Dallas Flash win back-to-back MLP titles at Chicago Week 8 event

Major League Pickleball (MLP), presented by DoorDash, visited the Windy City this past weekend for the 8th of nine events in the whirlwind 2026 regular season. The action followed a dramatic trade deadline day that saw two league favorites make massive moves in pursuit of this season's title, as teams begin to wrap up their 2026 campaigns.

How to Follow the Action

Livestreams from the primary courts are available on MLP’s YouTube channel and PickleballTV.com. Additional data-centric links are provided at the bottom of this recap.

• MLP Chicago Week 8 Event Home Page
• League Standings
• Team/Player Stats
• MLP 2026 Schedule
• Rosters for the 20 Premier League Teams

Transaction Recap & Player News

The final trade deadline and waiver period moves, along with in-depth analysis of their impacts, were covered in a separate post late last week.

• Trade Deadline/Waiver No. 5 Move Breakdown
• MLP Official Trade Deadline Transaction List
• MLP Official Waiver Period Moves

Premier League Group Stage Match Recap

Day 1 Observations

• Dallas opened the weekend still riding high from their win in San Diego. They dominated in gender doubles to take a 2-0 lead over Las Vegas, then squeaked out both Mixed matches 11-9 for the 4-0 sweep.
• Chicago’s young lineup surprised the veteran Atlanta team out of the gate, sweeping gender doubles. Atlanta ground back in both Mixed matches, but the youthful Slice dominated the DreamBreaker 21-13, dampening Atlanta’s recent run. This result would ultimately serve as the group tiebreaker, sending Chicago to the 3rd place game.

Day 2 Observations

• With Riley and Rachel both on part-time duty, the Brooklyn subs were put into action. California’s new-look team pushed Brooklyn the whole match, losing 3-1 but with several extra-time games along the way. This match would prove to be the deciding factor for 1st place in the group.
• Chicago sat its leader Navratil in favor of bench player and super-sub Koller, who led his young teammates to a surprise win over Las Vegas, severely damaging LV's playoff chances.
• Texas was missing their talisman Eric Oncins. His replacement, Rafa Hewett, did just enough to get his team to the DreamBreaker. There, however, Miami was too tough, and Texas could not recover after going down early. Miami secured the shock win over the group contenders, which would become the tie-breaker in the group, sending Miami to the 3rd place game — a major boost in their late playoff push.

Day 3 Observations

• Oncins returned, but it did not matter as California shocked the group favorites Texas and put themselves firmly into playoff contention with a DreamBreaker win.
• Utah showed a little life against Chicago, securing a win but not enough to escape the group cellar and avoid playoff elimination.
• Brooklyn sat its players for much of its final group match against Texas, the most anticipated match of the group, having already secured their position.