Major League Pickleball Austin 2026: Pools, schedule, viewing guide and storylines
Major League Pickleball returns to one of the sport’s original hot spots this week: Austin, Texas.
The league itself started in nearby Dripping Springs, and MLP events have been held annually in the Austin area ever since.
With 3 weeks down and 7 weeks to go in the regular season, a clear group of teams have started to emerge at the top of the standings.
Los Angeles, St. Louis and New Jersey have each won an event (and the 25 Standings Points that come with an event win), while Columbus and Brooklyn also look like serious contenders. Two of those teams will be in action this week — Columbus and New Jersey.
There are 11 teams in the field in Austin, and matches start Thursday from Austin Pickle Ranch, which also hosted an event last season.
Group A: California Black Bears, Carolina Hogs, Columbus Sliders, Miami Pickleball Club, Socal Hard Eights.
Group B: Atlanta Bouncers, Bay Area Breakers, Dallas Flash, Florida Smash, New Jersey 5s, Texas Ranchers.
Looking to attend MLP Austin? Get tickets here.
Major League Pickleball Standings
MLP Austin storylines
Here are a few of the biggest storylines to watch this week:
- Which Columbus is the real Columbus? The Sliders started the year strong with a second-place finish at MLP Dallas, and had a very impressive win over New Jersey at that event. But a week later — at their home event in Columbus — they settled for third and were swept by the 5s. The Sliders have a pretty easy path to the 1 v. 1 matchup on Sunday this week, and there’s a good chance they will face New Jersey again in that match.
- Who will win the Lone Star showdown? The Dallas Flash and Texas Ranchers find themselves in the same pool this week, and the Ranchers will be debuting a new lineup — last week they traded Dylan Frazier to Miami for Nico Acevedo. To this point we’ve only seen Acevedo play the left, which is also Eric Oncins’ preferred side, so it will be interesting to see how they fit together in men’s doubles. These teams played in the first event of the year, with the Flash winning 3-0.
- Can New Jersey win two in a row? After a disappointing fourth-place finish in their first event of the season, the 5s bounced back with an impressive win at MLP Columbus. They have all-new mixed doubles pairings this year — Noe Khlif/Anna Leigh Waters and Will Howells/Jorja Johnson — and those duos looked much better in Week 2 than they did in Week 1. Is there even more room to keep improving?
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MLP Austin match schedule
All matches available on Pickleball TV and the Pickleball TV app.
