP format in a series of leaked texts/emails mid-season last year. We're all well aware of Ben's issues playing indoors with his childhood eye condition and can certainly understand his concerns, but then why did a) Ben agree to play at all, and b) why did Collin withdraw as well? Does Collin also have a childhood eye injury causing him issues with indoor lighting? Furthermore, why did the Johns brothers subsequently leave the facility instead of cheering on their replacements (as Jimmy Miller sarcastically pointed out on twitter)? Lastly, there's nine teams in Columbus competing this weekend; how is it that the Johns brothers are the only ones complaining about the lights and refusing to play? The facility with such poor lighting, by the way, has hosted a slew of professional tennis events and is the home of the Ohio State college tennis team, making one question just how 'bad' their lighting could be? During the MLP media day earlier this year, I asked a pointed question to the league whether the Johns brothers were going to take this competition seriously this year. I was assured specifically (by a member of the Johns family on the call) that they would. It took less than an event and a half of lackluster results for the Johns brothers to prove otherwise, to the surprise of few in the industry. The UPA is stuck between a rock and a hard place right now with one of its signature players, whose actions and comments usually lead to rule changes and policy shifts for the tour. CEO Connor Pardoe tried to spin things a bit by saying that we shouldn't 'let this situation take away' from the great play this weekend. But the elephant has left the room at this point. It has become harder and harder to explain why a billionaire team owner in Tom Dundon refused to spend money last year to put a competitive team around Ben Johns, why he refused to spend anything more than the bare minimum in the 2025 draft to do the same, and it's become harder and harder to reconcile the on-camera actions of these players, knowing as we already do from their own mouths last July, that they don't care about playing MLP. If they don't want to play MLP, Fine. Release them from their contracts, reduce their pay or reassign their salary obligations to clinics or other activities (as the league has done with dozens of other players), replace them on the Carolina team with scrubs off the waiver wire, and move on. It just isn't fair to the rest of the players who are trying, or the fans who care, to watch this farce go on any longer. There's a dozen UPA players opted out of MLP at this point, some of whom flourished in the MLP format (ahem, Julian Arnold), so what's a couple more? Coincidentally, Zane Navratil posted an event recap video that echoes many of the items I said above. Miami's dynamic French duo (Jay Devilliers on the left and Noe Khlif on the right) have helped them ... More move into playoff position. Day 3 Observations Day 4 Observations Team Standings Update post Event In Premier Player Standings/Stats Analysis for the Weekend: Unfortunately, MLP has eliminated the per-event player points link, which was a great way to highlight individual performers for a weekend. That's a shame and I hope they return that feature. In Premier In Matty Pickles' media MLP Pick-em competition, I went 7/8 for the week, missing only on the Atlanta-Chicago tie. Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, the APP returns to action next weekend at the Vlasic Classic in Cincinnati. It's also the first waiver period for MLP (which should be fascinating). The rest of the month gives us some of the biggest events of the season: PPA's Atlanta Grand Slam and the APP's NYC Open follow in successive weekends in mid to late May. It's a great month for pro pickleball! The MLP returns to action at Month's end, with Event No. 3 set for Austin, Texas, hosted by the Texas Ranchers.
