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Major League Pickleball

Major League Pickleball Reveals Schedule and Structure for 2023

by The Dink Media Team on

The merger between Major League Pickleball and the Professional Pickleball Association's VIBE has changed the course of pro pickleball. Since the merger was announced, the PPA and MLP have been working behind the scenes to determine what the league, or better yet, leagues, will look like.

Let's start there. MLP will include 24 teams in 2023. The 24 teams will be split into a Premier League and Challenger League, each containing 12 teams. Each team will have a roster of four players, two men and two women. The Premier League will draft the first 48 players before the Challenger League drafts.

The league now boasts a player prize pool that ranges between $8-10 million. It is the highest payout schedule in pro pickleball history.

League & Team Schedule

Major League Pickleball will play six events in 2023. The events are broken into two seasons that are each played over three events. The first season championship will take place in June and the second in December.

This is a big change from how MLP existed in the past. The first four MLP events were played start to finish in a single weekend. In 2023, results from the first two events will contribute to the seedings for the season championship months later.

In addition to MLP, the PPA will have 25 tour events next year.

  • 14 Tour Events
  • 4 Majors
  • 4 World Championships
  • 1 PPA Tour Finals
  • 2 Special Events

Here is a look at the year as a whole.

Starting Date

Tournament

Rank

City, State

1/12/2023

PPA Masters

PPA Tour

Palm Springs, CA

1/26/2023

MLP Arizona

MLP

TBD, Arizona

2/1/2023

Desert Ridge Open

PPA Tour

Scottsdale, AZ

2/16/2023

Arizona Grand Slam

PPA Tour - Major

Phoenix, AZ

2/23/2023

Indoor National Champs

PPA Tour 

Minneapolis, MN

3/9/2023

Florida Open

PPA Tour

Holly Hill, FL

3/16/2023

Austin Championships

PPA Tour - WCS

Austin, TX

3/23/2023

MLP Mesa

MLP

Mesa, AZ

4/5/2023

Red Rock Open

PPA Tour

St. George, UT

4/13/2023

The Showcase

PPA Tour

Newport Beach, CA

5/4/2023

North Carolina Championships

PPA Tour - WCS

Charlotte, NC

5/18/2023

Atlanta Open

PPA Tour - Major

Atlanta, GA

6/8/2023

Orange County Cup

PPA Tour

San Clemente, CA

6/15/2023

MLP San Clemente

MLP + Championship

San Clemente, CA

6/22/2023

Nashville Championships

PPA Tour - WCS

Nashville, TN

7/13/2023

Denver Open

PPA Tour

Denver, CO

7/20/2023

TBA

PPA Tour

TBD

8/17/2023

Tournament of Champions

PPA Tour

Brigham City, UT

8/24/2023

Kansas City Championships

PPA Tour - WCS

Kansas City, MO

9/7/2023

Cincinnati Open

PPA Tour - Major

Cincinnati, OH

9/14/2023

Peach Cup

PPA Tour

Atlanta, GA

9/21/2023

MLP Atlanta

MLP

Peachtree, GA

9/28/2023

Texas Round-Up

PPA Tour

Dallas, TX

10/5/2023

Global Cup (USA vs. World)

By Qualification**

Washington, D.C.

10/19/2023

PPA Championships

PPA Tour - Major

Las Vegas, NV

10/26/2023

Texas Open

PPA Tour

Dallas, TX

11/2/2023

MLP La Quinta

MLP

La Quinta, CA

TBD

PPA National Championships

PPA Tour

Orlando, FL

11/30/2023

PPA Tour Finals

By Qualification**

San Clemente, CA

12/7/2023

MLP San Clemente

MLP + Championship

San Clemente, CA

TBD

PPA MGM Event

By Qualification**

Las Vegas, NV

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PPA-MLP Player Tour Card

Now that we have the schedule, we need to talk about what players can expect on their side. Any player that wants to play in MLP must commit to play for two years and play 5 PPA events in addition to the 6 MLP events.

The PPA-MLP also introduced the creation of player tour cards. Players will be invited to be either Gold or Silver Card Members.

A PPA-MLP Tour Card Committee "analyzed past tournament performance and history (quantity of events), current PPA Ranking, DUPR, and overall player marketability" to determine who would be offered a Gold card.

The gold card players will have more benefits and more commitments than silver card players, including tour exclusivity.

*How did you select who was offered Silver or Gold? The PPA-MLP Tour Card Committee analyzed your past tournament performance and history (quantity of events), current PPA Ranking, DUPR, and overall player marketability.

The most glaring difference for players is the earning potential of the gold card. Both MLP and PPA prize money is doubled for gold card players.

In 2022, that would have meant a player that won an MLP title would walk away with $50K instead of $25K. BLQK won two titles in 2022 and their roster would have collected $100k each with this model.

We don't know yet how many players will receive the gold card offer. But it's clear that exclusivity is still a valued part of the equation.

All players in MLP will need to hold either the gold or silver tour card. Any interested player has until Dec 5 to apply for the biggest draft in the history of pickleball. Submit your name here.

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