Pickleball Pros Stuck in the Middle of the MLP and PPA Merger

This week at the Vulcan Kansas City Open there is a strange vibe, cryptic social media posts and more upsets than usual. What is going on at the PPA tournament this weekend? Some amateur players have reported that there are a lot of whispers and rumors going around at the tournament. It has been reported that many pro players are taking phone calls at higher volumes and seem distracted by the constant changing of tides. Lea Jansen post on X, “Hard to find motivation to even care about the tournament today.” Social media posts by pros, MLP and the PPA have been creating a murky water. CNBC Sports has reported, “There’s trouble in pickleball paradise.” So, what’s going on?

Last November The Professional Pickleball Association and Major League Pickleball announced that they would be joining forces and merge team competition leagues. Fast forward to this weekend when the PPA told CNBC that the MLP has not yet signed the partnership deal that both parties verbally agreed upon. The PPA claims that the MLP has gone silent over the past few weeks. The MLP has seen tremendous growth over the past year with a growing number of high-profile ownership groups, new sponsorships, and media deals.

Thursday the MLP started signing players to multi-year, guaranteed contracts and reaching out to other professional players with lucrative offers. This has created a real problem for the pros who are stuck in the middle of both parties. The PPA said, “It would consider litigation if the MLP were to improperly poach players.” The MLP stated, “We think this is a great thing that will make the MLP more valuable. So we’ll make the players’ lives more successful and better. And we’ll also continue to elevate the sport and help the sport grow.” The MLP also decided to paint the PPA in a bad light by saying, “We asked the PPA to join us in paying players more, and their reaction was that we pay the players too much. “The MLP took the gloves off with that statement but did say that, “If the PPA is willing to pay players more, the MLP is willing to talk about aligning with the league.”

Professional pickleball player signings as of Saturday morning August 26, 2023:

MLP: Frederico Staksrud, Anna Bright, Zane Navratil, James Ignatowich

PPA: Ben Johns, Christian Alshon, Catherine Parenteau, Matt Wright, Lucy Kovalova, Callie Smith

Callie Smith and Lucy Kovalova, PPA

I am all for the players getting paid. Some of these players can make a living only playing pickleball but others are not able to, so they have regular everyday jobs just like you and me. I know some people in the cities of these tournaments that house players to help keep down the costs to the player who is traveling around to compete. It would be nice if the professional players did not have to worry about balancing these things to be able to compete and just concentrate only on pickleball. The MLP and The PPA need to come together for the players and settle their differences. The players are why the people watch. Just like in any sport, you want to see your team or player that inspires you to go play or follow the sport. The viewers will buy all the team or player gear as well as some of the advertising products. The two parties coming together is for the good of the sport and the fans. So, stay tuned to see who ends up with the MLP or PPA! Only time will tell but this could get ugly.