NML Pickleball Podcast Ep. 6 – Is the Tour War Finally Over? Ft. Lea Jansen
We are back this week with another special guest. Following the big announcement of the merger between the PPA and MLP, Lea Jansen joins the podcast to discuss the fallout from the latest chapter in the Tour Wars.
You can watch the episode on YouTube, and listen to it on either Spotify or Apple!
0:27 Lea Signing With MLP
8:10 PPA Big Money
11:08 MLP Trust
21:39 Player Boycott in Atlanta?
25:10 MLP/PPA New Leadership
32:22 MLP’s Lack of Continuity
38:26 Rafa Hewett’s Revolutionary Idea
40:42 Pros Getting Paid
49:50 MLP Atlanta Predictions
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Thank you for your time and posting. Too bad so many players put their thoughts into wishing instead of actions creating a players’ union. I wish Lea was as professional on the courts as she is on podcasts.
Presently, there is NO professional pickleball sport. There are pickleball pro players, but the sport itself is not a pro sport and won’t be until all the organizations work together.
It is so interesting how money creates attitude. Lea never mentioned 401k, time off, trust, etc. How much is all that worth? Oh, now, it’s worth nothing it seems.
Tyler Loong estimated the travel expenses alone were worth $60,000.
A big number. He noted he was on the pricier side
One pushback we’ll say is she definitely mentioned the time off. And the issue on trust with MLP now is what people are concerned about
Getting Leah was a scoop. She is absolutely straightforward, clear and authentic. I haven’t always agreed with her, but so what? She is not afraid to show personality and that is an asset to pro pickleball. Wonder if MLP as an organization will attempt to make things right with some of the players who left tons of money on the table; and if it does, whether it is done publicly or quietly.
That’s why we asked her to come on. She was gracious enough to oblige and never told us not to ask anything
Lea interview was very straightforward and interesting. I like her honesty. My question is how do they pick what pool the teams play in? Weird the three top drafts are in the same pool.
It’s supposed to be a random lottery for picking the teams
This is the first time all year that Ben and Anna Leigh have been put in the same MLP pool. The San Clemente final was the only time they’ve even played each other in MLP so far.
And they have Tyson vs Tyler in the pool. Here’s an easy way to look at the groups. https://airtable.com/appuc3FpJJaJoMbVD/shrnqf4KMl62IbNQo
The timestamp around 21:39 caught my attention most — the Atlanta boycott question feels like the real undercurrent of this whole merger story, because when players start organizing around collective leverage, that’s usually a sign the community is maturing into something more sustainable than just a content machine for sponsors. Lea’s perspective on MLP trust is fascinating to me, especially since according to the Sports Business Journal, pro pickleball player compensation was still significantly lagging behind comparable emerging sports leagues as recently as mid-2023, which makes the “pros getting paid” conversation at 49:50 not just a money discussion but genuinely a dignity one. I’ve been following the tour wars pretty closely and what gives me actual hope isn’t the merger paperwork itself — it’s that players like Lea are publicly naming what they need, which is a different kind of power than any ownership structure can grant or take away. What’s your read on whether the new leadership has shown any real signal that player input will be structurally embedded going forward, or does it still feel like goodwill dependent on whoever happens to be in the room?