Catching Up on All Things MLP

Since MLP wrapped in 2025 and PPA went into its newly formatted August - May season, a lot has been happening behind the scenes in the MLP. We’re here to run you through everything you’ve missed if you’ve been checked out!

Team Changes

• There will be no Challenger level teams. Everyone will play in the same Premier level (20 total teams).

• Palm Beach Royals were added as an expansion team, sold for $16 million to an ownership group that includes Hyperspace Ventures and several pro athletes. As a new team, they were allowed to trade for up to 2 players and pickup up to 2 players from free agency, ahead of last Sunday’s trade deadline. They traded to receive Dekel Bar (Brooklyn) and Tina Pisnik (Texas Ranchers) and picked up newly signed Sofia Sewing from free agency.

• NY Hustlers are merging with Brooklyn Pickleball Team.

• Nashville Chefs and the DC Pickleball Team will not participate in 2026, and their owners are both looking to sell their teams. (Anybody got a spare $16 mil?).

• Chefs, Hustlers, and DC players will go into the free agency pool.

• Several teams will run a Minor League (MiLP) and/or a Junior MLP team, which will have tandem events during select MLP spots (see schedule below).

Schedule

The season will run May to August, with 13 stops (including mid-season tournament & playoffs). Each stop will have 11-12 teams in attendance. All teams will play in 5 of the 9 regular season events.

The season kicks off May 22-25 in Dallas at Pickler Universe, the home of the Flash.

Rule & Competition Changes

• All teams will now maintain a 6-person roster (3 men, 3 women) who can be played interchangeably throughout the events. This is a huge change from last year! Any of the 6 players may play throughout a match, as long as it’s been submitted in the lineup ahead of time. Additionally, any 4 players may be chosen for Dreambreaker (lineups set after the 2nd mixed game of the match).

• Another big change: each event will have 2 pools for Round Robin Play, with the top 4 teams of each pool advancing to bracket play on Sunday. Everyone wanting “a winner every event”? You got your wish!

• Points are awarded in pool play same as last year (regulation win = 3; DreamBreaker™ win = 2; DreamBreaker™ loss = 1; regulation loss = 0), which will be used for Sunday finals seeding.

• Teams will receive event standing points based on how they finish (1st place 25 points, 2nd place 18 points, and so on). These points will accumulate all season, and determine their eligibility for playoffs in August.

• Playoffs will expand to three weeks and will include the top 12 teams.

Trades, Keepers & Drops

• Trades: (Trade window #1 was open Jan 30 - Feb 15th)

  • Max Freeman- Slice > Mad Drops

  • Hunter Johnson- Mad Drops > Slice

  • Zane Navratil- Fives > Slice

  • Jay Devilliers- Miami > Bouncers

  • Eric Roddy- Bouncers > Miami

  • Kaitlyn Christian- Ranchers > Bouncers

  • Victoria DiMuzio- Bouncers > Ranchers

  • Alix Truong- Breakers > Miami

  • Mya Bui- Miami > Breakers

  • Roscoe Bellamy- Flash > Night Owls

  • Samantha Parker- Flash > Night Owls > Breakers

  • Tina Pisnik- Ranchers > Royals

  • Ivan Jakovljevic- Hogs > Breakers > Hard Eights

  • Angie Walker & DJ Young- Breakers > Hogs

  • James Delgado- Night Owls > Hogs

  • Brandon French & Liz Truluck- Hogs > Night Owls

  • Dekel Bar- Brooklyn > Royals

  • Pablo Tellez- Night Owls > Breakers

  • Blaine Hovenier- Hard Eights > Night Owls

• Drops & Keepers: (at the keeper deadline, teams had to drop at least one player, per league rules. Nerd out over the details here.)

  • Atlanta Bouncers- Dropped: Todd Fought, Vivienne David, Rachel Rettger (Todd & Vivienne retired/did not sign a new UPA contract). Kept: Jay Devilliers, Jaume Martinez-Vich, Kaitlyn Christian.

  • Bay Area Breakers- Dropped: Sam Querry (retired), Sam Parker. Kept: Pablo Tellez, Mya Bui.

  • Brooklyn PBT- Dropped: Pat Smith. Kept: Riley Newman, Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Hannah Blatt.

  • Cali Black Bears- Dropped: Lina Padegimaite, Michael Loyd, Martin Emmrich. Kept: Layne Sleeth.

  • Carolina Hogs- Dropped: Craig Johnson, Danna Funaro (retired) Kept: James Delgado, DJ Young, Angie Walker, Ava Ignatowich.

  • Chicago Slice- Dropped: Carlos DiLaura, Pierina Imparato, Callie Jo Smith. James Ignatowich & Vivian Glozman also dropped, due to terminated contracts. Kept: Zane Navratil, Hunter Johnson.

  • Columbus Sliders- Dropped: Ross Whittaker, Marcela Hones, Lea Jansen. Kept: Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, Parris Todd.

  • Dallas Flash- Dropped: Jorja Johnson. Kept: JW Johnson, Augie Ge, Hurricane Tyra Black.

  • Florida Smash- Dropped: Paula Rives. Kept: Travis Rettenmaier (still current owner), Cason Campbell, Martina Frantova.

  • Las Vegas Night Owls- Dropped: Brandon French. Kept: Blaine Hovenier, Roscoe Bellamy, Liz Truluck, Brooke Buckner, Chao Yi Wang.

  • LA Mad Drops- Dropped: Thomas Wilson, Mehvish Safdar. Kept: Ben Johns, Max Freeman, Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto.

  • Miami PBC- Dropped: Eric Roddy, Juan Benitez, Tammy Emmrich, Tatiana Ruhl. Kept: Alix Truong, Yuta Funemizu.

  • New Jersey Fives- Dropped: Meghan Dizon, Mari Humberg. Kept: Anna Leigh Waters, Will Howells, Noe Khlif.

  • Orlando Squeeze- Dropped: Dylan Frazier, Alli Phillips, Tom Evans. Kept: Federico Staksrud, Lacy Schneemann, Milan Rane.

  • Palm Beach Royals- Dropped: N/A. Traded/Picked Up: Dekel Bar, Tina Pisnik, Sofia Sewing.

  • Phoenix Flames- Dropped: Jack Sock, Tyson McGuffin, Genie Bouchard. Kept: Jessie Irvine.

  • SoCal Hard Eights- Dropped: Everyone (John Lucian Goins, Ivan Jakovljevic, Irina Tereschenko, Cailyn Campbell, Jalina Ingram. Ryan Fu’s contract was terminated by UPA). Kept: N/A.

  • St. Louis Shock- Dropped: Anna Bright, Erik Lange, Judit Castillo. Kept: Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio, Kate Fahey.

  • Texas Ranchers- Dropped: Wyatt Stone, Victoria DiMuzio, Felicity De Laura. Kept: Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins.

  • Utah Black Diamonds- Dropped: Tyler Loong, Yates Johnson, Chloe Igleski. Kept: Connor Garnett, Allyce Jones, Etta Tuionetoa.

Next up: Free Agency Draft

• With the drops and expansions, there are 66 open roster spots to fill at the Free Agency Draft on Friday, Feb 27th @ 10 am ET

• All teams must have their initial 4 (2 men/2 women) roster spots filled before any team may draft their 5th or 6th player.

• Draft order will be determined by a dynamic bidding system (similar to 2025). Minimum bid for the first 4 roster spots: $10,000. Minimum bid for remaining 5th/6th spots: $1,000.

• Only UPA-signed players may be picked up during free agency.

• Following the draft, Trade Window #2 will open on Monday, Mar 2 @ 10 am ET.

Episode 182: MLP Preview and latest news & signings

Tyler & Jimmy review the latest announcements happening in the Pickleball world (including Sofia Sewing who will be breaking into the MLP circuit)! MLP 2026 season is getting closer and so they talk through the teams and what predictions they have for upcoming drafts. Plus— your questions, answered!

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