Pickleball becomes Major League

In case you missed it, there is a new major league sport.  

It’s pickleball. 

If you are not familiar with the pickleball, it is a paddleball sport that combines elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, much like a wiffle ball, with 26–40 round holes, over a net.

No, seriously.  There is now a professional league for pickleball - it’s Major League Pickleball.  

Major League Pickleball (MLP) was launched last year and played their inaugural season in November at a place called Dreamland-Dripping Springs, Texas which is near Austin, Texas.  The league was comprised of 32 of the world’s top pickleball players.  The 16 men and 16 women were divided between eight teams.  All of the league’s first season was played in one location from November 5-8. 

The eight teams playing in the MLP this season were:  Discovery Warriors, Pickle Ranchers, Team Clean, Team Rally, ATX Pickleballers, The Lions, Chimeras and Team BLQK.  (I have been unable to learn how these teams were named.)

The teams played for $150,000 prize pool.

Each match consisted of 4 games to 15 points (win by 1). The first game is women's doubles game, then men's doubles game, and then 2 mixed doubles games. In the mixed doubles games, the "home" team choose their first mixed team, then the "away" team has a minute to decide their team. If there is a 2-2 tie after 4 games, a 5th game of singles will be played with "rally scoring" where a point is scored on every rally, regardless of who is serving — until you get to game point, and that 15th point must be won by the serving team. (Win by 1.)

Team BLQK won the first Pritchard Cup championship over Chimeras 3-1.

Here were the final standings:

1. Team BLQK (6-1)
2. Chimeras (6-1)
3. Discovery Warriors (5-2)
4. Pickle Ranchers (3-4)
5. The Lions (3-4)
6. Team Clean (3-4)
7. ATX Pickleballers (2-5)
8. Team Rally (0-7)

The league has announced an increased prize pool for players competing in MLP events in 2022. Among the increases introduced by MLP are more prize money, new draft cash bonuses, and lodging allowances, totaling $217,000 for the 32 players drafted to MLP in 2022.

There is no word yet on the league format for 2022 but it is clear that the league will continue to grow the sport of pickleball as a major league. 

For more information about the MLP, go to:  The Home Of Major League Pickleball