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Eva Longoria Among High-Profile Investors in Major League Pickleball’s 12 New Teams

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Eva Longoria is getting in the game…

America’s fastest-growing sport continues to attract high-profile investors from entertainment and sports, including the 47-year-old Mexican American actress, director and producer, following this week’s announcement of Major League Pickleball ’s 12 new teams for 2023.

Eva LongoriaLongoria is among a roster of investors in the clubs that includes Kevin Durant, Heidi Klum, Michael Phelps and Tom Ricketts.

“The diversity in the backgrounds and expertise of our fantastic new owners is an incredible asset as we aggressively expand Major League Pickleball to reach more fans than ever,” Brian Levine, the interim MLP CEO, said in a statement on the news. “We always say pickleball brings people together, and this roster of leaders from across a wide variety of industries is a strong testament to that philosophy.”

Last month, MLP merged with Tom Dundon’s rival Professional Pickleball Association, which had just announced the launch of the VIBE Pickleball League with Mark Cuban as its first team owner.

The move allowed MLP to expand to 24 teams with six events and $5 million in prize money for 2023. It had eight teams and one event in 2021. Each team will feature two men and two women. MLP added casual dining chain Margaritaville as a title sponsor last week.

The newly announced teams drafted their co-ed rosters Monday night and will start at the Challenger Level in 2023. The 12 previously existing teams, whose cap tables include LeBron James, Drew Brees and Tom Brady, will start at the Premier Level.

Last week, those teams drafted the top 48 pro pickleballers. The two sets of teams will then swap leagues for the second half of the 2023 season and have a re-draft with the combined season results determining a team’s level in 2024. The 2024 season will feature promotion and relegation between the two levels with the Premier Level the higher tier.

The newly announced ownership groups showcase pre-existing ties. The D.C. Pickleball team is made up largely of existing investors in Liga MX Club Necaxa, including Al Tylis, Sam Porter, Longoria, Justin Verlander, Kate Upton and Mesut Ozil.

D.C. had the first pick in the draft and choose 10-time ATP Tour titlist Sam Querrey, who recently retired from tennis.

Miami has attracted investments from Naomi Osaka and her agent Stuart Duguid, who launched their own agency, Evolve, this year. Evolve’s only other client, Nick Kyrgios, also invested, as did Alex Cohen, who serves as a financial advisor to Osaka and, launched his own firm, Heights, in 2021 after more than a dozen years at Main Street Advisors. Chicago’s team features four women’s tennis Grand Slam champions, including Chris Evert.

Kevin Durant and his longtime business partner, Rich Kleiman, will own the team in Brooklyn through their venture fund 35V. The expansion fee for Durant’s franchise was $1 million, and fees for other recent franchises were at and exceeded $3 million, according to multiple sources familiar with the deals who were not authorized to speak publicly about them.

“This is not about simply writing a check, it’s about finding the right strategic partners to help us grow MLP and the entire sport of pickleball,” Anne Worcester, MLP’s strategic advisor and a board member, said in an email in October.

The Sports & Fitness Industry Association dubbed pickleball the fastest growing sport, with participation up 39% between 2019 and 2021. The sport’s governing body, USA Pickleball, says there are 4.8 million pickleball players in the U.S. and more than 10,000 locations to play, including nearly 800 added in 2021.

NEW MPL TEAMS/OWNERS

Atlanta Bouncers: Anheuser-Busch

AZ Drive: Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Phelps, Devin Booker, Dierks Bentley, Robert Gary, Doug Hirsch, Sheila Gulati, John Merwin, Sam Frakes, Mark Dalton and Richard J. Schnall

Bay Area Breakers: Jeremy Lin, Mimi Mercado, David Mercado, Geoff Nguyen, Stacey Nishi, Jeff Nishi, Wayley Louie and Kathleen Louie

Brooklyn Aces: Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s 35V

Chicago Slice: Ron Saslow’s 35 Capital, Heidi Klum, Tom Ricketts, David Justice, Doug Ellin, Chris Evert, Lindsay Davenport, Tracy Austin, Gigi Fernández, David Dobrik, Joe Bonamassa, Ted Foxman and Steve Bellamy

Columbus Pickleball Club: David Kass and Doug Ulman

Dallas Pickleball Club: Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki, John Isner, Robert Herjavec, Chandler Parsons, and Todd Wagner

D.C. Pickleball Team: Al Tylis, Sam Porter, Eva Longoria, Justin Verlander, Mesut Ozil, Kate Upton, Shawn Marion, Rip Hamilton and Matt Walsh

Miami Pickleball Club: Naomi Osaka, Nick Kyrgios, Patrick Mahomes, Rich Paul, Darius Garland, Mardy Fish, Alex Davis, Alex Cohen, Stuart Duguid, The Palm Tree Crew, Prakash Amritraj, Matthew Pritzker, Mark Ein, Romie Chaudhari and Swimmy Minami

Texas Ranchers: Tim Klitch, Dan Ferreri, Bryan Sheffield, Kit Sheffield and Richard Veitenheimer

Utah Black Diamonds: The Pardoe Family

Valhalla Volleys: To be determined

Rodriguez to Appear on NBC’s “Running Wild With Bear Grylls”

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Michelle Rodriguez is running wild…

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican-American actress and Fast and Furious star will appear on Season 2 of NBC’s Running Wild With Bear Grylls.

Michelle Rodriguez

Rodriguez, a self-confessed tomboy, will join famed survivalist Bear Grylls for two days for a one-on-one adventure to be filmed for the popular summer adventure series. No word yet on Rodriguez’s exploration.

Along with Rodriguez, other actors and athletes appearing in Season 2 include Kate Winslet, Kate Hudson, Drew Brees, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed Helms, James Marsden and Michael B. Jordan will also join Grylls for an episode, according to the network.

Each of the actors and athletes will partner with Grylls for two days for a one-on-one adventure, tackling everything from skydiving to repelling as they journey through some of the world’s most unforgiving wildernesses.

This season will take viewers from the jungles of Panama to the far reaches of the Italian Alps and then to the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the Red Rocks of Utah.

Romo & the Dallas Cowboys Still in the Playoff Hunt Despite Loss

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Despite a heartbreaking loss to the New Orleans Saints, Tony Romo still has one last chance to lead the Dallas Cowboys to the playoffs.

Garrett Hartley‘s winning 20-yard field goal in overtime on Sunday propelled the Saints past Cowboys by a final score of 34-31. But the game turned out to be meaningless to America’s Team’s postseason hopes.

Tony Romo

Despite the Cowboys loss in a third straight game decided on the final play, the New York Giants 33-14 loss against the Baltimore Ravens later Sunday left Dallas in essentially the same position. Beat the Washington Redskins in next weekend’s finale and the Cowboys go to the postseason as NFC East champions.

“Even if we would have won today, we would have needed that game next week obviously,” said Dallas’ 32-year-old Mexican American quarterback, who threw for 416 yards and four touchdowns, including a 19-yarder to Miles Austin that tied the score with 15 seconds left in regulation.

For the third time in five seasons, Dallas (8-7) can get to the playoffs by beating a division rival on the final day of the regular season. The Cowboys lost such games to the Giants last New Year’s night and to Philadelphia in 2008.

“I welcome that challenge,” said Romo. “I think we’ve improved in some areas since those two years.”

With just 1:29 remaining in the game, the Cowboys pulled within a touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Romo to Dwayne Harris. Romo led the Cowboys 64 yards in seven plays, capped by the tying toss to Austin, who caught the ball on his knees in the end zone. It was Dallas’ third overtime game in the past five at home.

“There was no panic,” said Saints quarterback Drew Brees. “It was almost like we knew the game would come down to something like this. We just wanted that opportunity and the defense gave it to us.”

Romo also had a pair of 58-yard scoring passes to Dez Bryant, who had a career-high 224 yards receiving. Romo was 26 of 43 and broke his own franchise record for passing yards in a season. He has 4,685.