Premier Lacrosse League

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Premier Lacrosse League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023 Premier Lacrosse League season
200px
Sport Field lacrosse
Founded 2018
Inaugural season 2019
No. of teams 8
Countries  United States
 Canada
Headquarters El Segundo, California
Most recent champion(s) Archers LC
(1st title)
TV partner(s) ESPN
ABC
ESPN2
ESPN+
Founder Mike Rabil, and Paul Rabil
Official website premierlacrosseleague.com

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]

History

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 team's 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]

Differences from traditional field lacrosse

The PLL has a variety of major rule differences compared to traditional field lacrosse:[13][14][15][16]

  • A PLL field is shorter by 10 yards compared to traditional field lacrosse. Traditional field lacrosse is played on a 110-yard field with 80 yards separating the two goals, in the PLL the field is 100 yards with 70 yards separating the two goals. The field width remains at 60 yards.
  • In the PLL a two-point goal can be scored outside of the two-point arc. The arc is 15 yards at the top-center, top-left, and top-right portions, and is 13-yards at the corners.
  • There is a 52-second shot clock on possessions gained from defensive stops and other turnovers. When there is a shot and the offense retains possession the shot clock is 32 seconds. The shot-clock is 32 seconds on possessions gained from winning the face-off.
  • Field players are not required to wear shoulder pads.

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.[17][18]

In the years following the PLL has held a college draft each year and expansion drafts when necessary. The college draft order is determined via regular season standings with the team that was in last place the previous season receiving the number one overall pick.

Salary and free agency

As of 2023, the each PLL team has a salary cap of $735,000 which they must allocate at least 98% of each year, The minimum salary for each player is $25,000, this leaves around $100,000 to be allocated by each team over the minimum. [19] The average PLL salary has been estimated at $28,000, although the league itself does not release the number.[20]

Rookie contracts

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]

Free agency and other player movement

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]

Media and business partners

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Further information: Premier Lacrosse League on television

The league had an exclusive media rights agreement with NBC Sports Group,[25][26] until 2022, when the league signed a new media rights deal with ESPN. All PLL games are streamed on ESPN+ with select games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC.

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

The PLL has a variety of companies that they list as "Official Partners." They are listed below.

Champion is the exclusive footwear and apparel brand.[27] In 2022, it was announced that Champion would also be the PLL's on-field apparel partner with the first set of Champion created jerseys being worn for the 2023 season.[28]

The league partners with Gatorade, as the beverage company acts as one of the league's founding sponsors.[29]

In 2019, Cascade was announced as one of the partners for the PLL. All players wear Cascade brand helmets.[30]

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".[31]

On July 24, 2020, Progressive was announced as the official Home and Auto Insurance Provider of the PLL.[32]

The Steadman Clinic was the official healthcare provider and orthopaedic partner for the PLL during the 2021 season and have continued to be partnered with the PLL through the 2023 season.[33]

On May 27, 2021, Athletic Brewing Co. was named the official non-alcoholic beer of the PLL[34]

On March 16, 2022, VukGrip was announced as the official grip tape partner of the PLL.[35]

On June 3, 2022, the PLL's partnership with Cash App was announced. Cash App became the official cryptocurrency exchange, peer-to-peer payment technology, and investment/trading platform of the PLL.[36]

On June 16, 2022 it was announced that Vail Health’s Howard Head Sports Medicine would be the official physical therapy provider for the 2022 PLL season.[37] The partnership has continued through 2023.

On July 11, 2023, ReCreate by Charlotte's Web was announced as the official CBD of the PLL. [38]

The PLL also has a partnership with Epoch Lacrosse.

Teams

Current PLL teams
Conference Team Location Stadium Capacity Founded Joined Head coach
Eastern Conference Boston Cannons Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium 20,000 1 2001 2021 Brian Holman
Maryland Whipsnakes Baltimore, Maryland Homewood Field 8,500 2019 2019 Jim Stagnitta
New York Atlas Hempstead, New York Shuart Stadium 11,929 2019 2019 Mike Pressler
Philadelphia Waterdogs Chester, Pennsylvania Subaru Park 18,500 2020 2020 Andy Copelan
Western Conference California Redwoods San Jose, California PayPal Park 18,000 2019 2019 Nat St. Laurent
Carolina Chaos Charlotte, North Carolina American Legion Memorial Stadium 10,500 2019 2019 Andy Towers
Denver Outlaws Denver, Colorado Barton Stadium 3,117 2019*

(2006)

 2023 Tim Soudan
Utah Archers Herriman, Utah Zions Bank Stadium 5,000 2019 2019 Chris Bates

An asterisk (*) denotes the franchise moved to its present location and has been in one or more previous locations in its history (see franchise timeline below or team pages for relocation history).

Notes
1 Standard reduced capacity; can be increased


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Locations of Teams for 2024 Premier Lacrosse League Season, (West Division – red; East Division – blue)

Timeline


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
2024 To be announced

2020

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]

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

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.[43]

2023

Championship series

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Main article: Premier Lacrosse League Championship Series

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.

In November 2023, it was announced that the PLL would host another championship series in February 2024 also at The St. James indoor stadium in Springfield, Virginia.[46]

Home cities

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][47][48][9]

On November 14, the home cities were announced for each of the 8 teams; Chrome Lacrosse Club was replaced by the Denver Outlaws.[49]

Rabil envisions the league’s decision to affiliate teams with geographic areas as the 2nd of three potential phases in the PLL’s expansion as it continues to capture the attention and viewership of casual fans. Rabil mentioned Phase 3 could become traditional home-and-away schedule like MLL, and the PLL owning venues in each of these markets.[50]

Season format

Preseason

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.[51]

Regular season

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]

Postseason

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.[52]

Championship history

Overview of PLL champions
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
2023 Archers LC 15–14 Waterdogs LC Subaru Park Chester, PA TBA Brett Dobson

Awards

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Main article: List of Premier Lacrosse League awards

Hall of Fame

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Main article: Professional Lacrosse 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:[53]

  • 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

Up until the creation of the Professional Lacrosse Hall of Fame there was no Hall of Fame for exclusively professional field lacrosse players.[54]

In February, 2023 Ryan Boyle was announced as the first member of the 2023 class.[55] The remainder of the 2023 class was announced on March 23, 2023. [56]

References

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  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

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