What Is Major League Pickleball? How the Team Format Works and Why It Matters

Quick Answer: Major League Pickleball (MLP, presented by DoorDash) is a coed, team-based professional pickleball league founded in 2021. Unlike individual tours, MLP organizes top players into franchise teams with owners, drafts, and rosters, more like a traditional pro sports league. Each match features men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles, with teams competing across a season. In 2024, MLP merged with the PPA Tour under the United Pickleball Association (UPA). Its team format and celebrity owners have brought new fans and energy to the sport.

Most pro pickleball is individual, but Major League Pickleball is different: it is built around teams. Here is how MLP works and why it matters for the sport.

What is Major League Pickleball?

A team-based pro pickleball league. MLP brings a franchise model to pickleball, organizing the sport’s top players into teams rather than having them compete purely as individuals.

The basics:

• Founded in 2021, as a coed, team-based league.
• Franchise teams, with owners, drafts, and rosters.
• Coed format, mixing men’s and women’s play on every team.
• A season structure, with teams competing across events.
• Part of the UPA, after merging with the PPA Tour in 2024.

MLP is the closest thing pickleball has to a traditional pro sports league. The team-and-owner model gives it a different energy from individual tours.

How does the MLP team format work?

Teams compete across multiple match types. The team structure is what sets MLP apart, with each matchup blending different doubles formats into a team result.

How a matchup works:

1. Each team fields men and women, since rosters are coed.
2. Matches include multiple formats, typically men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
3. Points combine into a team result, rather than crowning one individual.
4. Drafts build rosters, like other pro sports leagues.
5. A season plays out, toward playoffs and a championship.

This format creates team narratives and rivalries that individual play does not, giving fans a season-long story to follow. It contrasts with the individual PPA and APP tours. See our guide on PPA Tour vs APP Tour.

Why does MLP matter?

It brings new fans and a fresh format. MLP’s team model has done something distinct for pickleball, expanding how the sport reaches audiences and how players compete.

Why it is significant:

• A team narrative, giving casual sports fans something to follow.
• Celebrity and iconic owners, drawing attention and investment.
• A different fan experience, with electric live events.
• Consolidation under the UPA, bringing stability after merging with the PPA. See our guide on what USA Pickleball is for the governance picture.
• Growth for the sport, with strong year-over-year gains.

By adding a team layer to a sport built on individual play, MLP has broadened pickleball’s appeal. For the wider pro landscape, see our guide on PPA Tour vs APP Tour, and browse our associations directory.

Frequently asked questions

What is Major League Pickleball? Major League Pickleball (MLP, presented by DoorDash) is a coed, team-based professional pickleball league founded in 2021. It organizes top players into franchise teams with owners, drafts, and rosters, like a traditional pro sports league.

How does MLP work? Teams are coed and built through drafts. Each matchup includes multiple formats, typically men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles, with points combining into a team result. Teams compete across a season toward a championship.

Who owns MLP teams? MLP franchises have team owners, including a number of high-profile and celebrity owners, which has helped draw attention and investment to the league and the sport.

Is MLP part of the PPA Tour? They are separate brands that merged in 2024 under the United Pickleball Association (UPA). MLP keeps its team-based format while the PPA runs individual play, both under the same parent organization.

How is MLP different from the PPA and APP tours? The PPA and APP are individual tournament circuits, while MLP is a team-based league with franchises, drafts, and owners. MLP focuses on team competition rather than crowning individual champions.

Why is Major League Pickleball important? Its team format, celebrity owners, and live-event experience have brought new fans and energy to pickleball, and its merger with the PPA under the UPA has helped consolidate and stabilize the pro game.

MLP gives pickleball a team-sport layer that individual tours cannot, and it now anchors the pro game alongside the PPA. Compare the circuits in our guide on PPA Tour vs APP Tour, learn the governing body in what USA Pickleball is, and browse our associations directory.

Written by the Pickler Junction Team.