What’s the Score?
Major League Pickleball (MLP) has announced sweeping competition changes for the 2026 Premier level season, designed to heighten strategy and stakes. The league is officially returning to a group play format for regular-season events and has eliminated the distinction between “starters” and “bench players”. These updates aim to build on a successful 2025 campaign by introducing more flexible lineups and a high-stakes “Sunday Finale” where teams battle for massive standings points.
Hit it deeper!
Under the new format, ten teams will be split into two groups of five, competing in round-robin play from Thursday to Saturday. The top four teams from each group advance to Sunday, where they face their corresponding seed from the opposite group (e.g., Group A #1 vs. Group B #1). The stakes for these final matches are immense: the winner of the #1 matchup receives 25 standings points, while the loser receives 18. With each team playing five events, the maximum possible regular-season score is 125 points.
The most revolutionary change involves lineup management. Teams can now utilise all six rostered players in any combination for doubles and mixed doubles. This flexibility extends to the DreamBreaker, where any player can participate regardless of whether they played in the previous games. This specific rule change places a new premium on singles specialists, who can now be drafted specifically to win tiebreakers. To maintain stability, there will be only one waiver period on July 1, 2026, allowing teams to swap one rostered player for a non-rostered athlete.
The World Pickleball Verdict
MLP is leaning into what makes it unique: the team dynamic and the high-pressure DreamBreaker. By allowing full roster flexibility, the league has turned pickleball into a high-level game of “chess.” Managers can now sub in specialists for specific matchups, making the draft more critical than ever. Furthermore, the 25-point Sunday bonus ensures that the “event champion” is properly rewarded, solving the previous issue where a team could win an event but not move up significantly in the season-long standings. These changes make MLP the most strategically complex and exciting version of the sport.
Chris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at all levels of pickleball. Chris is also an avid player, currently struggling to make the breakthrough from 4.0 to 4.5.