Jamie Foxx’s Company Files Trademark Application for “PICKLEBALL ENTERTAINMENT LEAGUE”
We are not quite sure this qualifies as news, but pickleball seems to love celebrities so we figured we would share this piece of information as it has potential to spill into the pro realm. Jamie Foxx’s company, Foxxlife Productions, recently filed a trademark application for the mark “Pickleball Entertainment League.” The filing was first reported by Trademark attorney, Josh Gerben, via Twitter on December 2nd, but the story did not gain any media traction that. A helpful reader directed us to Gerben’s tweet.
We do not have any information beyond what is in the filing itself. What is interesting about the filing is that it indicates Foxx may have plans to create a pickleball league as well as an associated production company, amongst other things. You can read the full filing here.
Jamie Foxx is probably the highest profile celebrity that has truly jumped on the pickleball bandwagon. He has been photographed playing at local courts, he has recently constructed a pickleball compound in his backyard, he has associations with the Best Paddle company and he was featured in a Bet MGM commercial that involved the playing of pickleball by Barry Sanders.
Although the league aspect of the trademark filing is interesting, the more noteworthy aspect could be on the production side of things, with Foxx being an A-list Hollywood superstar. We have heard of other major celebrities filing for pickleball related trademarks, such as Serena Williams, with no further action having taken place at this point. For Jamie Foxx, this could be a situation similar to Serena Williams where he is simply getting trademarks in place. However, given that Jamie Foxx appears to be all-in on pickleball, we are legitimately curious if he has serious plans to do anything in the near future. With the filing including a name, Pickleball Entertainment League, you could infer it is more likely that there is something in the way of more specific plans.
Of course, the question arises as to whether this means Foxx will be part of any of the still to be announced ownership groups for Major League Pickleball. Then again, with Foxx’s trademark application suggesting a new pickleball league could be in the cards, does he have bigger plans beyond just owing a team in a currently existing pickleball league?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or email us at nmlpickleball@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook too!
Cool! Maybe it will be celebrity pro-ams with structure, similar to what we saw a couple months ago in north Texas with Isner, Nowitzki, etc.,
Good thought!
Thank you for posting. I hope he creates a great league that offers better player perks and winnings. Maybe it’s time for a player’s union. Maybe it will conflict with PPA mandatory matches and those contracted players won’t be able to play (again).
David J brings up a good point. MLP says their players can’t play in any other league. So if this PEL gets off the ground, it’ll be different players, assuming it’s just not celebs or non-pros. You never know – could be some kind of reality tv show/league as somehow drama finds its way onto the court with all the -gate. Maybe Foxx needs to get behind the Rettenmeir show-down match.
Maybe it’s another Vibe-like strategy for Foxx to leverage more out of MLP :). It be hilarious if every couple weeks someone just threatens to start a team play league
That would be hilarious!
Hard to say at this point
Player’s union is probably necessary
Is a players union necessary? Prize money is going up in big increments each year, there are more paid spots for more pros at more venues.
This is in spite of the facts that no tour even appears close to not losing piles of money. James Ignatowski said as much in his recent interview on the Feels Right podcast — there is nobody watching, there’s nobody attending, only betting holds hope of solvency in the future, otherwise the leagues are going to have to shut down.
So what great advantage are unions going to bring? A bigger slice of a non-existent pie?
Maybe an “Association? not a “Union”. Some way to get players input before setting up tournament schedules, rule changes etc.?? Just a thought.
(Sort of) off topic. What are you folks hearing about a new player-organized senior MLP-type league? Some rumors:
* 6 players per team.
* 6 dates in 2023.
* $40k payout per event.
* Exclusivity?
* Dayne has formed a team.
Is there a place to post off-topic comments?