Fast Company – May 2019

intrigued by the “barnstorming” tour model
that would deliver the very best players in the
world to the fans at a single venue every week.
He also liked the Rabils’ data-driven ap-
proach. “We put together a pretty robust quan-
titative analysis for targeting ideal cities,”
Paul says, sitting in a cramped, overheated
conference room at the PLL’s temporary New
York office in January. “We looked at over
120 different cities. We looked at the level of
lacrosse participation, household television
ratings when lacrosse was being broadcast,
growth of club participation, and venues.
About 30 cities jumped out as finalists.”
The Rabils closed their seed round in
March 2018. Joining CAA were several media-
tech-focused backers as well as a handful
of individuals, such as former Penn State
lacrosse player and current New England Pa-
triots wide receiver Chris Hogan. “We think
there’s an opportunity to build the defining
platform in lacrosse that extends all the way
down to the youth ranks,” says Raine Group
venture partner Blair Ford, who was involved
at this early stage. A second round followed,
in January 2019, from investors including
Alibaba cofounder and Brooklyn Nets owner

(and former Yale lacrosse player) Joe Tsai and

Hildene Capital Management founder and

CEO (and former Syracuse lacrosse player)

Brett Jefferson. Mike Rabil says that the

funding is sufficient to carry the PLL through

several seasons.

In February, the Rabils moved to Los An-

geles, along with most of the PLL’s 25-person

staff, to open a new league headquarters.

The city offers great weather and an advan-

tageous perch for courting sponsors, but

that’s only part of it. According to Mike Rabil,

lacrosse is “the fastest-growing sport in Los

Angeles County, and 50% of the youth play-

ers there are African American or Latino.”

“Our youth strategy is important,” Paul

adds, citing an upcoming clinic PLL players

will be running in Oklahoma. “We’re going to

all these different places to spread awareness

of the sport and celebrate its history as the

oldest team sport in North America, founded

and created by indigenous people.”

THE PLL IS BEING FOUNDED ON A SIMPLE

premise: that the fast-growing, highly engaged

fan base for lacrosse will translate into a thriv-

ing pro league. But professional leagues have

historically required decades to find their foot-

ing. More than half a century ago, an increas-

ing American appetite for soccer spawned the

North American Soccer League, which sput-

tered after 16 seasons. Major League Soccer

followed in 1993, and needed the better part

of a generation to achieve major-league-level

attendance and revenue. But digital technol-

ogy has altered the way consumers engage

with sports. The Rabils believe that the House

of Highlights generation identifies more with

individual players than with teams and will

support the kind of tour-based model that

works well in golf and tennis.

Not everyone is convinced the strategy

will work. MLL commissioner Sandy Brown

is committed to his league’s city-based para-

digm. “We’re deeply ingrained in our com-

munities,” he says. “That’s the model we feel

is successful: Drive ticket sales in individual

markets.” Indeed, it’s hard for some people

to imagine how momentum for the PLL’s

roaming teams will build without the hope

of a Red Sox–Yankees-style rivalry.

The PLL’s deal with NBC could act as an

accelerant. Lacrosse “is a sport we’ve looked

at for seven or eight years,” says Jon Miller,

president of programming at NBC Sports.

To “make it a unique television experience,”

Miller continues, NBC will use eight cam-

eras, including helmet and goal cams plus

audio from the players. Three PLL games

will air live during the three-month season

on NBC; the others will be available on its

cable network NBCSN or via NBC Sports Gold,

“ THE CURRENT SYSTEM WAS BROKEN.

WE NEEDED SOMETHING DIFFERENT.”

—CAA SPORTS’ MIKE LEVINE

Founded

BASEBALL

(MLB)

HOCKEY

(NHL)

1876 1917 1920 1949 1993 2018

$14

Billion

$10.3

Billion

$8

Billion

$4.86

Billion

$961

Million

N/A

162 82 16 82 34 10

$555,000 $480,000

$838,464

$700,000

$56,250 $25,000

30 31 32 30 24 6

750 713 1,696 450 616 168

Total
Annual
Revenue

Number of
Regular-
Season
Games per
Team

Guaranteed
Minimum
League-
Player
Salary

Total
Teams

Total
Number of
League
Players

Average
Game
Attendance

67,042

28,830

17 ,446 17,987 21,873

N/A

FOOTBALL

(NFL)

BASKETBALL

(NBA)

SOCCER

(MLS)

LACROSSE

(PLL)

Latest reported numbers