Excitement levels went up another notch at the latest round of the Franklin Premier Pickleball League’s second season in Norwich last weekend.
Not only did the Premier, Challenger and Masters divisions hot up (with three teams ending the weekend with 100% records intact), but there was a buzz after the announcement of the PPL’s exciting new partnership with Channel 4.
The agreement will see 30-minute highlights of each PPL weekend made available on Channel 4’s Sport On Demand streaming service and YouTube channel and promoted on their social media accounts.
The partnership has come about through Optical Media UK, who have produced live streaming of the PPL since last season’s finale at Lee Valley. They conducted talks with Channel 4 on the PPL’s behalf.
After the conclusion of the Paralympic Games, which Channel 4 are currently focusing on, a 30-minute highlights package of last weekend’s action in Norwich will be made available on sport On Demand which will also feature player interviews and information about the rules, history and social and health benefits of pickleball.
(Optical Media did produce a highlights package from the PPL’s first round in Bolton but it is not yet known whether that will be shown. It is, however, available on the RAQT app)
PPL founder Ed Hares told Pickleball52: “Obviously Channel 4 have got massive reach so it’s a really good platform for us to show pickleball to a much wider audience than we’ve been able to capture before.
“So far, we’ve just managed to get the PPL out to a few hundred pickleball enthusiasts, so it will be really nice to get a large number of people watching who haven’t necessarily seen the sport before.”
Ed’s ultimate ambition is to get pickleball shown live on terrestrial TV (as well as just on-demand streaming services). “I appreciate that could be a while in the making but I spoke with Optical Media from the outset about that being the main goal,” said Ed. “We have discussed the various stepping stones that might take us there and they shared their experiences of how other sports have made that journey.
“Optical Media and Channel 4 recognise pickleball as a rapidly growing sport. They saw that we have a good level of players in the PPL but in our first season we didn’t necessarily have the best level of content. They were confident they could make a difference in that area and they really have succeeded.”
In Norwich, the Franklin Pickleball team (captained by Louis Laville) won both their fixtures, firstly beating the other previously undefeated team Pickleball United then conquering Thaddea Lock’s Skechers.
James Chaudry’s North London Storm, the defending champions, also won their two fixtures in Norwich and move up to second place in the Premier table. The top two play each other in the next round in Southampton in October.
In the Challenger division, The Kitchen Pickleball were top of the table on points difference but defeat to RAQT on a dreambreaker saw them lose their 100% record. RAQT also won their fixture against Thaddea Lock Pickleball so they now top the Challenger table by two points.
In the Masters, Rob Williams’ RW Pickleball won both their matches in Norwich and are now the only remaining unbeaten team with a maximum eight points. MCMX lies two points behind in second spot.
More info on the Franklin Premier Pickleball League here.
