We dig into the new three-year extensions, the shift toward prize-money-driven earnings, how MLP and PPA now run in distinct seasons, and the bigger vision: turning millions of doers into viewers with bigger moments, bigger purses, and a more premium product for fans and players alike.
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0:00 Intro – Connor Pardoe, CEO of PPA & MLP
2:00 Early Life
6:40 Marriage young, Mormon culture, and family values
9:57 First time playing pickleball with his dad
12:28 Family life with two sets of twins
14:39 Early career in real estate development
15:55 First tournaments and falling in love with pickleball
18:39 Atlanta event and first exposure to pro pickleball
20:22 Founding the PPA Tour – napkin math and early vision
23:39 Launching Mesa with $50,000 prize money
27:35 Leaving real estate to go all-in on pickleball
31:12 Signing Ben Johns and legitimizing the PPA
35:18 Partnering with Tom Dundon – equity, not cash
41:20 Scaling up operations and rapid growth
46:21 Meeting Tom Dundon at 26 and early PPA expansion
47:19 Enter Steve Kuhn and the birth of MLP
50:05 Early meetings, team pickleball tension, and exclusivity battles
52:13 VIBE league launch and celebrity owners lined up
55:57 Kansas City chaos – player contracts and the tour wars explode
1:01:22 Locking in Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns saves the PPA
1:07:56 Why unification ultimately helped the sport
1:12:56 New contracts – guarantees plus prize money
1:17:39 Turning doers into viewers – growing the fan base
1:20:00 The future of pro pickleball and closing thoughts
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