MLP v PPA: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

There has been so much going down in the pickleball world since the Vulcan Pickleball Kansas City Open. It feels like the pickleball terrain is changing by the minute and it doesn’t feel close to being over yet. So, a brief recap is the PPA and MLP were supposed to merge on a deal then crickets. Radio silence from the MLP and during the Kansas City open the MLP unleashed lucrative multi-year contract offers to the pickleball pros. It felt like the MLP sucker punched the PPA and continued going rogue signing pros left and right. Social media was blowing up by the minute and we were just spectators watching a fight between the two parties in real time. It was fun, confusing, and entertaining to say the least. But where are we now when the dust settles? Will it settle? I think we have a lot to sift through and I believe it isn’t finished yet. During this mess Vibe Pickleball returned from grave to get in on all the chaos and changes. I am not sure if they will become a phoenix and rise from the ashes or maybe become the PPA’s Frankenstein monster. The last updated list of players via social media announcements is the PPA has a total of 53 signed players the MLP has 99.

Notable PPA Signed Players: Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters, Collin Johns, Lucy Kovalova, Callie Smith, Christian Alshon, Catherine Parenateau, Maggie Brascia, Jay Devilliers, Tyler Loong, Allyce Jones, Dekel Bar, AJ Koller, Lauren Startman, Julian Arnold, Pat Smith

Notable MLP Signed Players: Tyson McGuffin, Zane Navratil, Lea Jansen, Federico Staksrud, Irina Tereschenko, Anna Bright, Lacy Schneeman, JW Johnson, Riley Newman, Parris Todd, Jessie Irvine, Dylan Frazier, Jorja Johnson, Tyra Black, Pablo Tellez, Hayden Patriquin

The Good

Players are getting paid, health insurance and 401Ks! I love that the players are benefiting from this battle, and it is about time they get paid enough to make a living playing pickleball. Most players had to balance a career and pickleball but now they can just concentrate on pickleball. Also, I heard from multiple professional players podcasts that their travel expenses are going to be paid as well. Tyson McGuffin said on his podcast that most players have multi-year contracts and six figure salaries, while a small number of top players will be getting seven figure deals. This will even the playing field, increase the quality of play, and potentially make MLP and PPA invest in future players and staff to sustain their leagues now that big money is involved. The players win either way!

The Bad

Splitting players between the leagues will dilute the strength of competition in PPA/Vibe as well as the MLP. It feels like Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters have a weaker group of players to mow through to get to the gold medal match. It will make the PPA even more lopsided than it already has been over the years with their domination of pickleball. The PPA has always had a top-heavy tennis feel, a little stuffy on some level and the MLP feels more like the NFL with bigger pickleball personalities and flare. Either way we may not get to see some top players like Ben Johns v Tyson McGuffin or Tyra Black v Anne Leigh Waters. That is concerning because now the fans suffer from breaking up the fun rivals that have already been established. Plus, if you win either league (which is an amazing accomplishment) are you really the top player(s)? Hopefully the leagues will come together somewhere down the road to get every back together to compete.

The Ugly

This event has forever changed pickleball and all the mudslinging has been eye opening to some extent. The MLP looks underhanded on how they handled doing business and come off a little greasy. The PPA looks terrible for telling the MLP that players already made enough money, so it felt like they weren’t looking to pay players, but MLP pushed them into paying. It makes the PPA look greedy and cold. It feels like feelings are hurt and ego and pride will reign for a while before these sides talk about working together again. The fans are the group of people who are getting the short end of the stick but hopefully in a few months or years maybe the sides will merge for the better of pickleball. Until then stay tuned on social media, who know what will happen next.