Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) Sports, long known for its groundbreaking impact on tennis, is making moves in the world of pickleball. Under the leadership of CEO Mark Leschly, UTR Sports has made significant strides in reshaping how the sport is experienced and organized at social, recreational and competitive levels.
“We really started this journey in pickleball in 2023,” Leschly told Pickleball Union. “That was when we started to say, ‘Look, can we construct something that can innovate and support the industry and improve upon it?’”
UTR is coming off a strong year. The 125-person company, known for its industry-leading tennis rating system, invested heavily into the technology behind its level-based pickleball rating algorithm. And it paid off, as UTR Pickleball (UTR-P) became the official technology partner of USA Pickleball and the Association of Pickleball Players (APP).
Here, Leschly shares more about the UTR-P difference and what’s next for 2025 and beyond.
Simplifying Complexity with Smart Tech
Pickleball’s rapid growth and diverse player base have introduced unique challenges, particularly in creating systems that cater to all levels of competition. According to Leschly, the sport’s inherent complexity has been a key focus out of the gate. “The way that this sport was designed from the start, with the number of divisions, with the layers, with the draws—from a technological perspective, it’s been really fascinating to see the complexity of it all.”
UTR Sports’ efforts in 2024 have revolved around technological innovation, aiming to address these challenges and elevate the game’s infrastructure from the community level up.
“This was really a huge year to invest in technology. Now we’re going to keep perfecting it and tweaking it. We think we’ve built something second to none that can really help provide the technological base to improve the experience,” Leschly said.
Hear more straight from Mark himself in our recent interview:
Making Pickleball More Inclusive
One of the pillars of UTR Sports’ vision for pickleball is level-based inclusivity—making the sport accessible to players of all skill levels while maintaining fairness and objectivity. To achieve this, the company has leaned heavily on data science, creating a rating system that continues to evolve.
“It’s all about lighting up cohorts of data,” Leschly noted. “As we ingest more results, we’ll keep tweaking and perfecting the system. We’re committed to building a fair, objective rating system that makes the experience better for everyone.”
UTR-P’s system incorporates provisional ratings based on simple questionnaires and self-reported scores, making it easy for players to get started and find accessible new players, groups and tournaments that align with their skill level.
Moreover, the platform allows local organizers to run events tailored to their communities, from competitive tournaments to casual socials.
“Our job is to put capability into the hands of the local organizer who knows his or her group. Whether it’s an uber-competitive group of 70 players or a drop-in social on Friday night, we’ve made it super easy to sign up, get a score, and build your rating over time,” Leschly emphasized.
DUPR Vs. UTR—The Ratings Debate
You can’t talk pickleball ratings systems without talking DUPR, and Leschly has no problem confronting the comparisons. In fact, he embraces them.
“A rating system is a means to an end, it is not the end,” he said. “It is a means in which we can calibrate how good you are or where you fall in the ecosystem, so you can have a good experience and a fair experience.”
The ecosystem is the key here. By entering the UTR orbit, you’re constantly being checked and re-checked against your competition, a system that’s designed to safeguard against player manipulation. After all, what good is “level-based play” if anyone can simply lie about their level?
One other differentiator, Leschly noted, is the cost. “We’re never going to charge for our rating.”
Fair, Accurate, and Always Improving
UTR Sports is focused on ensuring that its rating system is fair, objective, and continually refined based on constant data flow and analysis. “We’ve spent close to $80 million building our platform,” he explained. “Is it possible to build a very accurate, objective system in pickleball? Yes. Is it going to take time to perfect it? Yes.”
Time is on UTR-P’s side, as pickleball’s popularity only continues to surge.
And while perfection is in the eye of the beholder, Leschly is confident. “We have the resources, the team, and the experience to do it.”
Empowering Local Organizers
Beyond the ratings, UTR Sports wants to improve how pickleball events are organized. By providing easy-to-use tools for event management, the company empowers local organizers to create engaging and inclusive experiences. Whether it’s a high school tournament, a college campus event, or a casual game at your local courts, UTR’s technology enables seamless coordination and participation.
“The more we can proliferate, getting really easy tools out into the hands of organizers, that’s our business,” said Leschly.
After a year spent on technological innovation, he’s excited to see that progress out in the world. “Now it’s all about, ‘Hey, how do we now get it out there? Put it into the hands of people? Help people build their local communities with the tool set that we’ve enabled them with to create better experiences?” Leschly explained.
Its recent acquisition of PicklePlay, a platform optimized for finding nearby courts and organizing games with skill-matched players, is a promising start.
“This partnership,” Pickleball Union reported earlier this month, “is a huge win for local pickleball communities, promising exciting new features in 2025 that will make the sport more accessible and engaging for everyone, from casual players to serious competitors.”
A Bright Future for Pickleball Ratings
UTR Sports’ efforts in pickleball are starting to mirror the success it has achieved in tennis, where its platform is used by over 95% of college coaches for recruiting and competition management. Pickleball has a long way to go before it’s fully saturated at the high school and collegiate sports levels, but its traction at the community level is undeniable.
Already, said Leschly, they’re seeing strong adoption on the platform across junior levels, clubs and high schools.
And UTR’s experience brings with it some perspective surrounding its rating system and others. As Leschly stated: “All a rating is intended to do is just figure out what level you’re at so you can have a good experience. Let’s not over-hype it. At the end of the day, we’re here to innovate the sport and help people have better experiences, make it more inclusive, more fun.”
The Technology Question
Opinions abound when it comes to technology, algorithmic ratings, and the brands being built to support players. But after our interview with Mark Leschly, one specific message—nay, attitude—stood out.
He remarked, “A rating system is a means to an end—it’s about creating better experiences and making the game more inclusive and enjoyable.”
This observation is not only apt but also invites us to take it a step further. Good technology supports its users, helping them achieve their goals by integrating seamlessly into their experience. Great technology, however, becomes invisible—an innate companion that fades into the background, allowing players to focus entirely on their game and goals without distraction.
So perhaps this is the best way to judge which rating system is truly the best:
Which rating system gets out of its own way—and out of the players’ way—to seamlessly blend in and support the pickleball experience in 2025 and beyond?
With that question in mind, we’ll check back next year to see how the technology evolves and which system rises to the occasion.
