This year, three major updates are being introduced: the adoption of side-out scoring, the addition of four waiver periods at the Premier level, and the introduction of a brand-new “Home Court Advantage” rule.
While the first two changes have attracted considerable attention, the third—the Home Court Advantage—is quietly expected to make a significant impact on how matches are played.
The season kicks off Thursday at the USTA National Campus, with all Premier level teams competing over four days. Here's a closer look at the new home court rule and how it changes the game.
What Is the Home Court Advantage Rule?
According to the official 2025 MLP Rules Guide, teams designated as the “home” side for a match must submit their complete lineups—covering men’s doubles, women’s doubles, both mixed doubles teams, and the DreamBreaker—by 10 PM local time the night before the match.
Importantly, home teams will also have access to their opponents’ lineups before finalizing their own.
This new rule provides home teams with a critical strategic edge. By seeing their opponents’ setups in advance, they can adjust their pairings and tactics to create favorable matchups. The away team, on the other hand, won’t have that luxury.
How It Differs from 2024 Rules
In the 2024 season, a pre-match coin toss determined who would get to react to certain aspects of the lineup, such as mixed doubles pairings and the DreamBreaker lineup.
Teams took turns making four key decisions: reacting to mixed doubles, setting DreamBreaker lineups, choosing which team served first, and selecting court sides. The coin toss winner picked first, with the remaining choices alternating between teams.
Most teams prioritized reacting to their opponent’s mixed doubles lineups, as it allowed them to control the matchup and potentially secure a win before the DreamBreaker.
If a team was ahead 2-0 after the gender doubles, they could arrange their stronger mixed pair against the opponent’s weaker pair to close the match in regulation.
Now, with the home team having the right to adjust both mixed doubles and DreamBreaker lineups, their chances of creating advantageous matchups increase dramatically—offering a clear benefit before play even begins.
Scheduling and Distribution of Home Matches
Each team in the 2025 season will play 25 matches spread across five of the ten regular-season events. That leads to an uneven distribution of home and away matches—some teams will play 13 home games while others will have only 12.
This wasn’t a major issue in 2024 when the home/away designation didn’t carry much weight. But with the new rule in place, even a single extra home match can offer a team a notable competitive edge.
Additionally, not all teams will have equally challenging schedules. For instance, based on the average win percentage of their past and future opponents, the New Jersey 5s have the easiest schedule this season, while the Columbus Sliders face the toughest road.
In 2024, New Jersey made the playoffs, whereas Columbus ended near the bottom of the table—further reinforcing how the schedule can affect performance.
Although MLP has chosen not to release individual team schedules in advance this year, it remains to be seen how much influence this new home court dynamic will have across the season.
But one thing’s clear: in 2025, being the home team could make all the difference.
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