Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
As pickleball continues to surge in popularity, Major League Pickleball — the buzzy pro circuit that counts LeBron James, Tom Brady and Kevin Durant among its team owners — is gearing up to make a splash.
Driving the news: MLP has finalized the format and schedule for 2023, which will see the league double its number of teams (12 to 24) and events (three to six), while ushering in promotion and relegation, Axios has learned.
The intrigue: MLP will implement a promotion and relegation system in 2024, with 12 teams in the Premier Level and 12 teams in the Challenger Level. The 2023 results will determine where each team starts in 2024.
How it works: The 2023 campaign will be divided into two "seasons," each with three events. Prior to each "season," teams will draft their rosters, which consist of two men and two women.
2023 schedule: MLP's six stops in 2023 will feature both Premier and Challenger matches. Life Time, a health club chain, will host each season's championship at their Orange County pickleball facility.
— Teams flip levels and re-draft —
State of play: Pickleball became a massive hit during the pandemic, growing from 3.4 million U.S. players in 2019 to 4.8 million in 2021.
The big picture: Some question whether pickleball can succeed as a spectator sport. MLP, which merged with the Professional Pickleball Association's VIBE League last month in a move that unified team-based pickleball under one brand, is out to prove that it can.
What to watch: MLP will unveil team names and the remaining ownership groups set to join James, Brady, Durant, Anheuser-Busch and others ahead of Thursday's draft in Las Vegas (9pm ET, Tennis Channel).
