No doubt pickleball has been exploding the past couple of years. From packed courts to paddles at your local Big 5, the sport is winning over more folk every day and growing its reach. And in 2023, it’s about to grow a whole lot more.

In case you’re not familiar, pickleball is not just an activity for families to get overly competitive about as they slug it out at the local park (though I can personally attest that is part of it). Pickleball is a professional sport, with professional players, professional tournaments, and professional investors jumping in each day.

Recently, it’s made waves for its celebrity investors like Lebron James, Tom Brady, James Blake, and Kim Clijsters. Just in November of last year, tennis legend Naomi Osaka invested in a team alongside Patrick Mahomes.

Major League Pickleball

Who runs professional pickleball?

So who is in charge of professional pickleball actually work? The answer isn’t quite as straightforward as you might think.

There are several pro pickleball tournaments that happen throughout the year. These function much like tennis tournaments where players compete in singles and doubles matches through a bracket until someone wins. So who puts these on?

Professional Pickleball Association

The Professional Pickleball Association or PPA is a governing body of pickleball that hosts a number or tournaments every year on the Caravan tour. Players must qualify to be on the tour, and then compete in the tournaments throughout the year with their performance tallying for an overall global ranking. Sound familiar? It’s basically the same as tennis or the PGA.

MLP, on the other hand, has a team format, slightly different scoring rules, and way more hype.

Major League Pickleball

Most of the hype around professional pickleball is about MLP or Major League Pickleball. Like it’s name suggests, it’s different than the tournament series hosted by the PPA. In addition to some small changes to the rules, a set of 4 athletes (two men and two women) play as a team and represent a city.

In 2023, MLP will hold six tournaments where all 12 teams descend on one location and play against each other in a group stage. Then, the top six teams move on to the quarterfinals and the single-elimination portion of the tournament. When two teams face off, everyone on one team plays everyone on the other team in the following order: women’s doubles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles 1, mixed doubles 2. The matches are played to 21 points, and the winner has to win by two.

If the teams are tied at two matches apiece, they go into a DREAMBREAKER™ round to determine the winner. This is a modified rally scoring singles format where each player plays four points before rotating out. The first team to reach 21 points, winning by two, takes the victory.

2023 Major League Pickleball Schedule

Want in on the action? There might be a tournament coming to you in 2023. MLP will host matches in Arizona, California, Florida, and Georgia. If you’re nearby, I recommend taking in a match or two. With up to $5,000,000 in prize money, the stakes have never bee higher — expect some solid pickling.