Premier Lacrosse League

Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is an American professional field lacrosse league, composed of 8 teams.[1] The league's inaugural season debuted on June 1, 2019, and included a 14-week tour-based schedule taking place in 12 major-market cities.[2] The league was founded by the American professional lacrosse player Paul Rabil and his brother Mike Rabil. Investors include The Chernin Group, The Raine Group and Joe Tsai.[3]

Premier Lacrosse League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023 Premier Lacrosse League season
SportField lacrosse
Founded2018
FounderMike Rabil and Paul Rabil
Inaugural season2019
No. of teams8
Countries United States
 Canada
HeadquartersEl Segundo, California
Most recent
champion(s)		Waterdogs LC
(1st title)
Most titlesWhipsnakes LC
(2 titles)
TV partner(s)ESPN
ABC
ESPN2
ESPN+
Official websitepremierlacrosseleague.com

Founding

In September 2018, Bloomberg reported that Paul Rabil would be launching a new professional lacrosse league. The PLL would be a direct competitor to the more established Major League Lacrosse. The new league will provide professional lacrosse players with salaries, health care, and league equity.[4]

The league's media model radically differs from that of most North American professional sports leagues. A 2018 Sports Illustrated story on the then-prospective league pointed out that LeBron James' Instagram account "features virtually no clips of him playing basketball—those are the property of the NBA, meaning its owners." By contrast, the PLL open-sources its highlights, allowing players to freely use them to build their own personal brands. Additionally, PLL operates a full-time studio that produces other player-centered content.[5]

The PLL features eight teams, each with a 26-player roster. As opposed to tying teams to a specific market, the league tours 12 different "major market cities". The season includes 14 weeks, comprising 10 regular-season weekends, 1 all-star weekend, and 3 playoff weekends, running from June 1 through September 21, assuring there is no overlap with the NCAA Lacrosse or National Lacrosse League seasons.[6]

By October 2018, 140 players had been signed by the PLL. Of the 140 players are 86 All-Americans, 25 members of the U.S. national team, and 10 former Tewaaraton Award winners.[7][8] By December the league had signed 17 additional players.[9]

Draft

For the League's inaugural season, the PLL had the 6 founding teams draft a player in each of the 4 rounds. For the first round there was a random draw and the reverse the order every round. Archers had the first draft pick in the newly formed league, taking Pat Spencer making him the first player ever drafted in the PLL.[10][11]

Media and business partners
Further information: Premier Lacrosse League on television

The league had an exclusive media rights agreement with NBC Sports Group,[12][13] until 2022, when the league signed a new media rights deal with ESPN.

PLL on TV
Year Channel Games Aired
2019

NBC

NBC 3
NBCSN 16
NBC Sports Gold All
2020

NBC

NBC 4
NBCSN 13
NBC Sports Gold All
2021

NBC

NBC 4
NBCSN 17
Peacock All
2022

ESPN

ABC 3
ESPN 3
ESPN2 6
ESPN+ All
2023

ESPN

ABC 8
ESPN 2
ESPN2 6
ESPN+ All
PLL College Draft
Year Channel
2019 NBCSN
2020 NBCSN
2021 NBCSN
2022 ESPNU
2023 ESPNU

IMG Academy is the official Preseason Training Facility.[14] Champion is the exclusive footwear and apparel brand.[15] Capital One will be the official bank sponsor for the entire PLL and the jersey patch sponsor for the Atlas LC.[16] In February 2020, Ticketmaster signed a deal with the PLL to become the official ticket sales company of the league, as well as having their name added to the league's name, making it "Premier Lacrosse League Powered by Ticketmaster".[17] The PLL has an exclusive partnership with DraftKings, covering betting on the league's matches.[18] The league also partners with Gatorade, as the beverage company acts as one of the league's founding sponsors.[19] On July 22, 2021, HEX Performance was named the 'official laundry partner' of the PLL.[20]

Teams
Team Joined Head Coach
Archers Lacrosse Club2019Chris Bates
Atlas Lacrosse Club2019Mike Pressler
Cannons Lacrosse Club2021Sean Quirk
Chaos Lacrosse Club2019Andy Towers
Chrome Lacrosse ClubTim Soudan
Redwoods Lacrosse ClubNat St. Laurent
Waterdogs Lacrosse Club2020Andy Copelan
Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club2019Jim Stagnitta

Expansion
PLL Progression
Year Teams Games played
2019 6 teams 10 games
2020 7 teams group play
2021 8 teams 9 games
2022 10 games
2023

2020

The addition of the Waterdogs Lacrosse Club, a seventh team for the 2020 season, allows for natural bye weeks to occur for each team throughout the season. Paul Rabil first hinted at expansion in a post game interview after the 2019 Championship game and on January 1, 2020, the Premier Lacrosse League announced the Waterdogs identity.[21] An expansion draft took place on February 12 and an entry draft occurred on March 16 to build the new roster with veteran players.[22]

2021

On December 16, 2020, it was announced that the PLL and MLL had merged under the banner of the PLL. The PLL would add the Boston Cannons for the 2021 season, rebranded as the Cannons Lacrosse Club, to bring the total PLL teams to eight.[23] Small tweaks to the former Boston Cannons branding resulted in a PLL crest and logo reveal on January 12, 2021.[24]

2022

In July 2022, Ticketmaster tracked a 38% growth in tickets purchased and attendance. The PLL also announced the approved Series D round of funding for the league which was being led by return investor The Chernin Group (TCG). Other investors include Blue Pool Capitol, Brett Jefferson, WWE, 35V, Kevin Durant, Rich Klieman, Wheelhouse Entertainment, and Pomp Investments.[25]

2023

On December 12, 2022, the PLL announced a new mini event, the 2023 Championship Series, which took place in late February 2023 at The St. James indoor stadium in Springfield, Virginia.

Four top teams from last season competed: Archers LC, Atlas LC, Chrome LC, and Whipsnakes LC. They played with 12-man rosters (10 position players and 2 goalies). Each team played three round-robin games from Wednesday, February 22 through Friday, February 24 to determine seeding for the semifinals on Saturday, February 25. The winners advanced to the PLL Championship Series game on Sunday, February 26.[26]

Rules: Games were played in a "fast-paced Olympics format" and sixes-style game play with four 8-minute quarters on a smaller 70-by-36-meter field. It combined box lacrosse with field lacrosse, which featured a 13-yard, 2-point arc. There was a 30-second shot clock for each team's possession. Instead of taking face-offs after goals are scored, goalies restarted play immediately with a clear.

The games were broadcast on ESPN2 and streaming on ESPN+ with the Championship game on ESPNU.

The PLL Championship Series champions were Chrome LC who defeated the Atlas LC in the final 24–23.[27]

Despite his team just coming up short, Atlas midfielder Romar Dennis took home the Golden Stick Award for scoring 34 points, including 15 two-point goals.

Championship history
Season Champions Score Runner-up Venue Location Attendance Game MVP
2019 Whipsnakes LC 12–11 (OT) Redwoods LC Talen Energy Stadium Chester, PA 12,556 Matt Rambo
2020 Whipsnakes LC 12–6 Chaos LC Zions Bank Stadium Herriman, Utah No Fans (COVID-19) Zed Williams
2021 Chaos LC 14–9 Whipsnakes LC Audi Field Washington, D.C. 16,322 +/- Blaze Riorden
2022 Waterdogs LC 11–9 Chaos LC Subaru Park Chester, PA 14,000 +/- Michael Sowers

Awards
Main article: List of Premier Lacrosse League awards

Hall of Fame

On February 15, 2022, the Premier Lacrosse League announced the inaugural class of the Professional Lacrosse Hall of Fame. In order to be eligible for selection, a player must:

  • Be retired from professional play for at least three years
  • Have played five seasons in MLL/PLL
  • Be nominated by a member of the Hall of Fame committee and receive a 75 percent majority vote

The inaugural class was:[28]

Attack

Midfield

Defense

Goaltender

Specialist

Paul Rabil announced Ryan Boyle as the first member of the 2023 class during a broadcast on February 22, 2023. The remainder of the 2023 class will be announced on March 23, 2023.

References
  1. PLL (July 22, 2022). "The Premier Lacrosse League shows growth across core channels through All-Star Break". Premier Lacrosse League. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  2. DaSilva, Matt (October 22, 2018). "Paul Rabil's Premier Lacrosse League Launches". US Lacrosse Magazine.
  3. Soshnick, Scott (February 12, 2019). "Rabil's Lacrosse League Gets Investment From Alibaba Billionaire". Bloomberg. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  4. Soshnick, Scott; Boudway, Ira (October 22, 2018). "Wall Street's Lacrosse Fraternity Backs Rabil's New League". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  5. Reiter, Ben (November 16, 2018). "Can a New Barnstorming, Player-Centric Lacrosse League Serve as a Template for Other Sports?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  6. "NBC Sports Group, Paul Rabil launch Premier Lacrosse League" (Press release). NBC Sports. October 22, 2018.
  7. "Premier Lacrosse League Announces 140-Plus Player List". Inside Lacrosse (Press release). October 22, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  8. Jastrzembski, Chris (October 22, 2018). "Premier Lacrosse League introduced: Players, media deal, funding all announced". College Crosse. SB Nation. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  9. "PLL Announces 17 Additional Players to League Roster". Inside Lacrosse (Press release). December 6, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  10. "The Original 6: Previewing the PLL's Inaugural Rosters". www.usalaxmagazine.com. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  11. "PLL announces expansion draft, entry draft and college draft details". Lacrosse Playground. February 2, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  12. "New Pro Lacrosse League". Barstool Sports. September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  13. Foy, Terry (October 22, 2018). "PLL Announcement". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  14. "IMG Academy Named Official Preseason Training Facility of Premier Lacrosse League". Premier Lacrosse League (Press release). April 9, 2019.
  15. "adidas & Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) announce groundbreaking partnership" (Press release). Adidas. April 10, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  16. "Premier Lacrosse League announces Capital One as league's Official Business Banking Partner". Premier Lacrosse League (Press release). June 7, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  17. Soshnik, Scott (February 27, 2020). "Premier Lacrosse League Adds Ticketmaster Name in Rights Deal". Bloomberg.
  18. "Premier Lacrosse League & DraftKings Announce Sports Betting Partnership for PLL Championship Series". Premier Lacrosse League. July 16, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  19. Premier Lacrosse League [@premierlacrosse] (August 12, 2019). "We Are Excited to Formally Announce Gatorade as a Founding Partner of the Premier Lacrosse League! As the Leader in Sports Fuel, Gatorade Will Provide PLL Athletes with a Portfolio of Products to Provide Fuel, Hydration and Recovery to Play Their Best on Game Day" (Tweet). Retrieved February 27, 2021 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. "HEX Performance Named the Official Laundry Partner of the Premier Lacrosse League". July 8, 2021.
  21. Pickman, Ben (January 1, 2020). "How the PLL Developed Its First Expansion Team, Waterdogs Lacrosse Club". Sports Illustrated.
  22. DeJohn, Kenny (March 16, 2020). "Premier Lacrosse League Entry Draft Results". US Lacrosse Magazine.
  23. Turner, Nick (December 16, 2020). "Premier Lacrosse League Merging With Rival in Bid to Unify Sport". Bloomberg News. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  24. "Premier Lacrosse League Unveils New Logo, Branding for Cannons LC". US Lacrosse Magazine. January 12, 2021.
  25. PLL (July 22, 2022). "The Premier Lacrosse League shows growth across core channels through All-Star Break". Premier Lacrosse League. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  26. "Championship Series 2023".
  27. "Premier Lacrosse League Stats".
  28. "PLL Announces Inaugural Class of Professional Lacrosse Hall of Fame". www.usalaxmagazine.com. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
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