Less than a year after opening its doors for the first time to the public, the St. Pete Athletic Club is hosting its first Major League Pickleball (MLP) event. 

Graham D’Amico, known as one of the owners of the Florida Smash in MLP, a co-host on the Bad Calls Pickleball Podcast, is also a co-founder of St. Pete Athletic. If you read the club’s About section, D’Amico and Rueben Pressman were co-founders of the venue. They quickly brought on Jarrett Sabatini and Nathan Stonecipher to make a very well rounded hospitality group to run St. Pete Athletic. 

St. Pete is the fifth stop of the 2026 MLP season. Recaps of the first four stops:

One extremely unique feature of the MLP St. Pete event is there is only one court – Championship Court. At other venues, there is a Championship Court and a Grandstand Court. Since this only has one court, the play has been extended an extra day. Play begins 11am ET on pickleballtv on Wednesday, June 17. Pool play occurs Wednesday – Saturday, with the usual Super Sunday finals.

Let’s take a look at the pools

Pool A

Brooklyn Pickleball TeamChicago SliceFlorida SmashLA Mad DropsUtah Black Diamonds

Pool B

Columbus SlidersMiami Pickleball ClubOrlando SqueezePalm Beach RoyalsSt. Louis ShockTexas Ranchers

Of note, the Utah Black Diamonds and Miami Pickleball Club switched pools approximately three weeks before play at St. Pete begins.

 

If your company is interested in reaching an audience of active pickleballers, you may want to give us a shout.

Tice’s Top Five Matches to Watch

Wednesday – 12:30pm – Texas Ranchers vs. Palm Beach Royals

Texas and Palm Beach are 6th and 7th respectively, in terms of points per event – they are both looking to push for a top four seed, but this early event matchup could go a long way in determining who leaves St. Pete with big points

Wednesday – 6:30pm – Miami Pickleball Club vs. Orlando Squeeze

Dylan Frazier recently got traded to Miami in exchange for Nico Acevedo and Dylan played for Orlando for the majority of the last two seasons – Is Miami able to pull off an upset in Florida, or is Orlando going to come away with points?

Thursday – 6:30pm – Chicago Slice vs. Utah Black Diamonds

Utah and Chicago are both hovering right around the playoff mark (top 12) – Chicago is 11th and Utah is tied for 12th in terms of points per event – these two teams are realistically trying to fight for third place in the group and this one has big implications on that race

Saturday – 9am – Texas Ranchers vs. Columbus Sliders

Columbus is playing Hurricane Tyra Black in her first event with the team after a blockbuster trade for Danni-Elle Townsend – If the Sliders want to earn significant points from this event, they are circling this matchup on their calendar

Saturday – 3pm – St. Louis Shock vs. Columbus Sliders

St. Louis is the prohibitive favorite in Pool B, but the Ranchers and Sliders may have something to say about that – this matchup could determine who wins the pool and who comes in secondWeather Outlook

The weather is going to be inconsequential – all play is indoors!

How to Watch MLP St. Petersburg & Broadcast Schedule

Sunday, June 21

All day on MSG Network 10AM ET – 6PM ET (Local)Team by Team Quick GlancePool A

Brooklyn Pickleball Team

Roster: Riley Newman, Christian Alshon, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher, Chris Haworth, and Hannah Blatt

Chicago Slice

Roster: Hunter Johnson, Zane Navratil, Jamie Wei, Mari Humberg, Jalina Ingram, and AJ Koller

Florida Smash 

Roster: Travis Rettenmaier, Martina Frantova, Cason Campbell, Paula Rives Palau, Chris Crouch, and Zoey Weil

LA Mad Drops

Roster: Ben Johns, Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto, Max Freeman, Gabe Joseph, and Samantha Parker

Utah Black Diamonds

Roster: Etta Tuionetoa, Connor Garnett, Allyce Jones, Tama Shimabukuro, Victoria DiMuzio, and Tyler LoongGroup B 

Columbus Sliders

Roster: Andrei Daescu, Parris Todd, CJ Klinger, Hurricane Tyra Black, Alex Crum, and Judit Castillo

Miami Pickleball Club

Roster: Dylan Frazier, Yuta Funemizu, Estee Widdershoven, Isabella Dunlap, Clayton Powell, and Rika Fujiwara

Orlando Squeeze

Roster: Federico Staksrud, Lacy Schneemann, Milan Rane, Jack Sock, Alex Walker, and Yates Johnson

Palm Beach Royals

Roster: Sofia Sewing, Tyson McGuffin, Dekel Bar, Tina Pisnik, Tammy Emmrich, and Grayson Goldin

St. Louis Shock

Roster: Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio, Kate Fahey, Elsie Hendershot, and John Lucian Goins

Texas Ranchers 

Roster: Eric Oncins, Lea Jansen, Layne Sleeth, Nico Acevedo, Matthew Barlow, and Marcela Hones