Officially launched Tuesday, September 21 at Dripping Springs entertainment venue Dreamland: Major League Pickleball, an elite consortium of 32 of the world’s best pickleball players and eight teams, who will vie for glory in a four-day competition in November with a total prize fund of $150,000 on the table plus equity stake in MLP for season one players.
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In the league, the world’s best 32 professional players (16 women and 16 men) will compete in the Pritchard Cup, a nationally broadcast competition named after the founder of the sport, Joel Pritchard. The competition will take place over four days at Dreamland, Nov. 5-8. Each team will consist of four players — two male and two female — and a player draft has been scheduled Oct. 1 at the Professional Pickleball Association’s Texas Open Shootout in Rockwall, northeast of Dallas. Eight teams will compete for the Pritchard Cup, named after the founder of the sport, Joel Pritchard.
Pickleball — a racket sport that combines attributes of tennis, ping pong, and badminton — may become even more popular with the rollout of the MLP. It has already been dubbed “the fastest-growing sport in America” by The Economist. Similar to tennis, but played on a smaller court with a solid paddle and a ball similar to a Wiffle ball. It was invented in 1965 and initially gained popularity in retirement communities, but has caught fire in recent years among a broader audience: there were an estimated 4.2 million pickleball players in 2020, a 21% increase from 2019, according to the USA Pickleball Association.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSfEFKf8GyE
The list of the eight 2021 MLP team owner groups features an impressive lineup of Austin, Texas, and U.S. business, sports, entertainment, and industry pros, including:
- Internationally recognized researcher, storyteller, author, podcaster, and all-around awesome encourager Brené Brown.
- Navdeep Sooch, chairman of Silicon Labs.
- C3 Presents co-founders Charles Attal and Charlie Walker, creators of Austin City Limits Music Festival and the organizers of Lollapalooza.
- Bryan Sheffield, owner of Austin FC.
- Tim Klitch, founder and chief fun officer of Austin Pickle Ranch.
- Charles Kiley, CFO at the Brené Brown Education and Research Group.
- Dr. Steve Alley, a pediatrics specialist based in Houston.
- James Blake, former world-ranked professional tennis player and current TV commentator.
- Marc Lasry, co-owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.
- Hollywood talent agent Jim Toth.
- John Raymond, CEO and co-founder of The Energy & Minerals Group.
- Fuel oil trader Eric Kuo.
- Mike Meldman, CEO of Discovery Land Company and co-founder of Casamigos Tequila.
- Wes Hurt, founder and CEO of Clean Cause.
- Tim Berry, founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software.
- Ritchie Tuazon of Capital Group.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4StudLuqnkA
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