The Carvana PPA Tour and MLP (Major League Pickleball) by Margaritaville have completed their merger into a “unified and definitive professional pickleball holding company,” with the help of $75 million from private-equity firm SC Holdings, D.C. Pickleball Team owner Al Tylis, PPA Tour owners Tom Dundon and the Pardoe family, and other MLP team owners. The PPA and MLP will be maintaining separate brands.
The new company has signed multi-year contracts with some 150 professional pickleballers, who will be competing on “an expanded calendar that combines individual (PPA Tour) and team (MLP) events throughout the year.” The merged company expects combined annual player payouts to rise by about 250 percent year-on-year in 2024.
MLP specializes in co-ed team play, PPA in head-to-head play. According to The Dink, negotiations had stalled over this difference in philosophy. Back in September we covered the merger’s announcement and surveyed the “civil war” between the two leagues.
