Major League Pickleball partners with Owl AI to bring automatic line calls to pro pickleball in 2026

Alex Lantz

Director of Content

Last Edited

Dec 05 2025

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News

Major League Pickleball on Thursday announced that the league has partnered with Owl AI – a sports technology company that is changing how sports are judged, coached and experienced by fans.

MLP will become a member of Owl AI’s “trailblazer program,” in which proprietary technologies will be used for automatic line calling and the league’s in-match challenge system during the 2026 MLP season.

The new technology will be used in partnership with the league’s referees to provide more accurate calls as well as faster and more consistent turnaround times for challenged plays, according to a news release from MLP.

“It is paramount for MLP to strategically align with innovative companies like Owl AI to enhance the reliability of our challenge system and the overall production quality of the on-court product,” said MLP Commissioner Samin Odhwani. “Major League Pickleball has shown remarkable growth since inception in 2021, and we are constantly striving to make improvements and showcase the best version of MLP for our current and future fans, players, and teams.”

Added Owl AI CEO Josh Gwyther: "We are thrilled to partner with Major League Pickleball, a league that shares our vision for the future of sports technology. MLP's selection of Owl AI is a testament to their innovative spirit. Our AI platform is built to deliver the speed and accuracy that a fast-paced sport like pickleball demands. This partnership will not only enhance the integrity of line calls and challenges for players but will also create a more engaging and transparent experience for the millions of fans watching."

Owl AI’s system will sit behind standard cameras to make judging decisions. In contrast to expensive hardware systems used in other sports, the Owl AI platform leverages advanced generative AI and computer vision to analyze video, delivering human-level accuracy in judging and data analytics.

As a 100% software-based solution, Owl AI integrates seamlessly with existing broadcast cameras, eliminating the need for expensive, proprietary hardware and making elite-level insights accessible to any sport, at any level.

Owl AI made its debut at X Games Aspen earlier this year, where it made headlines for its ability to judge, predict and commentate professional snowboarding.

It’s billed as the first “end-to-end AI platform designed to bring fairness, clarity and immersion to judged and referee-influenced sports.”

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