Palm Beach Royals unite MLP and Champions Series under one umbrella

Palm Beach just gained a new kind of pickleball draw. The Palm Beach Royals announced Palm Beach Royals Champions after acquiring and integrating Boca Surge, creating what the club says is the first example in pro pickleball of an Major League Pickleball franchise and a Champions Series team operating under one umbrella.

That matters far beyond a logo change. Palm Beach Royals owner Zach Hunter has cast the move as a structural shift for the sport, tying the fast-moving MLP side to the veteran circuit that has spent the last few years building its own identity, audience and competitive stakes. For South Florida, it is a clear bid to turn Palm Beach into a year-round destination where elite players, 40-plus, 50-plus and 60-plus divisions, and traveling fans can all land in the same market.

The timing lines up with a broader league reset. Major League Pickleball announced its partnership with Champions Series Pickleball on March 26, 2026, and said the circuit, formerly the National Pickleball League, was established in 2022 as the first professional pickleball league for the 50+ age group. Under the new structure, CSP events will be rebranded as MLP Champions Series, with monthly events scheduled in July, August, September and October 2026, plus an October championship.

That calendar gives the sport something it has often lacked outside the biggest MLP stops: a predictable senior schedule that can anchor travel. MLP also listed tentative overlap points with Chicago from July 23-26 and the MLP Playoffs in Dallas from Aug. 6-9, which means fans and sponsors will be able to stack trips, media coverage and activation windows across both leagues instead of chasing separate circuits.

The Palm Beach move adds another layer. The Royals were announced as an expansion franchise on Aug. 1, 2025, when MLP said Zach Hunter and Taylor Meyer of Hyperspace Ventures had bought the team at a record-high valuation. Later reporting placed the purchase price at $16 million. PR materials have described the Royals as Palm Beach’s first major professional sports team and MLP’s 20th franchise, and the team is listed by MLP as a Premier Level club for the 2026 season.

For retreat planners and pickleball travelers, the practical read is simple: South Florida is becoming easier to justify as a base. A single market now concentrates high-level competition, senior pro programming, recognizable ownership and a growing calendar of events, which should help keep players, coaches and sponsors moving through Palm Beach and Boca Raton instead of splitting their trips across multiple destinations.