Major League Pickleball expands into Australia with first international partnership

Major League Pickleball (MLP) has announced their first international expansion through a partnership with Pacific Pickleball League (PPL). This strategic partnership will rebrand Pacific Pickleball's teams format to Major League Pickleball Australia.

Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., now with over 36 million players. With an estimated 25,000 Australians already playing wherever they can find space, the sport is exploding in popularity in Australia.

Pacific Pickleball launched Australia's first professional pickleball league, signing 33 elite local pickleball players to Australia's newest sports teams; Sydney Smash, Melbourne Mavericks, Brisbane Breakers, and Gold Coast Glory.

The first event is scheduled for this weekend in Brisbane.

All teams will now play under the new Major League Pickleball Australia banner and Pacific Pickleball's teams events will now align with the MLP format. The Pacific Pickleball brand will be maintained for open and masters events in the traditional tour format.

MLP Chief Executive Julio DePietro notes "This partnership is a landmark moment for the sport of pickleball. Major League Pickleball is at the forefront of standardizing the best professional pickleball league, not just in the U.S. but globally.

“The MLP format is an amazing way to create even more excitement at these already electric team events.”

Adam Thompson, Chief Executive & co-founder of Pacific Pickleball added "by partnering with MLP, we will set record levels of prize money and host world-class events, supporting the growth of the sport in Australia.”

Major League Pickleball Australia will hand out close to a million dollars in cash prizes over the next year.

Pacific Pickleball's President & co-founder, Anthony Liveris, said the newly formed MLP Australia would provide a platform for Australia's elite players to showcase their skills and compete globally.

MLP Australia will kickstart with the first event scheduled for this weekend in Brisbane before Melbourne and the Sydney events later in the year – the series will highlight the highest level of the sport in the country and offer the most prize money in the southern hemisphere.

Pacific Pickleball was recognised as the official professional pickleball league of Australia in May. In partnership with the sport's governing body - Pickleball Australia Association - Pacific Pickleball aims to harness the momentum behind the fastest-growing sport in the U.S.

Brendan Lee from the Pickleball Australia Association also shared "The explosive popularity of the sport in Australia has created a strong need for professional events. Participation in the sport currently exceeds 25,000 and membership has doubled in the last 12 months."

About MLP Format

• At all MLP events, every match features men's doubles, women's doubles, and two rounds of mixed doubles – each worth one point

• The first team to earn three points wins their match

• Games are played to 21 points in a fan-friendly "rally scoring format" where points are won regardless of server

• If the teams split the games, 2-2, the match goes to a unique "Dreambreaker" tiebreaker, where the teams square off in singles, with each player playing four points and rotating out

• First team to accumulate 21 points in the Dreambreaker wins the entire match

Major League Pickleball (MLP) is the premier team-based professional pickleball league and the standard-bearer for the fastest-growing sport in the United States. Founded by Steve Kuhn in 2021, MLP is committed to growing the sport's role in society and impacting every facet of pickleball's business.

MLP features nearly 100 of the best athletes in the sport, a unique coed format, iconic team owners, an innovative draft format, easy to understand scoring, and the largest payouts in prize money across all of pro pickleball.

The Pacific Pickleball League is Australia's official professional Pickleball league, featuring top players, teams, and events. In partnership with Pickleball's governing body; Pickleball Australia Association, PPL is focused on showcasing elite talent and promoting the sport.

PPL will host three events for the remainder of 2023 with a total prize pool of over AUD $200,000 and has committed to a total prize purse of AUD $700,000 for the 2024 calendar of Professional events across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.