Top 3 overall storylines in New York:

• Will the top two teams (Dallas Flash and St. Louis Shock) meet in the final in a clash for prize money and all-important points in the standings?

• Will either the Brooklyn Pickleball Team or the Columbus Sliders parlay scalding hot recent results into a run to the semis or farther (as the 4 and 5 seed they could play each other in the quarters)? 

• Rest or rust? Will teams who played in New York and/or San Clemente have an advantage over those who have had long MLP breaks in the schedule?

What’s at stake:

• The winning Premier team receives $50,000 total; 2^nd: $25,000; 3^rd: $12,500

• Additional standings points will be awarded and added to a team’s total: winner gets 6, second gets 4, and third gets 2. These additional points could have massive implications for playoff seeding. 

• Format: double elimination, with bronze the best result in the consolation draw. 

First round matchups: 

(1) Dallas Flash vs. (16) NY Hustlers

(2) St. Louis Shock vs. (15) SoCal Hard 8s

(3) New Jersey 5s vs. (14) Phoenix Flames

(4) Brooklyn Pickleball Team vs. (13) Atlanta Bouncers

(5) Columbus Sliders vs. (12) Carolina Hogs

(6) Los Angeles Mad Drops vs. (11) Miami Pickleball Club

(7) Texas Ranchers vs. (10) Chicago Slice

(8) Orlando Squeeze vs. (9) Utah Black Diamonds

 

 

 

 

 

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Notes for every Premier Team heading into the tournament, in order of their seed:

Dallas Flash (1^st seed):  Will Jorja Johnson (the #1 overall player to date in MLP) maintain her overall phenomenal play so the Flash remain unbeaten and grab another title?

St. Louis Shock (2^nd seed): Will the Shock live up to the hype as the most talented team and prove it with a win (they hold 4 of the top 5 spots in the individual player standings)?

New Jersey 5s (3^rd seed): As the defending Mid-Season Tournament Champion, will the Clowns use their 2024 experience as a springboard to a title? And will newly re-acquired Mari Humberg get in the lineup?

Brooklyn Pickleball Team (4^th seed): Can their ladies (Rachel Rohrabacher and Jackie Kawamoto) continue to lead the team to victories with the fellas in various states of disrepair (and Dekel Bar likely out again)?

Columbus Sliders (5^th seed): After two strong events in San Clemente and New York, the Sliders will be a very tough out – they went 19-1 in individual games in NY as they grabbed 15 standings points.  

LA Mad Drops (6^th seed): After finally finding lineup stability for a few events, will they be able to overcome a scrambled lineup again with Quang Duong out of this event?

Texas Ranchers (7^th seed): Will the big trade (Etta Tuionetoa to the Hogs and Kaitlyn Christian to the Ranchers) provide the desired results, especially in Dreambreakers? Note: Texas has not played since the trade. 

Orlando Squeeze (8^th seed): The Squeeze struggled in NY against teams above them in the standings – will their stay in Grand Rapids be short?

Utah Black Diamonds (9^th seed): Can this scrappy team pull off an upset in the tournament? They have wins this year over the 5s and the Brooklyn Pickleball Team. 

Chicago Slice (10^th seed): Can Vivian Glozman be the X Factor after being traded in for Vivienne David?

Miami Pickleball Club (11^th seed): Can this team regain some confidence in Michigan? They are 2-9 in their last 11. 

Carolina Hogs (12^th seed): The new look Hogs rose up the standings in NY, but their draw is not ideal, running into the Sliders in round 1 who beat them 4-0 in NY.  

Atlanta Bouncers (13^th seed): They haven’t played since June 1^st – will the Viv swap (David in, Glozman out) rally the team as David has yet to suit up for Atlanta since the trade?

Phoenix Flames (14^th seed): Team Showtime became Team Turmoil in San Clemente – can they find harmony to find one win along the way in Grand Rapids (and which players will be available)?

SoCal Hard 8s (15^th seed): The youth movement will gain valuable reps in Grand Rapids, but they will be huge underdogs in their first match vs. the Shock. 

NY Hustlers (16^th seed): Hustlers were hustled in the big apple, winning a single game in 5 matches. A first round match-up with the Flash will not be a confidence booster.

Challenger Bracket Top 3 storylines:

• Can the Las Vegas Night Owls lock down their position as THE team in Challenger and win the title?  

• Can the Nashville Chefs use their 5-0 clean sweep in NY and upset the Owls?

• Can either of the college teams added to the draw win a match? Florida Atlantic University (7 seed) and a group of college all-stars (8 seed) round out the bracket to form an 8-team field.

Premier Finals:

• Sunday, July 13th @ 2:30pm EST: Who will take the crown, the money, and the standings points?

Location/times:

• Belknap Park, Grand Rapids, MI. 

• Challenger play begins Wednesday with the Premier bracket starting on Thursday.  

• Play on Championship Court starts at 11am EST every day but Friday, which starts at 1pm EST.

• Catch the action on Pickleballtv.