SUMMARY OF PREMIER LEVEL COMPETITION UPDATES

The 2026 Major League Pickleball season is almost here! Read below for an overview of competition structure changes to take effect this season at the Premier Level.

Premier Free Agency Draft

• The 2026 Draft will operate similarly to the 2025 version
• The draft will not be broken into two parts, teams will be able to draft their full roster of six (6)
• Per usual, ONLY UPA-signed players may play MLP

Lineups

• Teams may set a starting lineup for a match that utilizes more than four (4) players as long as it is part of the lineup submission (i.e.:, teams may use a different male player for men’s doubles and mixed doubles)
• If necessary, DreamBreaker™ lineups will be determined by teams following the second Mixed game, and teams may choose any four (4) players from their roster – two men and two women – regardless of any substitutions used during doubles

Regular Season Events & Standings Points

• Regular season event formats will feature 10 total teams, split into two (2) groups of five (5), playing round robin Thursday to Saturday with the top four teams in each group advancing to Sunday
• Group standings will be determined by standings points earned during group play, with each match worth a total of three (3) points (regulation win = 3; DreamBreaker™ win = 2; DreamBreaker™ loss = 1; regulation loss = 0)
• The same seeded team in each group will play each other on Sunday (i.e.: Group A #1 vs. Group B #1, etc.), with event standings points on the line, based on Sunday match results
• Event Standings Points for each event will be 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-1-1, based on final results (winner of the #1 vs. #1 match will receive 25 event standings points with the loser earning 18 points, etc.)
• Standings points will be earned based on overall performance at each event, NOT from each match

Waivers

• Premier Level teams will be allowed to participate in one (1) waiver wire period to swap out up to one of their players ONLY for one UPA-signed, MLP non-rostered player during the 2026 season on Wednesday, July 1, following regular season event #6, which ends Sun, June 28

Playoffs

• Playoffs will expand to three weeks and 12 teams for 2026, allowing for an additional round of high-revenue, high-quality, high-stakes events

Join us as MLP returns in 2026, and stay tuned for full Competition Structure details to be released in the coming weeks. Be sure to follow MLP on social and join our mailing list to get the latest updates.