Samin Odhwani Pickleball League Expansion: Major League Pickleball wrapped up its 2025 season with the league finals held August 22-24 at CityPickle in Wollman Rink, Central Park. The event drew sold-out crowds and strong TV ratings, while MLP Commissioner Samin Odhwani outlined major changes ahead, including league expansion, new investment, and updates to player pay.
Growth in New York City
The New York finals drew 1,300 fans per day on Saturday and Sunday, with CBS averaging 433,000 viewers during a two-hour broadcast.
Samin Odhwani said, “Last year [MLP NYC] was our highest revenue event ever for Major League Pickleball. So, this year we thought it was a chance to double down. We added 40% more capacity … and our projection is that we’re going to do over $400K in ticket sales this year, which is on par if not above the gate for a lot of other emerging sports leagues.”
Expansion and Team Valuations
The league is adding a new team, the Palm Beach Royals, in 2026 with a record $16 million valuation. A recent ownership change for the L.A. Mad Drops was valued at $13 million.
Samin Odhwani explained, “I think the fact that we have both an expansion team at $16M and a change of control [of the L.A. Mad Drops] at $13M gives us two data points that says the trajectory is going in the right direction. … What we’ve seen is, the business growing. But the most interesting part is — a lot of emerging sports leagues are single-entity structure. The teams are owned by the league. We’ve got a structure where every team owns a part of the league, and it also owns 100% of their team, which I think is the right model, because you’re able to allow teams to monetize. We had our first team [the Texas Ranchers] do over seven figures in revenue this year.”
Path to Profitability
The United Pickleball Association, which oversees MLP and the PPA Tour, is nearing its goal of profitability.
Samin Odhwani said, “By late next year I think we’ll be profitable. When [the PPA Tour and MLP] merged Q1 of 2024, our target was always 2027. I think we’re maybe a little bit ahead of schedule against that, but right there.”
He also noted, “We’re at $70M for this year. And that doesn’t include any of the [MLP] teams.”
Shifts in Player Compensation
MLP is working on a new pay model for players that combines base salaries with prize money opportunities.
Samin Odhwani explained, “We’re aiming to transition to a more prize-money-based model, where we offer players a base salary, and they’re able to earn prize money on top of this. One of the things we learned from this entire exercise, where right now our contracts are fully guaranteed, if [players] are able to do this full-time, they grow their brands, they’re able to get more time on the court, they’re able to practice more — which is extremely valuable, because it’s helping the talent pool mature. They’re able to have a lifestyle, they’re able to invest in themselves. I think we’ve walked away saying, ‘OK, that’s important, let’s keep that. Let’s keep some level of base where everyone can have some comfortability in being able to do this full time, and then let’s shift the rest of the pool to paying what people earn on the court.’ We foresee a world where our biggest events have a million-dollar purse against them.”
New Investment and Global Plans
The United Pickleball Association recently raised $15 million from investors including Jason Stein and Al Tylis.
Samin Odhwani said, “Combination of player compensation and a couple of growth initiatives we’re looking at. International expansion, the PPA is doing their first event in Asia and then a Vietnam event. Launching a larger vertical around juniors. We have the Junior PPA Tour right now, we want to extend that to its own larger property and bring it to MLP as well.”
Why It Matters
The sold-out finals, new expansion team, and fresh funding highlight the growing momentum of professional pickleball. With strong revenue growth, new markets, and a revised player pay system, the league is positioning itself as one of the fastest-growing emerging sports in the U.S. and abroad.
News in Brief: Samin Odhwani Pickleball League Expansion
Major League Pickleball closed its 2025 season in New York with sellout crowds and strong TV ratings. Commissioner Samin Odhwani confirmed expansion to 23 teams, record franchise valuations, $15M in new funding, and upcoming changes to player pay. The United Pickleball Association expects profitability by late 2026.
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