On the latest episode of JaneWallStreet Presents: At The Table, a biweekly podcast exploring the intersection of sports, media, and finance through the lens of (mostly) female decision-makers, JaneWallStreet Executive Chair Deirdre Lester sits down with Premier Lacrosse League Co-Founder, President and Chief Creative Officer Paul Rabil.

In this hour-long conversation, the two surface and talk through a multitude of actionable insights including:

Use First Media Deal to Build a Case for the Next One

From the outset, PLL viewed cable and broadcast television exposure as essential to reaching fans beyond lacrosse’s existing core audience. The question was what economic model would make that exposure possible.

“One of our board members is David O'Connor... He told us in the beginning, the most difficult thing [for a new league] to do in the business of professional sports is get a media rights deal because you either have to start by buying time or doing some rev-share, and it becomes a self-fulfilling downward prophecy when you're doing one of those because the network is not investing their own capital into the upside, so [the league gets] very minimal promotion and sort of stays in purgatory,” Rabil said.

The league opted for the latter, inking a three-year deal with NBC in 2019.

“What was beautiful about that deal is this was pre-Peacock, so [it] had NBC Sports Gold, which was a siloed platform where [fans] could just subscribe to PLL content and pay for the season. [And] because it wasn't a part of a broader [streaming package], we got more insights and data [on our audience than we would have] on Netflix or on ESPN+ or Peacock or Paramount+,” Rabil said. “It's difficult to attribute who your fans are [on those platforms] because [people] subscribe to those services to get all the sports, and there's just not as much first-party data sharing. [The insights received] primed us three years later when we went out and got our [first] media rights deal with ESPN.”

The league renewed its ESPN partnership in June 2025 with a five-year agreement that runs through 2030. ESPN took a minority equity stake in PLL as part of that pact.

Build an Investor Base That Brings More Than Capital

Actors Rob McElhenney and Glen Powell both invested in PLL’s Series E round. However, each is expected to contribute to the league's growth in different ways (beyond the capital).

“So, Rob Mac, over the last four years building Wrexham, [has shown to have a] very similar ambition [to what] we have in the PLL. He's [also from the northeast], his friends played lacrosse, [he] gets [what we’re trying to build and understands how to do it],” Rabil said. “Glen Powell [is] different… [He] grew up playing lacrosse and is someone who has said on the record that he wants to own a PLL team. [We believe] he could be what Will Ferrell is to a lot of the LA teams or Matthew McConaughey [is] to Texas football or David Beckham [is] to Inter Miami. He could be one of those [high-profile ambassadors] for us.”

Pro Leagues Are Best Positioned to Rebuild Rec Sports

Private equity’s push into youth sports has fueled concerns about rising costs and declining access. But many problems plaguing the space predated the influx of institutional capital. PLL believes established pro properties have an obligation to play a larger role in repairing the youth sports ecosystem.

“Our strategy is [to] approach youth lacrosse as a break-even business. We don't want to make money on it. We just want to give more opportunities to players who are currently playing to get better and give them access to the best coaches, PLL coaches, and the best players, PLL and WLL players. We also want to introduce the game to [more] non-lacrosse players. [So] we have Street Lacrosse, we have PLL Assist, we partner with some of the best non-profits in the US, whether it's Harlem Lacrosse all the way out to Compton Lacrosse in California, and [all of] that is an investment off of our balance sheet,” Rabil said. “[We] think it's incumbent on leagues and teams to do a lot of that goodwill and rebuild [youth sports]... The pro leagues have the strongest brand and use of IP [and] should be using [it] to help [grow] participation at the rec and below levels.”

📺 Watch the full episode on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube page.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We’ll be back with the next episode of JaneWallStreet Presents: At The Table on November 12. Siegelman Stable Founder and CEO Max Siegelman will be our guest. 

Catch previous episodes of At The Table, including our sit-down with LOVB Chief Growth Officer Stephanie Alger, former Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Global Head of Sports Julie Souza, Head of Fubo Sports Network & Fubo Studios Pamela Duckworth, former Barstool Sports CEO & Mule Media Co-Founder Erika Badan, ATHLOS Acting President Kayla Green, former CEO of CBS News Wendy McMahon, A-Rod Corp Chief Business Officer & Minnesota Timberwolves Chief Strategy Officer Kelly Laferriere, Rasenberger Media Founder & President Cathy Rasenberger, AUSL Commissioner Kim Ng, Jomboy Media CEO Courtney Hirsch, Trailblazing Sports Group Founder Sara Gotfredson, Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR) CEO Jessica Gelman, and Sport Beach CEO Beth Sidhu on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube channel.

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In the latest episode, four JohnWallStreet Advisory advisors explain how the decline in local media rights values to nearly zero for many MLB, NBA and NHL teams —and shrinking spending on entertainment programming— seemingly offers a preview of what a highly consolidated, lower-margin video distribution business is most likely to yield for national sports rights in the years ahead.

Key insights from the 55-minute conversation include: rights owners looking to replace lost revenues should create new content assets and rethink how games are broadcast, altcasts offer a path to monetization and the general market, and investing in fan identity infrastructure can drive revenue growth.

📺 Watch the full episode on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube page.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

As always, you can connect with a member of the JohnWallStreet Advisory team by sending a note to [email protected]. In fact, we encourage it!