MLP (Major League Pickleball) Team Format is a professional pickleball competition style featuring 4-player teams (2 males + 2 females) competing in a series of doubles matches. It's the format used by Major League Pickleball and is perfect for competitive club tournaments.
Each MLP match follows the MLPlay™ format with 4 scheduled doubles games, plus a singles tiebreaker if needed:
Both female players from each team compete
Both male players from each team compete
One male + one female from each team
Different male/female pairing from Game 3
Singles tiebreaker played only when teams are tied 2-2 after 4 games
Note: In regular season play, all 4 games are played even if one team leads 3-0.
| 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 4-player teams (2 males + 2 females) competing in a series of doubles matches. It's the format used by Major League Pickleball and is perfect for competitive club tournaments.
Each MLP match follows the MLPlay™ format with 4 scheduled doubles games, plus a singles tiebreaker if needed:
Both female players from each team compete
Both male players from each team compete
One male + one female from each team
Different male/female pairing from Game 3
Singles tiebreaker played only when teams are tied 2-2 after 4 games
Note: In regular season play, all 4 games are played even if one team leads 3-0.
| 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: