Howdy. This is The Erne, the elevator of pickleball news. Our updates can help lift your pickleball knowledge to new heights, without the awkward elevator small talk.

Here’s what we've got today:

• Ohhh Canada 🇨🇦 

• Magnus Carlsen invests

• Pickleball coming to a mall near you

OHHH CANADA 🇨🇦 

Per usual, Canada is copying the United States when it comes to pickleball (just kidding…not really).

The Canadian National Pickleball League (CNPL) Launched back in February as Canada’s first professional pickleball league thus far. Similar to the US professional leagues, the goal is to not only showcase Canada’s top pickleball athletes but to continue fostering the amateur game with events, tournaments, ambassador programs, and more.

The league is gearing up for their draft, which is slated to take place on July 3rd, will see Canada’s top players drafted by one of the eight teams in the league.

Even Skechers is getting in on the Canadian pickleball madness by becoming the official shoe sponsor of the Pickleball Canada National Championship.

Hopefully sometime in the near future we can see the best US pickleballers battle it out against their Canadian counterparts. USA! USA! USA!

THE CHESS GOAT IS A PICKLEBALL INVESTOR

Many consider the game of pickleball to be like a game of chess, so it’s quite fitting the Magnus Carlsen, the GOAT of GOATs of the chess world, has invested in an MLP team.

For those who aren’t familiar, Carlsen has been the number 1 ranked chess player in the world for over a decade and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2013.

The team receiving the investment is the AZ Drive, whose other investors include 11 time NFL Pro Bowler Larry Fitzgerald, Olympics legend Michael Phelps, NBA All-Star Devin Booker, and country singer Dierks Bentley.

We tried really hard to figure out how to make a chess pun work, but we couldn’t do it. If anyone has one, please let us know.

PICKLEBALL COMING TO A MALL NEAR YOU

As most of you probably know, malls ain’t doing so hot in the United States these days. While they used to be a place for people to hang out, shop, and be merry, they are now largely a wasteland of a bygone era.

Some experts estimate that there is going to be 1 billion square feet of empty mall space soon, and many are wondering what is going to be done with that wasted space.

Enter pickleball. The sport is widely criticized by neighborhood Karen’s and tennis snobs who hate the sound and sight of pickleball. So, many are thinking through the potential for pickleball to take over the vacant space in malls across the country.

Companies are already looking into this possibility. The VP of leasing at Brookfield properties, which owns over 100 malls, says “Having a Pickleball court attached to a restaurant definitely makes sense. It’s about finding the right location in terms of space. But we are definitely interested.” And organizations like Pickleball America, which is building a 28 court indoor facility in a Connecticut mall, are already plunging headfirst into this mall transition.

WHAT’S COOKING IN THE KITCHEN

• DC MLP team showing out for the kids

• Jamie Foxx recovering with the help of pickleball

• Pickleball growth is insane 🤯 

THE PICKLE JAR

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