Premier Lacrosse League

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 25-player roster.[6] 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 season or the National Lacrosse League regular season.[7] On May 25, 2023 it was announced that the PLL would be assigning home cities to teams for the 2024 season. The PLL also announced that they would not be ending the touring model and there would still be 10 regular-season weekends. Eight of the weekends would be played at a teams home city where the hosting team plays a doubleheader and the remaining two weekends will be played at a neutral site.[8][9]

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.[10][11] By December the league had signed 17 additional players.[12]

All players selected in the PLL college draft are given three-year contracts, all but the top-four selections are given $25,000. The first overall pick receives $30,000, second overall receives $28,500, third overall receives $27,500, and fourth overall receives $26,000. [19]

The first free agency period for the PLL took place prior to the 2023 PLL season from March 6, 2023 to April 1, 2023.[21] Following the PLL season, players are given the opportunity to opt out of their current contract if they were on the active roster(21-man roster) for less than 30% of games the previous season. If that player does not sign with another club by the end of the free agency period, they return to their original team.[22]

If a player has not appeared on a team's 21-man active roster for three consecutive weeks the player was eligible to play, the player may be claimed by any team.[23]

When a player is released by their club, they enter the player pool; other teams will have one week to claim the player before the player enters free agency.[24]

• " * " indicates Championship Season

The addition of the Waterdogs Lacrosse Club, a seventh team for the 2020 season, allowed 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.[39] An expansion draft took place on February 12 and an entry draft occurred on March 16 to build the new roster with veteran players.[40]

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.[41] Small tweaks to the former Boston Cannons branding resulted in a PLL crest and logo reveal on January 12, 2021.[42]

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.[43]

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.

The 2023 Championship Series featured the top four teams from the 2022 season. Those being: Whipsnakes LC, Chrome LC, Archers LC, and Atlas LC. They played with 12-man rosters (10 position players and 2 goalies) using modified lacrosse-sixes rules. 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.[44]

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.[45]

Atlas midfielder Romar Dennis won the Golden Stick Award.

On May 25, 2023 it was announced that the PLL would be assigning home cities to teams beginning with the 2024 season. Voting for the finalists began on June 3, 2023, and the 26 finalists were announced during the 2023 PLL All-Star game. The finalists were selected through a mix of fan-voting, customer data, ticketing performance, and venue availability. The PLL also announced that they would not be moving away from the touring model. Teams will continue to play on ten regular season weekends, two of which will be played at neutral sites, the other eight of which will be hosted by one of the teams. On the weekend a team hosts, they will play a doubleheader. [8][46][47][9] Following the 2023 season the PLL announced that home cities would be assigned in November of 2023. [48]

Prior to the beginning of the season the PLL hosts a "training-camp" where each team begins with a 30-man roster. By the end of training camp each team is required to have a 25-man roster. Training camp consists of individual and multi-team practices, as well as scrimmages between the teams.[49]

The PLL regular season consists of 10-weekends where games are played. Halfway through the season there is an all-star break where the exhibition all-star game is played as well as other all-star skills challenges. The PLL utilizes a touring model and plays at a different location each weekend. Prior to the 2023 PLL season it was announced that the PLL would be assigning home cities to teams while still utilizing the touring model. Each team will host one weekend where they play a doubleheader. The remaining two weekends will be played at a neutral site.[8][9]

The PLL postseason consists of a 7-team single elimination tournament. Only one team does not qualify for the postseason. The top-seed receives a bye into the semifinals. All three quarterfinals games are played on the same day at the same location. The same is true for the semifinals.[50]