MLP 2026 Season: First Four Events and Venue Updates

Let's start with the venue update. Newport and San Diego have swapped. San Diego at the Barnes Tennis Center is now Regular Season Stop #7, running from July 16 to 19. Last year, that same venue served as the first round of playoffs.

Newport Beach (Tennis and Pickleball Club) has now become the second round of the 2026 playoffs, essentially swapping venues and dates with San Diego.

The MLP 2026 Season Format: What You Need to Know

Now let's look at the first four events of the 2026 MLP season. As a friendly reminder, all teams play a total of five regular season events, with every team participating in the Mid-Season Tournament in July.

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Check out the MLP website for ticket information: https://majorleaguepickleball.co/

This is the breakdown of how many regular season points each team earns at each event in the MLP 2026 season:

1st: 25 pts
2nd: 18 pts
3rd: 15 pts
4th: 12 pts
5th: 10 pts
6th: 8 pts
7th: 6 pts
8th: 4 pts
Teams finishing 5th in pool play: 1
Teams finishing 6th in pool play: 0

Teams will be vying to make Sunday, which includes the top 8 teams from the event.

Groups for the First Four 2026 Regular Season Events

MLP Dallas

Group A (5 teams): COL, DAL, NJ, ORL, PHX
Group B (6 teams): BAY, CAR, LA, STL, TEX, UTA

MLP Columbus

Group A (6 teams): ATL, CAL, CHI, COL, MIA, NJ
Group B (5 teams): CAR, FL, LV, PBR, STL

MLP St. Louis

Group A (6 teams): BRK, LV, LA, PHX, SoCal, UTA
Group B (5 teams): ATL, BAY, ORL, PBR, STL

MLP Austin

Group A (5 teams): CAL, CAR, COL, MIA, SoCal
Group B (6 teams): ATL, BAY, DAL, FL, NJ, TEX

Top Storylines Heading Into the MLP 2026 Season

Here's what's worth watching as the MLP 2026 season gets underway.

The St. Louis Shock do not face anyone who made the semifinals in the 2025 MLP Playoffs in their first three events. That's a significant scheduling advantage for a team with MLP Cup pedigree.

The Columbus Sliders have to play Dallas, New Jersey, Orlando, and Phoenix in MLP Dallas, without Parris Todd, who is suspended for the event. That's about as tough a draw as you can get to start a season.

Brooklyn only plays in one event in the first four, which helps them gel with less pressure early in the year. It's a unique situation for a franchise that has been building toward consistency.

The Palm Beach Royals are grouped with the St. Louis Shock in the first four event groups, but have been blessed with lighter competition in the rest of the group. For an expansion franchise still finding its footing, that scheduling break could matter.

The MLP 2026 season features a new 20-team format that eliminates the Challenger level entirely, raising the stakes at every event. Per CBS Sports, the league's expanded footprint and new competitive structure are drawing renewed attention heading into the 2026 campaign.

The point structure makes every pool play result feel consequential. Teams that struggle in the group stage can find themselves buried in the standings before the Mid-Season Tournament even arrives. As NBC Sports has noted, MLP's team-based format continues to create compelling storylines that individual-tour events simply can not replicate.

For the full picture of how the MLP 2026 season competitive structure works, the 2026 MLP trade tracker and live trade updates are worth bookmarking now.

Questions Still on the Table

As a recap, if you have questions that aren't answered in this article, chances are they are answered in the two 2026 Competition Updates articles written earlier in the year:

The MLP 2026 Draft also set a record-setting tone for the season. If you want the full context on how rosters were built, start there.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the MLP 2026 season start?

The MLP 2026 regular season kicks off with MLP Dallas, the first of five regular season events each team will play. The Mid-Season Tournament in July follows, with all teams participating.

How does the MLP 2026 season point system work?

Teams earn points based on where they finish at each event, ranging from 25 points for first place down to 1 point for fifth in pool play. Finishing sixth in pool play earns zero points, making every match high-stakes.

Which teams have the toughest draw in the MLP 2026 season?

The Columbus Sliders face the steepest early challenge, drawing Dallas, New Jersey, Orlando, and Phoenix in the first event while also missing Parris Todd due to suspension. That is as difficult an opening stretch as any team in the league faces.

What changed with the MLP 2026 season venues?

San Diego and Newport Beach have swapped roles in the schedule. San Diego now hosts Regular Season Stop #7, while Newport Beach serves as the second round of the 2026 playoffs, reversing their positions from the 2025 season.

How many events do MLP teams play in the 2026 season?

Each team plays five regular season events plus the Mid-Season Tournament in July, for a total of six events before the expanded playoff bracket begins.