Major League Pickleball, the team-based U.S. pickleball league that merged with the PPA Tour to form the United Pickleball Association last year, has named UPA Chief Strategy Officer Samin Odhwani as its next commissioner.
Odhwani, previously Manager of Global Strategy & Innovation at the NBA and VP/Strategy for Kevin Durant’s 35V and Boardroom, has worked across the PPA and MLP as CSO since January -- and will retain that title in his new, expanded role. He was also the GM of the MLP team in which Durant is invested, the Brooklyn Aces, from mid-2023 until this February.
Assuming MLP commissioner duties adds governance of all aspects of MLP’s on-court competition, as well as its business model and content distribution strategy, to his purview.
“Having worked at the NBA, or investing with KD, seeing [MLS Commissioner] Don Garber and [NWSL Commissioner] Jess Berman (through 35V’s investments in the Philadelphia Union and Gotham FC) -- the commissioner role has to touch both,” Odhwani said of competition and business considerations. “Do I have 22 team owners who are my best friend and call at any day or time of night to say, ‘Hey, I want to talk about rules?’ Yes, of course. At the same time, it’s the balancing act of, ‘Where’s the business going?’ What the successful commissioners have done is nail both parts.”
Odhwani is technically MLP’s second commissioner -- Brooks Wiley was its first, serving from 2021 until late 2023 -- but the first whose duties will encompass both competition and business. His appointment also fills MLP’s vacant CEO role, which Bruce Popko vacated last August.
At the top of his agenda, Odhwani said, is raising awareness around the league and its talent, and upcoming media rights negotiations. MLP’s national (ESPN, Fox, Tennis Channel) and local (Gray Media, FanDuel Sports Network) pacts on the latter front each expire after the 2025 season, which runs April to November.
“We have a blank slate for ’26, which is fun,” he said. “Because then the puzzle pieces come together.”
Odhwani -- based in Dallas, where the UPA is headquartered -- will continue to report to UPA CEO Connor Pardoe in his capacity as CSO, while, as MLP commissioner, he will report to the league’s board (as Pardoe also owns MLP’s Utah franchise).
