MLP St. Petersburg has the kind of field that should make casual pickleball fans pay closer attention.
The event brings Major League Pickleball to Florida with a group that includes Brooklyn Pickleball Team, Chicago Slice, Florida Smash, Los Angeles Mad Drops, Utah Black Diamonds, Columbus Sliders, Miami Pickleball Club, Orlando Squeeze, Palm Beach Royals, St. Louis Shock, and Texas Ranchers.
That is a strong lineup, but the real reason to watch is not just the team names. It is the players inside the matchups.
This is a weekend where Ben Johns and Catherine Parenteau give the Los Angeles Mad Drops obvious star power. Riley Newman brings a proven doubles presence to Brooklyn. Andrei Dăescu gives Columbus a veteran force who has already won at the MLP level. Add in teams like St. Louis Shock, Texas Ranchers, Orlando Squeeze, Miami Pickleball Club, and Florida Smash, and St. Petersburg becomes less of a generic regular-season stop and more of a matchup-heavy event with real pressure.
The best part of MLP is that one big name cannot win the whole match alone.
Every team match includes women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and two mixed doubles games. If the teams split those four games, the match goes to a DreamBreaker, where all four players rotate through singles points.
That format puts every player under pressure.
A star can carry a game, but not the entire weekend.
Los Angeles Mad Drops Bring the Star Power
The Los Angeles Mad Drops are probably the easiest team for casual fans to understand because of the names attached to them.
Ben Johns is still one of the sport’s clearest measuring sticks. His game is not flashy in the way some younger players are flashy, but that is part of what makes him difficult to beat. He does not need chaos to win points. He wins through control, patience, pressure, and the ability to make the other side feel like every shot has to be perfect.
That matters in MLP because team matches can get emotional quickly. A missed return, a loose third shot, or a bad speed-up at 8–8 can swing a game. Johns usually gives his team the opposite feeling. He slows the match down. He makes the game feel more organized.
That is valuable.
Catherine Parenteau gives Los Angeles another proven presence. Her consistency in doubles makes the Mad Drops dangerous because she can absorb pace, stay steady through long points, and give mixed pairings a reliable foundation. In MLP, that matters just as much as highlight shots.
The question for Los Angeles is not whether the top-end talent is real.
It is whether the Mad Drops can win the games they are supposed to win and avoid letting matches drift into unnecessary DreamBreakers. When a team has players like Johns and Parenteau, opponents are going to hunt for any soft spot they can find. LA has to make sure there is not an obvious one.
Brooklyn Has Riley Newman, and That Changes the Match
Brooklyn Pickleball Team becomes more interesting because of Riley Newman.
Newman is one of those players who makes doubles feel uncomfortable for opponents. His style is different from the clean, traditional look of someone like Johns. Newman can win ugly points. He can crowd space. He can create awkward speed-ups. He can make opponents feel rushed even when the ball does not look obviously attackable.
That is exactly the kind of player who matters in MLP.
In a team format, not every game is about who has the highest ceiling. Some games are about who can make the other team play one more awkward ball. Newman is good at that. He can turn neutral exchanges into pressure and force opponents to make choices before they are ready.
That makes a potential Brooklyn matchup with Los Angeles especially interesting.
Johns wants control. Newman can create discomfort.
That contrast is the kind of thing that gives MLP its edge. It is not just two names on opposite sides of the net. It is two different ways of managing a doubles point. Johns is trying to make the match feel clean. Newman is trying to make it feel crowded.
If Brooklyn can drag LA into long, uncomfortable mixed doubles games, that matchup becomes much more interesting than it looks on paper.
Columbus Has a Real Weapon in Andrei Dăescu
Columbus Sliders are also worth watching because of Andrei Dăescu.
Dăescu brings a different kind of profile. He has already won in MLP, and his background gives Columbus a player who understands what team pressure feels like. That experience matters because MLP is not just a standard tournament bracket. The rhythm is different. The emotional swings are different. The pressure can move from one pairing to another quickly.
Dăescu gives Columbus a stabilizer.
In men’s doubles, he can hold his side of the court with size, reach, and experience. In mixed doubles, he gives Columbus someone who can manage pace and keep points from getting loose too early. That is important because a lot of MLP matches are lost when teams get impatient.
The Sliders do not need every game to be perfect. They need to keep matches close enough that their depth and experience matter late.
That is where Dăescu becomes important.
A player like him can be the difference between losing a game 11–6 and dragging it to 11–9 or 12–10. Those late points are where MLP weekends usually turn.
The Florida Teams Give the Event Extra Edge
Florida Smash hosting the event gives the weekend a local center, but the Florida angle goes beyond the host team.
Miami Pickleball Club, Orlando Squeeze, and Palm Beach Royals are also in the field. That gives the event a built-in regional feel. Fans do not need a long explanation to understand why those matches matter. Florida teams playing in Florida creates instant energy.
The most important thing for those teams will be the first two games of each match.
In MLP, women’s doubles and men’s doubles set the tone. If a team gets swept early, the mixed doubles games become survival mode. That is not where teams want to live over a full weekend.
Florida Smash, Miami, Orlando, and Palm Beach all need clean starts. Even a split after the first two games changes everything. It gives the mixed pairings room to play aggressively instead of desperately.
That is especially true in front of a local crowd. The longer a Florida team stays in a match, the louder the moment can feel.
St. Louis Shock and Texas Ranchers Are Measuring-Stick Matches
St. Louis Shock and Texas Ranchers are the kind of teams that can tell us how good the rest of the field really is.
Some matchups are about style. Others are about survival.
Against St. Louis, teams have to stay sharp because the Shock have enough MLP credibility that loose stretches can become expensive. A few bad points in a row can flip a game, and in this format, one flipped game can change the entire match.
Texas Ranchers bring a different kind of pressure. Texas has one of the stronger team identities in MLP, and their matches tend to feel bigger because of it. When Texas is involved, the pace usually matters. Opponents have to be careful not to get pulled into a match that becomes too fast too early.
That is the challenge against teams like St. Louis and Texas.
You cannot just show up with one good pairing and hope it carries the day. You have to win across the lineup. You have to manage the early games. You have to make good decisions in mixed doubles. And if the match gets to a DreamBreaker, every player has to be ready to take singles points.
That is what makes them measuring-stick teams.
If Brooklyn, LA, Columbus, or one of the Florida teams beats St. Louis or Texas, that result carries weight.
Mixed Doubles Will Decide the Weekend
The most important games in St. Petersburg will probably be mixed doubles.
That is usually where MLP gets honest.
Women’s doubles and men’s doubles can give a team momentum, but mixed doubles often decides whether a team is actually complete. It tests communication, spacing, shot selection, and the ability to handle pressure when the match starts tightening.
For Los Angeles, mixed doubles is where Ben Johns and Catherine Parenteau can become especially valuable. Both understand how to manage a point without rushing. That is huge late in games.
For Brooklyn, Riley Newman’s ability to create discomfort can swing mixed games if opponents get tight.
For Columbus, Dăescu’s experience gives the Sliders a steadying presence when points get longer and more physical.
The team that wins St. Petersburg may not be the team with the single best player.
It may be the team with the best second mixed pairing.
That is the sneaky part of MLP. The obvious stars get attention, but the match can turn on the player opponents decide to target. If that player holds up, the whole team changes.
DreamBreakers Are the Real Stress Test
If matches get to DreamBreakers, St. Petersburg could get chaotic fast.
A DreamBreaker forces all four players into singles rotations. That means there is nowhere to hide. Every player has to take points. Every matchup gets exposed. A team can have one dominant singles player and still lose if the other rotations bleed points.
This is where players like Ben Johns, Riley Newman, and Andrei Dăescu become even more interesting.
Johns brings control and point construction. Newman brings awkwardness and pressure. Dăescu brings size, reach, and experience. Those are very different tools, and DreamBreakers have a way of showing which tools hold up under stress.
For fans, that is the most exciting version of MLP.
A team match can feel controlled for four games, then turn into a completely different event in the DreamBreaker. Suddenly it is about first-strike ability, movement, nerves, and whether the fourth player on the roster can survive their rotation.
That is why every game before the DreamBreaker matters.
Teams do not want to leave it to chance, but fans absolutely do.
The Match to Circle
The matchup that feels easiest to circle is Los Angeles Mad Drops against Brooklyn Pickleball Team.
That one has star power and stylistic contrast.
Ben Johns and Catherine Parenteau give LA the cleaner, more controlled profile. Riley Newman gives Brooklyn the kind of doubles presence that can make a match feel messy in the best way. If Brooklyn can turn points into hand battles and uncomfortable exchanges, they can make LA work harder than expected.
If LA keeps the ball structured and avoids giving Brooklyn free momentum, the Mad Drops should be hard to handle.
That is the chess match.
Can Brooklyn disrupt?
Can LA stay clean?
That kind of matchup is exactly what makes MLP more interesting than a normal tournament preview. The players matter, but so does the order of the games, the mixed doubles combinations, and the pressure of the team score.
What to Watch Late in Games
The most important points in St. Petersburg will probably come around 8–8, 9–9, and 10–10.
That is where the difference between names and execution shows up.
Do players speed up the right ball? Do they trust their partner? Do they reset when they are under pressure? Do they attack because the shot is there, or because the moment feels big?
Those are the points that decide MLP matches.
The best teams do not just have talent. They make better decisions when the game gets tight.
That is why this weekend should be fun. With players like Ben Johns, Catherine Parenteau, Riley Newman, and Andrei Dăescu in the field, there are enough proven names to make the matches feel real. But the format still forces everyone else on the roster to matter.
That is the whole point of MLP.
Stars can shape the weekend.
Teams still have to win it.
The Takeaway
MLP St. Petersburg should be watched through the players, not just the standings.
Los Angeles has Ben Johns and Catherine Parenteau. Brooklyn has Riley Newman. Columbus has Andrei Dăescu. Florida Smash has the home spotlight. St. Louis Shock and Texas Ranchers give the field serious measuring-stick matches. Miami, Orlando, and Palm Beach add local energy.
The weekend should come down to doubles execution, mixed chemistry, and late-game pressure.
That is what makes this event worth watching.
Not a big-picture conversation about where pickleball might be in five years.
Just real players, real matchups, and the kind of tight games that show who can actually hold up when the score gets heavy.