MLP (Major League Pickleball) Team Format is a professional pickleball competition style featuring teams of up to 10 players (5 males + 5 females) competing in 8 doubles events per match. It's the format used by Major League Pickleball and is perfect for competitive club tournaments.
Each MLP match follows the MLPlay™ format with 8 scheduled doubles events, plus an optional DreamBreaker tiebreaker:
Two men's doubles matches — different player pairings each
Two women's doubles matches — different player pairings each
Four mixed doubles matches — one male + one female per side, different pairings each
Mixed doubles tiebreaker played only when teams are tied 4-4 after 8 events. First to 21 points.
Note: All 8 regular events are played even if one team clinches the match early, for standings tiebreaker purposes.
| Teams | Format | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Round Robin | Small club events |
| 8 | 2 pools of 4 → playoffs | ⭐ Most common amateur MLP |
| 12 | 4 pools of 3 → playoffs | Medium events |
| 16 | 4 pools of 4 → playoffs | Large events |
Tip: 8 teams (32 players) is the sweet spot for most amateur MLP tournaments. Each team plays 3 pool matches before playoffs.
When creating an MLP division in Brakto, you can customize:
MLP (Major League Pickleball) Team Format is a professional pickleball competition style featuring teams of up to 10 players (5 males + 5 females) competing in 8 doubles events per match. It's the format used by Major League Pickleball and is perfect for competitive club tournaments.
Each MLP match follows the MLPlay™ format with 8 scheduled doubles events, plus an optional DreamBreaker tiebreaker:
Two men's doubles matches — different player pairings each
Two women's doubles matches — different player pairings each
Four mixed doubles matches — one male + one female per side, different pairings each
Mixed doubles tiebreaker played only when teams are tied 4-4 after 8 events. First to 21 points.
Note: All 8 regular events are played even if one team clinches the match early, for standings tiebreaker purposes.
| Teams | Format | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Round Robin | Small club events |
| 8 | 2 pools of 4 → playoffs | ⭐ Most common amateur MLP |
| 12 | 4 pools of 3 → playoffs | Medium events |
| 16 | 4 pools of 4 → playoffs | Large events |
Tip: 8 teams (32 players) is the sweet spot for most amateur MLP tournaments. Each team plays 3 pool matches before playoffs.
When creating an MLP division in Brakto, you can customize: