Just hours before tonight's Major League Pickleball Premier Level Draft (6p ET, livestreamed on MLP's YouTube Channel), Riley Newman has announced that he's back on the PPA Tour, meaning he'll be playing both MLP and PPA in 2024.
On his Instagram story, he wrote:
"🚨UPDATED CONTRACT🚨 I'll be back! Catch me competing on the @ppatour & @majorleaguepb! 2024 Season: 9 PPA's & All MLP Events 💪"
This is great not only for fans of Riley Newman but also for fans of pro pickleball. It wasn't that long ago that Riley chose to leave the PPA Tour and commit only to play MLP events.
In retrospect, we should've maybe seen this coming. Newman was spotted at PPA headquarters last week.
The PPA Tour Continues Collecting Players
CEO Connor Pardoe and the PPA Tour are collecting pro pickleball players left and right. Just Monday, we reported on their successful negotiations with the "Johnson 5."
And last week, we reported the PPA Tour's signings of premier APP Tour players:
- Hunter Johnson
- Yates Johnson
- Alix Truong
- Roscoe Bellamy
- Craig Johnson
Jason Flamm
Stay Tuned – We Might Not Be Done Yet
Was Riley Newman the last domino to fall before tonight's MLP Premier Level Draft or will we see more players either drop out at the last minute or put their name in the hat for the upcoming 2024 MLP season?
Stay tuned, pickleball fans.
