An Open Letter to Connor Pardoe

You Saw It. We All Saw It.

The replay cameras at last week’s MLP Mid-Season Tournament were out of this world - and corrected a whole lot of questionable calls. The 240 FPS system was implemented by Close Call Replay— a product of BoxCar Productions— who has provided camera coverage at BCO events in the past. The quality is absolutely unparalleled. The players know it, the fans know it, and surely the refs know it too. Apparently, so do you, Connor.

So what’s it going to take? Are we going to be able to go back to a world where 60 FPS cameras are going to cut it for high-level competition? (No.) Just take a look at these gorgeous, high-quality close-ups, captured by the Close Call Replay system.

The system’s rumored $20k-per-event price tag may seem cost prohibitive, but what is it worth to have a reliable replay system in place that legitimizes our sport? If betting ever comes into play, realistic and trustworthy lines can only be set when there’s an even playing field that doesn’t rely on biased players making their own calls.

BoxCar/Close Call Replay isn’t the only player in the game, but one thing that is for sure, this can’t be a do-it-yourself job. DV Sports provides a similar system which was used for NCAA’s Frozen Four hockey tournament, with an estimated cost of $10k for the entire 2-week event.

The “hooking” drama has only continued to escalate over time— we know, we’re in the middle of it half the time— and is sowing unnecessary discord between players who may otherwise get along as teammates or partners in the future. It’s been said many times, but there is no other professional sport that depends on its competitors to make judgment calls on their own performance. As we have clearly seen, this does not work out well.

While we’re at it, let’s ensure all courts have equal challenge opportunities, shall we? Grandstand court deserves the same capabilities as championship court to ensure fair play, even if you don’t have 1 million instagram followers.

Please, please implement a high-quality replay system so we don’t have to spend another 30 minutes of our pod rehashing a bad line call again.

Get Your Passport, UPA’s Going International

UPA announced on Thursday that the 2025 tour is making 5 international stops in Australia, India, Canada, Asia, and Europe.

The UPA is partnering with established organizations in each location to support the execution of each venue stop, and help reach the local community organically. Two of these partners have already been announced, and includes Pacific Pickleball, which now operates as MLP Australia. The Europe and Asia stops have yet to be announced, but will both take place in October.

The penultimate event of the global tour will be in PPA-headquartered Dallas, TX, where the established UPA US Nationals will morph into a World Championship.

JOIN US AT MLP Salt Lake City

You love using our KOTC code with all our partners, and now you can use it to purchase spectator tickets for MLP and PPA events, and for amateur registration at PPA tour stops.

Catch the KOTC pod premiere where the guys will preview the upcoming SLC event, plus trade news!