Paul Rabil’s Lacrosse League Is Adding Another Team for Second Season

(Bloomberg) -- The Premier Lacrosse League, whose backers include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. billionaire Joe Tsai, Raine Group and Creative Artists Agency, is adding another team for its second season.

The league -- co-founded by brothers Michael and Paul Rabil, the latter the sport’s highest-profile player -- had six franchises for its inaugural campaign. The league will stage an expansion draft in February to pick the players for the new club, whose name and coaching staff haven’t been determined. The PLL said it will let its current teams protect a certain number of players from being exposed in the draft. Specifics for that process will also be announced later.

Paul Rabil said expanding would create more on-field opportunities for the players, more access for the fans and a wider reach for the league’s corporate partners. Sponsors include lacrosse newcomers Adidas AG, Capital One Financial Corp., PepsiCo Inc.’s Gatorade and Vineyard Vines. The league has posted 1 billion impressions across league and team social-media accounts.

Unlike traditional U.S. sports leagues, which tie teams to cities, the PLL uses a tour-based model. Clubs travel to a particular place at the same time and play a series of games during a weekend.

The PLL has a multiyear broadcast agreement with Comcast Corp.’s NBC, which shows the league across its platforms. The PLL drew an outdoor professional lacrosse record 412,000 viewers in its second week.

“With the inaugural season’s success and evidence of growing audience demand, this is a natural path for the business,” said Colin Neville, a managing director at Raine.

The league’s average attendance was 12,000, peaking at 16,701 for games played in Baltimore.

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, John J. Edwards III

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