Pickleball has had a meteoric rise in popularity in the last couple of years. From just a few million takers by the year 2020, Pickleball really started picking up speed in the following years, reaching an awesome 36.5 million players in the US. Not surprisingly, it has been America’s fastest growing sport since 2021. Naturally, with such breakneck speed of growth we’re seeing a bit more structure coming into the sport as it ventures into the professional sports sphere.
Major League Pickleball San Clemente, the ongoing pickleball tournament, is one of the biggest events in the sport. And it has a structure and schedule that plays into the novelty of the sport and a format that will keep things very exciting for viewers.
Major League Pickleball schedule, format and teams
The 2023 calendar for the Major League pickleball is divided into two seasons. Each of these two seasons will constitute three events apiece, taking place across California, Florida, Arizona and Georgia. A total of 24 teams, 96 drafted players, will compete in the MLP across the two seasons in 2023.
In the first season, 12 teams will compete at the MLP Premier Level while the remaining 12 teams will compete at the MLP Challenger Level. Each of these teams consist of four players, two male and two female players. All the 96 players are drafted, the first 48 competing in the Premier Level while the the next 48 drafted players competing in the Challenger Level.
For the second season, the teams will re-draft the players and also switch the levels (Premier and Challenger).
The three events in the first season will take place in Mesa, Arizona between January 15-19, Daytona, Florida between March 23-26 and lastly in San Clemente, California between June 15-19.
The next three events, part of the second season, will take place in Atlanta, Georgia between September 21-24, La Quinta between November 2-5 and finally in San Clemente, California between December 7-11.
With a prize money of a whopping $5 million on offer by the MLP, it is sure to be an exciting and highly competitive year for pickleball.
Growing at a breakneck speed, pickleball is here to stay. Some of the biggest names from the world of sports are not only trying it out but also investing in the sport. And with a roster of very talented and entertaining players on display, it’d be a sin to miss the events so sit back and enjoy this new and growing sport.
