The Premier Lacrosse League continues to grow in popularity along with the sport as a whole. Lacrosse will return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1908 when the United States hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics.
As for now, the PLL held its Championship Series from Feb. 14-19 at The St. James complex in Springfield, Va. The tournament featured the Sixes format — a faster-paced, more compact version of lacrosse that features six players on the field for each side rather than 10. The same format will be used at the Olympics.
It’s one of many methods PLL co-founder Paul Rabil is exploring to continue growing the game.
“We built our Championship Series in anticipation of getting into the Olympics, which was announced last October,” Rabil said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 14. “That’s why we did Sixes. It’s a version of the game I think is the most exciting and most understandable for a non-lacrosse fan because it’s just like [basketball], back and forth.”
The Championship Series features the PLL’s top four 2023 regular-season teams and can be seen across ESPN networks. The PLL continues to grow in almost every aspect, from viewership to ticket sales to social media, but Rabil has his sights set much higher.
“We’ve built a sustainable model, but I’m not satisfied. I want to become a top-five team sports league in North America,” Rabil said.
The PLL’s regular season uses a touring model that features 10 regular-season weekends, eight hosted by the league’s teams and two at neutral sites. Rabil, a 38-year-old former professional lacrosse player and Johns Hopkins alum, said the tour-based model made sense for both optimizing costs and maximizing audience size.
The Boston Cannons became the league’s eighth team in 2021 shortly after a merger with Major League Lacrosse under the PLL umbrella. Late last year, each team was paired with a home market, and as the PLL looks to expand further, Rabil envisions teams eventually moving into their own venues.
“From a business standpoint, we are still touring because it’s been advantageous for us,” Rabil said. “But now that our eight teams have home cities, you could anticipate a future where they own venues, we joint venture with other league owners on venue ownership and those teams end up in markets for a traditional home-and-away schedule.”
The PLL plans to create the feel of a home game for each host team this summer. The Maryland Whipsnakes, who have won two championships in five PLL seasons, will host a weekend at Homewood Stadium in Baltimore in August.
“We’ll be dressing up the venues as if it feels like the Maryland Whipsnakes stadium,” Rabil said. “That will look different than in years past where you come to a PLL weekend — now you’re coming to a Maryland Whipsnakes weekend.”
Rabil hopes to move into a home-and-away format before the 2028 Olympics, but the pace at which the league is growing could accelerate that process. Owners of MLB, NBA and NFL teams have reached out to the PLL expressing interest in owning a team, according to Rabil.
A big factor working in favor of the PLL’s expansion is that it is the top lacrosse league with the best talent in the world, so it isn’t facing the same challenges as Major League Soccer in that regard. The biggest challenge is building the sport as a whole, which Rabil plans on doing through increasing participation — something he has discussed with NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
“You’re three times more likely to buy a car if you test drive it,” Rabil said. “… That’s why we have [non-profit organization PLL Assists] that works with a number of community organizations, YMCAs, Boys and Girls clubs. We put goals on fields. We put sticks in hands. We want to get people familiar with the game, thereby more likely to watch it.”
Rabil studies strategies that other leagues have used, even the NFL and UFC, which continue to grow in popularity despite declining participation in contact football and mixed martial arts.
And it’s paying off. The PLL set record viewership numbers in the 2023 season. In four years, its players will be performing on the biggest sports stage in the world for people all across the globe to see.
“We will be expanding,” Rabil said. “It’s a matter of when versus if.”
For more from Rabil, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Premier Lacrosse League