Major League Pickleball St. Louis 2026: Pools, schedule, viewing guide and storylines

By Alex Lantz | Last updated June 3, 2026

We’re 2 weeks into the Major League Pickleball season, and already the events are having major implications on the playoff picture.

The St. Louis Shock have underperformed relative to preseason expectations, and the team faces an important home event this week that is sure to have a big impact on their seeding at the end of the regular season. The Shock are the only team in the field this week that has also competed in the first two events, so their season will be 60% of the way completed after this week (all 20 teams in the league will play in 5 events over the course of the summer).

There are 11 teams participating in MLP St. Louis, which starts Thursday from Chaifetz Arena on the Saint Louis University campus. The arena holds more than 10,000 spectators and the Shock franchise has been very active in promoting the event locally, so it will be interesting to see how full the stands are this weekend. It was one of the most well-attended events in 2025.

Looking to attend MLP St. Louis? Get tickets here.

The franchise is owned by Richard Chaifetz and his family, with son Ross Chaifetz overseeing team operations. Richard Chaifetz is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of ComPsych Corporation, which has an office in St. Louis and is the world’s largest provider of employee assistance programs. The Chaifetz family has made numerous investments and philanthropic contributions in the St. Louis community, including St. Louis University’s Chaifetz School of Business, Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship, Chaifetz Arena, and countless technology and real estate investments.

Here are the teams in the field this week:

Group A: Brooklyn Pickleball Team, Las Vegas Night Owls, Los Angeles Mad Drops, Phoenix Flames, Socal Hard Eights, Utah Black Diamonds.

Group B: Atlanta Bouncers, Bay Area Breakers, Orlando Squeeze, St. Louis Shock, Palm Beach Royals.

Major League Pickleball Standings

Major League Pickleball Week 2 2026 standings.

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MLP St. Louis storylines

Here are a few of the biggest storylines to watch this week:

Can St. Louis get an event win? The Shock have finished third and second, respectively, in their first two events of the season. They were considered among the favorites to win the championship going into the year, so many predicted they would win at least one of those events — if not both. The men’s doubles team of Hayden Patriquin/Gabe Tardio hasn’t been quite as sharp as they were in 2025 — they are 9-2 this season, but the two losses are already more than they had in the entire 2025 regular season, when they only lost once. The mixed doubles team of Patiquin/Anna Bright has also struggled at times, going 7-4 in the first two events, which is surprising considering they are the No. 2 mixed team on the PPA Tour and are heavy favorites on paper against almost any other mixed team in MLP.
Will the Mad Drops back up their MLP Dallas performance? The big story coming out of the first event of the season was Ben Johns’ performance for the Mad Drops. Johns looked like he was on a mission to prove that he’s still the best player in the game and led LA to a 6-0 start to the season. If LA wins again in St. Louis, the Mad Drops will have a commanding lead in the league standings.
Brooklyn & SoCal making their debut. These are the only two teams we haven’t seen yet, and this event should give us a good sense of where they fit. Brooklyn is a Top 5 team on paper, and they will have a chance to prove that they’re a Top 5 team on the court as well, with a Group Play match on Friday afternoon against Los Angeles. I expect SoCal to be in the running for one of the last playoff spots by the end of the season, so their Group Play matches against Las Vegas, Phoenix and Utah will be important.