Pickleball isn’t just a casual backyard game anymore, it’s a full-blown professional sport with big-name tours, packed arenas, and prize money on the line. In fact, professional pickleball has exploded so quickly that multiple tours and major tournaments have sprung up, each with its own flavor. If you’ve heard acronyms like PPA, APP, or MLP and wondered what the heck they mean, you’re not alone. In this post, we’ll break down the most important professional pickleball tours and tournaments in the U.S.
The PPA Tour: Where the Pros Play
The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour is often considered the “big leagues” of pickleball. Launched around 2018, the PPA set out to formalize a true pro circuit for the sport. They’ve done just that, offering a nationwide tour with nearly $3 million in annual prize money at stake. The PPA’s focus has been on showcasing top talent and running polished, highly competitive events. In its early days, the PPA made waves by signing many of the world’s best players to exclusive contracts. In exchange for appearance fees and tour perks, PPA-contracted pros agreed not to play most APP tournaments (more on the APP in a moment).
This strategy brought virtually all the pickleball superstars under the PPA umbrella. Ben Johns, for example, widely considered the top male player, signed on with PPA early. His sister Collin Johns and other standouts like Anna Leigh Waters also became PPA regulars.
Format & Events
PPA tournaments typically feature the traditional pro format: men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Brackets are played out over a long weekend, often with pros and amateurs in separate divisions. The tour travels to various cities and high-end venues. For example, the PPA has hosted events at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California and even staged a special event inside Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas. These are slick productions with stadium courts, livestreams, and even broadcast TV coverage. In 2022, a PPA event became the first pickleball tournament ever televised live on a major network.
What Makes PPA Unique
The PPA’s calling card is professionalism and star power. It’s the tour that nurtures elite competition and has turned top players into familiar names. Iconic matches under the PPA banner have raised the sport’s profile and made players like Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters into the sport’s first household names. PPA events also include amateur brackets for various skill levels, but the spotlight is on the pros. Expect intense, bracket-style competition and a focus on individual champions. If you want to see the best of the best in pickleball, the PPA Tour is the place to look.
The APP Tour: Where Pros and Amateurs Unite
Next up is the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Tour, which has since rebranded to the Association of Pickleball Players. The APP launched in 2019 and holds the distinction of being the first tour sanctioned by USA Pickleball, the sport’s national governing body. The vibe of the APP Tour is a bit more “open arms” and community-focused compared to the PPA’s exclusivity.
Format & Focus
APP tournaments usually have both pro and amateur divisions playing side by side. You might play in an amateur bracket during the day and then grab a seat courtside to watch the pros battle for medals in the evening. This creates a fun, festival-like atmosphere where fans and players mingle. To give newer competitors more court time, the APP even rolled out a new format in 2024 featuring round-robin pool play to guarantee multiple matches before a playoff, with games to 15 points.
While the APP Tour certainly showcases high-level pro talent, it’s also known as a proving ground for rising stars. Many top young players cut their teeth on the APP circuit. The tour travels to various cities around the U.S. as well, often partnering with local clubs and even hitting a few iconic locations.
What Makes APP Unique
In short, accessibility. The APP Tour is sanctioned by USA Pickleball and emphasizes a grassroots approach, welcoming pros and amateurs alike. It’s a bit less glitzy than the PPA, but it’s beloved for its community feel. If you’re a newer player looking to test your skills in a competitive setting, APP events are a friendly entry point. The APP also helped spread the sport globally by inviting international players and maintaining an open policy.
Major League Pickleball (MLP): Team Pickleball Takes Center Court
Now for something completely different: Major League Pickleball (MLP). If PPA and APP are akin to tennis tours, MLP is more like the NBA or NFL, it’s a league with teams, drafts, and a totally unique format. MLP burst onto the scene in 2021, founded by entrepreneur Steve Kuhn with the backing of some big investors. The idea was to create an exciting, co-ed team competition that could captivate fans and bring a new level of entertainment to pro pickleball.
Format & Structure
Major League Pickleball events are nothing like your typical tournament bracket. Instead, MLP features a set of franchised teams, each composed of both men and women pro players. Teams face off in head-to-head matches that include women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles, and if they split those games, it all comes down to the electrifying “Dreambreaker” tiebreaker: a series of singles rallies with players rotating in, first team to reach the target score wins.
MLP runs a season format with multiple events. Currently, there are two divisions: a Premier Level for the top pros and a Challenger Level for the next tier. In a given season, teams play several tournaments, accumulate standings, and then there’s a playoff to crown the champion. For example, the 2022 MLP season finale in Columbus, Ohio featured 48 players battling for the largest single-event prize purse in pickleball history at the time ($319,000), with the winning team taking home $100,000.
What Makes MLP Unique
In one word: teamwork. MLP introduced pro pickleball’s first team-based format, and it has brought in a whole new audience. Fans get to rally behind a team rather than just individual players. The co-ed aspect is also groundbreaking and core to MLP’s identity. It’s the only pro sports league where men and women play on the same team with equal roles, even facing off in mixed singles during a Dreambreaker. The league has actively marketed itself as a blend of sport and entertainment: high production values, storylines, celebrity team owners, you name it.
From an audience standpoint, many find MLP events the most engaging to watch because of the energy and unpredictability. It creates unique matchups and lots of drama. Players themselves have said they love the team atmosphere for a change.
The USA Pickleball National Championships: Battle for the Crown
Last but certainly not least, we have the USA Pickleball National Championships, often just called “Nationals.” This is the official national championship tournament sanctioned by USA Pickleball.
History & Prestige
The first USA Nationals were held in 2009, and it has grown steadily in importance. For many years, Nationals took place in the California desert at the famed Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Those years at Indian Wells produced some record crowds and memorable matches, Championship Sunday in 2018 drew over 5,000 fans, which was then the largest-ever live pickleball audience. Standing-room only crowds watched as pioneers like Simone Jardim and Kyle Yates dominated early championships, and later as Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters began their reigns. Nationals at Indian Wells had a grand feel, with Margaritaville as a title sponsor and players treated like VIPs.
Starting in 2022, the event moved and evolved. The PPA Tour struck a deal to help run Nationals, and in 2023 it was held at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas, Texas, where it shattered all attendance records. Over 50,000 people attended the 2023 Nationals over the 8-day event, with nearly 10,000 on the biggest day. It was officially the biggest pickleball tournament ever in terms of attendance.
Format & What to Expect
Nationals is an open tournament, thousands of amateurs compete in age and skill brackets, while the pros vie for national titles. However, you generally have to earn “golden tickets” at regional tournaments to play in Nationals, which adds to the prestige. Events include singles, doubles, mixed across pro, senior, and age categories. Winning “Nationals” is a huge honor for pros, it’s literally a national championship.
Bringing It All Together (and How You Can Get Involved)
It’s amazing to think that just a few years ago, none of these tours or major events even existed. Professional pickleball truly began in 2019 with the birth of the APP and PPA tours, and since then the sport has been on a rocket ship. Each tour has played a role in growing pickleball into the phenomenon it is today. The PPA, APP, MLP and the big championship events collectively have transformed pickleball from a casual pastime into a professional spectacle.
If reading about all these tours and tournaments has you itching to improve your skills , there’s no better time to start training. Consider booking a lesson with a certified pickleball coach to take your game up a notch. TeachMe.To is a great place to find local pickleball instructors and get one-on-one guidance. Whether you’re a total beginner or an intermediate player aiming for that next level, a few lessons can make a world of difference. Who knows – with some practice, we might see you on Championship Court someday. 😉
