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] 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.[5][6] By December the league had signed 17 additional players.[7] 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.[8][9]
As opposed to tying teams to a specific market, the league's first season toured 12 different "major market cities". The season included 14 weeks, comprising 10 regular-season weekends, 1 all-star weekend, and 3 playoff weekends, running from June 1 through September 21, assuring there was no overlap with the NCAA Lacrosse season or the National Lacrosse League regular season.[10] 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 Lacrosse Club's admission into the league.[11] An expansion draft took place on February 12 and an entry draft occurred on March 16 to build the new roster with veteran players.[12]
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.[13] Small tweaks to the former Boston Cannons branding resulted in a PLL crest and logo reveal on January 12, 2021.[14] 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.[15]
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. [16][17][18][19] On November 14, the home cities were announced for each of the 8 teams; Chrome Lacrosse Club was replaced by the Denver Outlaws.[20] 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.[21]
Format and rules
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.[16][19] 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.[22]
The PLL has a variety of major rule differences compared to traditional field lacrosse:[23][24][25][26]
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.
A college draft is held prior to the season each year, in addition to 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. 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. [42] The average PLL salary has been estimated at $28,000, although the league itself does not release the number.[43] 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.[42] 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.[44]
The first free agency period for the PLL took place prior to the 2023 PLL season from March 6, 2023 to April 1, 2023.[45] 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.[46] 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.[47] 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.[48]
From 2019 to 2024, the league used a touring model only spending a week in each city. In 2020, the entire original schedule was scrapped due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the season was then restructured to have every game take place at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah.[49] The PLL will be assigning home cities to teams beginning with the 2024 season.[50]
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:[51]
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.[52] In February, 2023 Ryan Boyle was announced as the first member of the 2023 class.[53] The remainder of the 2023 class was announced on March 23, 2023. [54]
Marketing
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.[55]
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.[78] 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.[79] 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.[80]
^Islam, Arif (November 15, 2023). "PLL unveils new team and city locations". SportsPro Media. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024. Eastern conference will consist of the New York Atlas, Boston Cannons, Philadelphia Waterdogs, and Maryland Whipsnakes. The Utah Archers, Carolina Chaos, Denver Outlaws, and California Redwoods will make up the Western Conference.
^Lotano, Joseph (August 10, 2020). "MM 8.10: Terp-filled Whipsnakes win second consecutive Premier Lacrosse League title". Testudo Times. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024. Last season, attacker Matt Rambo led the Terp-filled Whipsnakes to the Premier Lacrosse League's first ever championship. On Sunday, fellow former Terp Kyle Bernlohr's clutch play in goal helped the team win its second straight title.
^Newton, Matt (September 24, 2023). "Matt Moore & Jared Conners Win PLL Championship With Archers". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024. Archers take down the Waterdogs 15-14 in an epic title game on Sunday in Philadelphia to claim the 2023 Premier Lacrosse League Championship. After scoring a hat trick in last year's title game to help the Waterdogs claim the 2022 Premier Lacrosse League Championship...
2023 Premier Lacrosse League season
United States
Canada
