The US pro pickleball scene is in the spotlight with the MLP tour asking their players to accept a proposal to slash salaries by 40%.
The news was first broken by MLP tour professional Jillian Braverman who took to Twitter to announce the request for players to accept a reduction in salary.
The move seeks to reduce players’ work days from the currently agreed 200 to 120, a 40% reduction that would be matched by a proportional reduction in salary.
An email sent to players and later obtained by CNBC states:
“We have carefully studied the economics of the business and determined that certain changes need to be made to ensure a sustainable and viable business that will not only survive but thrive in 2024 and beyond for the benefit of all stakeholders,
“You would be free to monetize the other 245 days on the annual calendar any way you choose – with 100% of any earnings on those days going to you.”
The league also announced a cut to event-related and operational costs for 2024, alongside a huge change at the top, with league commissioner Brooks Wiley parting ways with MLP.
“We have parted ways with Brooks Wiley, MLP Commissioner, effective today. We appreciate Brooks’ contribution to MLP and the sport of pickleball and wish him success in the future”, the email sent to players read.
The league confirmed these changes to CNBC but declined to comment further at this time.
This follows hot on the heels of the October resignation of the league’s founder, Steve Kuhn, meaning the original leadership of the fledgling league are no longer involved moving forwards.
The once-rival PPA tour, which is set to merge with the MLP, has also requested their professionals take pay cuts, and top PPA pros Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters have both confirmed they have accepted six-figure reductions in pay.
The PPA cuts are, unlike the MLP cuts, mandatory and will consist of voluntary cuts taken by the players of between 25-40%.
Speaking to Pickleball.com, Johns explained his decision to accept the pay cut:
““Yes, I’m taking a pay cut, but if it’s for the good of the sport overall, I’m for it,” said Johns. “I think we all knew the recent contract increases were massively overpaid and not likely to be sustainable. If we grow responsibly, we’ll get there eventually.”
The two tours were paying their stars $15m per year, an eye-watering amount for a fledgling league, and it has proved to be unsustainable.
MLP players have also been informed that if they do not accept the new terms, they will be able to play only in MLP events and not on the PPA tour.
They will also be placed in a ‘development program’, which will see their work day obligations filled by clinics, camps and appearance requirements, alongside the MLP events.
Those who do consent to the reduction will be guaranteed to appear in 10 ‘slots’ at PPA tour events in the next year.
The move is unsurprising to many after the dramatic ‘tour wars’ between the MLP and PPA tours, sparked when then MLP chief Steve Kuhn made a series of huge contract offers to top PPA pros on the condition they played exclusively on the MLP tour.
This caused a flurry of enormous deals to handed out, which is how the two tours came to have a wage bill of $15m.
Reaction from professionals on the tour has been mixed, with Braverman questioning the move.
The league MVP and champion took to X to suggest the players “leverage collective bargaining”, and questioned potential “collusion/anti-trust issues” with the proposal.
Other players were more accepting of the move, including two-time MLP champion Thomas Wilson, who believes players are still paid “more than fairly even with the cuts”.
Speaking to CNBC, he said: “I think most of the players seem to be on board with moving forward together to make it all work for everyone.”
