Premier Lacrosse League strikes 4-year deal with ESPN

The new deal will go into effect for the upcoming season.

The fastest sport on two feet continues to grow at the professional level.

The Premier Lacrosse League, founded by Johns Hopkins legend Paul Rabil, which held its inaugural season back in 2019, has struck a four-year deal with ESPN. The Worldwide Leader will broadcast all 47 PLL games on various networks, per Joe Pompliano.

BREAKING: ESPN has reached a four-year, exclusive media rights deal with the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL).

The network will broadcast all 47 PLL games, including the playoffs, across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN+.

This is massive for lacrosse.

Let's go @PremierLacrosse! 📈 pic.twitter.com/If06rHcrAr

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) March 23, 2022

The PLL, which announced a merger with Major League Lacrosse (MLL) in late 2020, previously had its events broadcast across different NBC channels and digital platforms.

ESPN continues to immerse itself into the space of this great sport. Last year, the network announced a deal with the National Lacrosse League (NLL), an indoor “box” version of the sport. ESPN networks and ESPN+ now broadcast 139 NLL games every season which, per the October 2021 press release, is “the largest number of live televised games in the history of the league.”

The Worldwide Leader has additionally been involved in college lacrosse, having broadcast games on ESPN+, ESPNU, and the ACC Network.

The PLL’s 2022 opening weekend occurs from June 4-5. The season will have 10 weekends of regular-season games, separated evenly by a July 16 PLL All-Star Game set to be played in Boston. The quarterfinals will then be in Boston on Sept. 3 and the subsequent semifinals will be in D.C. on Sept. 11. The PLL Championship Game then takes place in Philly on Sept. 18.

Follow Ryan Honey on Twitter: @RyanHoneyESNY

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