Lacrosse MVP Loses Lucrative Sponsorship After Launching New League

(Bloomberg) -- Starting the Premier Lacrosse League may have cost Paul Rabil his most lucrative endorsement deal.

New Balance Inc.’s Warrior brand terminated its contract with the 33-year-old Rabil, saying he violated terms of their multimillion-dollar deal by wearing a uniform from Adidas -- the new league’s apparel sponsor -- during practice and games.

The move may reflect lingering acrimony between Rabil’s upstart PLL and its main competitor, Major League Lacrosse. New Balance founder and Chairman Jim Davis is an MLL franchise owner and recently had controlling stakes in four of that league’s teams. Across professional sports, numerous athletes wear team-required jerseys from a league sponsor while maintaining endorsement deals with a competitor.

Rabil’s brother Michael, PLL’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said New Balance’s move to cancel the five-year contract was personal, stemming from the decision to create the new league after negotiations to buy MLL didn’t pan out.

“It was a strategic way to breach Paul’s contract,” he said. “There are other brands that would celebrate their athlete’s ability to build an entire league while still playing. We’re disappointed they took this route.”

The termination letter, which Bloomberg News reviewed, is signed by Warrior Sports Vice President John Withee. It highlights two instances in which the company said Rabil violated terms of the deal signed in 2017: On June 7 he sported an Adidas practice jersey (and posted it on social media) and on June 9 he wore an Adidas jersey and socks during a PLL game.

Neither Davis nor Withee responded to requests for comment.

New Balance and Warrior are MLL sponsors, according to the league’s website. In April, the PLL named Adidas AG as its official shoe and apparel supplier. The PLL also held talks with New Balance about becoming a league partner, Paul Rabil said.

“If I have to take a fall because of prior MLL grievances, then so be it,” said Paul Rabil, who spent 2008-2018 in the MLL, twice winning the league’s Most Valuable Player award. “In the end, my hope is that it will all come back to our players and supporters of the PLL.”

Warrior’s termination notice coincided with the launch of the PLL, which is backed by Raine Group, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. billionaire Joe Tsai and others. The PLL has some 120 former MLL players during its inaugural season, Michael Rabil said. The MLL launched in 2001.

Rabil isn’t the first athlete -- or even New Balance endorser -- to wear another company’s apparel because of league commitments. NBA star and New Balance pitchman Kawhi Leonard wears a Nike uniform during games as mandated by league rules. Quarterback Tom Brady, an Under Armour endorser, sports a Nike jersey during NFL games, and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is a Nike athlete who dons an Adidas uniform with Juventus of Italy’s Serie A.

In fact, “there’s never been an expectation in pro team sports” that an athlete would wear any jersey other than the one required by the team or league’s sponsorship deal, according to Paul Rabil.

“100 years of precedent say no,” he said, “and 100 years into the future will say no.”

Paul Rabil said the PLL allows higher-profile players with endorsement commitments to sport whatever brand of cleats and equipment fall under their deals. Rabil wears New Balance cleats and Warrior equipment during PLL games. There are about 10 New Balance-sponsored athletes in the PLL, including Trevor Baptiste, Kyle Hartzell and Tom Schreiber, all of whom wear the Adidas-branded jerseys during games.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, John J. Edwards III

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.