Major League Pickleball Taps Owl Ai To Automate Line Calls And Challenges For 2026 Season

Major League Pickleball (MLP) and Owl AI have announced a partnership headed into the 2026 season.

Owl AI is bringing artificial intelligence to line calling in Major League Pickleball. The system will sit behind standard cameras to make judging decisions.

In contrast to expensive hardware systems used in other sports (like Hawk-Eye in tennis and football, among others), the Owl AI platform leverages advanced generative AI and computer vision to analyze video, delivering human-level accuracy in judging and data analytics.

As a 100% software-based solution, Owl AI will integrate with existing MLP broadcast cameras.

Line calls have been a recurring problem in professional pickleball since... professional pickleball began. Players making their own line calls has been an issue in the sport and has been a topic of conversation among pros and on pickleball podcasts.

Owl AI has most recently been involved with the 2025 Aspen X Games. The X Games used the technology that is now known as Owl AI to experiment with AI judging.

"We are thrilled to partner with Major League Pickleball, a league that shares our vision for the future of sports technology," said Josh Gwyther, CEO of Owl AI.

"Our AI platform is built to deliver the speed and accuracy that a fast-paced sport like pickleball demands. This partnership will not only enhance the integrity of line calls and challenges for players but will also create a more engaging and transparent experience for the millions of fans watching."

About Owl AI

Founded in May 2025, Owl AI very recently started operations. In fact, Forbes announced in June that the company had raised $11 million in a seed round. The investors included S32, Menlo Ventures, and Susa Ventures.

Executives

Jeremy Bloom founded Owl AI, and is the Executive Chairman. He is best known for his skiing prowess, having won a Gold medal for Team USA in 2003 in the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships. He also played college football at the University of Colorado and was drafted in the NFL in 2006, by the Philadelphia Eagles.

After his athletic career, Bloom has worked in sports and the tech industry, leading to him being named the CEO of the X Games in December 2024.

Josh Gwyther is the CEO of Owl AI. Gwyther left his position as Head of A.I. Solutions Architecture at Google to join Owl in June 2025.

The partnership between Owl AI and MLP seems to be perfect timing.

Owl AI is coming into the pro pickleball world at a time when line calls are an issue at the top level. This partnership seems to be a huge step toward having perfect line calls all the time in Major League Pickleball. We will first see the new technology in action when the 2026 Major League Pickleball season gets underway in May 2026.

Boiling Point: Pro Pickleball’s Line Call Problem Needs to be Addressed

There was another incident of poor line calls at the PPA Orange County Cup in a men’s doubles match between Etienne Blaszkewycz/Callan Dawson and Connor Garnet/Travis Rettenmaier. This article focuses on what the problem and what some possible solutions are.

The Dink PickleballErik Tice