The Premier Lacrosse League wants team owners by 2028. Co-founder Paul Rabil told CNBC he's counting on the Los Angeles Olympics to make people care about his league. Lacrosse returns as an Olympic sport that year. This is the business strategy. Wait for the Olympics. Hope someone notices. Sell franchises.
Rabil thinks millions of Americans will watch Olympic lacrosse, experience a profound spiritual awakening about the sport, and immediately open their checkbooks to buy PLL franchises. He's banking on this. The entire ownership model depends on a two-week tournament generating enough enthusiasm that wealthy people forget they could buy literally anything else with their money.
The phrase "or soon thereafter" does heavy lifting here. Could mean 2029. Could mean 2035. Could mean never. It's the business equivalent of telling your girlfriend you'll propose soon. Eventually she stops asking and starts seeing other people.
The PLL launched in 2019 without individual team owners. Every franchise belongs to the league. This makes sense for a startup trying to control costs. It makes less sense seven years later when you're still explaining why nobody wants to write checks. Rabil needs the Olympics to validate his sport because apparently seven years of operation didn't do the trick.
Picture the investor pitch meeting in 2028. "You just watched four Olympic lacrosse games you didn't understand. Now give me eight million dollars for a team in Charlotte." Venture capitalists will line up around the block. They'll bring term sheets and champagne. They'll beg to overpay for the privilege of owning the Rochester Stickhandlers or whatever the f*ck these teams are called.
Rabil has two more years to pray that Olympic coverage makes lacrosse look like something other than hockey for people afraid of ice.
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