Top 3 overall storylines:

• Will the Big Apple = Clown Town? The 5s are the overall favorite again this weekend as they bring the swagger of back-to-back event wins to town. 

• Can Brooklyn win their Group, at home, and earn their way into their first Super Sunday battle for the belt? They will be the favorite in Group B. 

• How many trades will happen after the publishing of this story? It’s fitting MLP is in NYC as it is like the floor of the Stock Exchange right now.

Storylines per team competing in New York: 

Group A:

Chicago Slice: A new look lineup is expected for the Slice this week if their trade plans get finalized - how will they utilize their new personnel? They currently sit within the top 12 to earn a spot in the playoffs -  will they still be there after this weekend? 

Las Vegas Night Owls: Out goes Blaine Hovenier, in comes Clayton Powell. It’s Roscoe and the youngsters: Powell (who played well for Miami) and Braden Jacobson. What will the lineups look like? And will they continue to play all 3 women (Callie Smith, Zoey Wang, and Liz Truluck)? Wang returns from a great showing at PPA Tour Asia in Beijing with 2 silvers and a gold. 

New Jersey Fives: Expect the Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson destruction tour to continue in the Big Apple. They are undefeated and looking dominant. Can the gents find some chemistry as they are just 9-8 on the season? Despite the men’s doubles performance, the 5s wore the belts in Columbus and Austin.  

SoCal Hard Eights: Took advantage of their group and played their way into the 2 vs. 2 matchup in Austin, earning a much needed 12 standings points. Cailyn Campbell on the left in women’s has shown signs of future dominance as she fills that alpha role. How will young Will Mackinnon play in the Big Apple? He could be the key to another weekend of double digit points for the dice.

Texas Ranchers: Will have to deal with the absence of Layne Sleeth as she is out after a freak accidental injury while playing volleyball with teammates and Ranchers personnel in Austin. Look for them to acquire a veteran to play next to Lea Jansen this week. Eric Oncins and Nico Acevedo have gotten better and better (now 8-4 together) and will have to be outstanding to drive the club to Super Sunday.  

Group B:

Bay Area Breakers: Acquired big Blaine Hovenier in a trade, sending Luc Pham out. So how do they deploy Pablo Tellez, Len Yang, and Hovenier? Yang grabbed a gold in Beijing in mixed last week. And will we see more of the youngster Ella Yeh, or will Mya Bui and Genie Erokhina get most of the action? The Breakers need a big weekend to get back in the playoff mix. 

Brooklyn Pickleball Team: Two events and two 3rd place finishes. So a consistent start but oh so close to beating the LA Mad Drops in St. Petersburg (had game points in 3 of the doubles matches but lost 3-1). The resurgent Riley Newman is a great sign for this team to complement the 9-2 start for Jackie Kawamoto and Rachel Rohrabacher. Expect the home town crowd to make a difference and potentially propel them up a notch in the Super Sunday matchups. 

Carolina Hogs: 3 events and just 2 points on the season for the Hogs who have revamped their lineup since the start of the season. Will we see Michael Loyd in doubles? Can Nicole Conard and Abbi Hatton find some chemistry in women’s? Is this the week they make Super Sunday?

Dallas Flash: Can we get Alix Truong some more closet space for all of her jerseys? Yet another trade for her. And this time, ironically, back together with Danni-Elle Townsend who she played with, ironically, in Dallas for the Columbus Sliders. They went 4-1 for the Sliders in women’s so where does that leave Brooke Buckner? JW Johnson is the key to lift this team up the Group standings after earning zero points in Austin. 

Florida Smash: Tears and tarps off for Travis Rettenmaier in St. Pete and then he was waived with Connor Mogle added. The Smash will not have their raucous cheering section in NYC so how will they fare in their quest to stay in the playoff hunt?

Palm Beach Royals: The ladies were diamonds all week in St. Pete, going undefeated vs. the likes of Bright/Fahey, Rohrabacher/JK Kawamoto, and Black/Todd - can they duplicate in NY? Casey Diamond shows up, hits two ESPN SportsCenter worthy Top 10 shots, and is now a permanent member of the team for 2026. He was picked up on waivers while Grayson Goldin was placed on IR. With Dekel Bar questionable at best for this week in NY can Diamond and Tyson McGuffin hold up their end of the bargain to at least a top 2 finish in this group? 

Marquee matchups: 

Group B: Palm Beach Royals vs. Brooklyn Pickleball Team (Saturday 6/27,  1 pm ET) : This is a rematch of the 2 vs. 2 matchup from St. Pete which saw the Royals women win convincingly but that was their only win in the match. Can the gents (and the McGuffin/Pisnik mixed pairing) find improved chemistry in their second event with this personnel? Watch out for the impact of home cooking in Brooklyn as they desperately want to play for a belt as the hosts. 

Group A: Texas Ranchers vs. New Jersey 5s (Saturday, 6/27, 2:30pm ET): Expect the 5s to be up 1-0 with the indomitable Waters/Johnson team leading the charge. But, the Rancher’s gents have a good chance to pull even and put visions of an upset or at worst a DreamBreaker into the clowns’ minds. And then, anything can happen.