Premier Lacrosse League eyes team sales around 2028
Co-founder Paul Rabil told CNBC the league wants independent team owners as lacrosse returns to the Olympics in Los Angeles.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
The Premier Lacrosse League is preparing to move away from league-owned teams and bring in independent owners around 2028, co-founder Paul Rabil told CNBC. The plan would put the young league closer to the structure used by established U.S. professional sports leagues as it seeks to grow.
Rabil told CNBC the PLL wants to start selling teams to individuals or ownership groups by 2028 “or soon thereafter.” He said that over the next decade he wants the league to grow from eight teams to as many as 16, with each franchise owned separately.
The PLL is now in its eighth season, CNBC reported. Under its current single-entity model, the league itself owns the teams rather than having separate franchise owners.
Olympic return is part of the growth pitch
Rabil told CNBC he is counting on the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles to bring more attention to lacrosse and the PLL. Lacrosse is scheduled to return as an Olympic medal sport in 2028 after an absence of about 120 years, CNBC reported.
Rabil said early ticket demand for Olympic lacrosse has been strong. “The first allotment of tickets sold out in 48 hours for lacrosse, so there’s good hype building,” he told CNBC.
The league announced this week that it raised $100 million in a Series E funding round, according to CNBC. Rabil said the money is intended to help expand the league.
Rabil, 40, is one of the best-known American lacrosse players, CNBC reported. He played in Major League Lacrosse from 2008 to 2018 before launching the PLL with his brother, Mike Rabil. The PLL and MLL merged in 2020.
Emerging leagues test single-entity models
CNBC reported that the PLL is among several newer sports leagues that began with single-entity ownership, including League One Volleyball, the Professional Women’s Hockey League and the Basketball Africa League.
League One Volleyball has recently started selling teams to owners who pay expansion fees, CNBC reported, citing the Los Angeles Times. NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum told CNBC Sport last month that the Basketball Africa League is beginning a similar process.
Rising valuations in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL have pushed some investors toward lower-priced opportunities in leagues such as Major League Soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League and the WNBA, CNBC reported. Emerging leagues such as the PLL are trying to show they can reach a tier where franchises are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, or close to $1 billion, according to CNBC.
The PLL is backed by investment firms and wealthy individuals, CNBC reported. Rabil also told CNBC the league would be open to sale talks if a large private equity fund or a strategic company such as TKO Group, which owns WWE, UFC and Professional Bull Riding, wanted to acquire it.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.