Having the Made the Transition from Star Athlete to Sports Business Executive, Paul Rabil is continuing to widen the aperture. The Co-Founder and Commissioner of the Premier Lacrosse League is hosting a New Espn+ Series, Rabil’s PlacesWhose Producers Include Omeaha Productions, Words + Pictures and Rabil’s Own Two Point Productions. He is the author of The Way of the ChampionA Memoir/Inspirational Book Published in 2024 by Penguin Press Imprint Portfolio. Its Jacket Features Blurbs from the Likes of Sony Pictures Boss Tom Rothman, Pivot Podcast Co-Host Scott Galloway and Arianna Huffington.
Rabil Spoke with Deadline As the Pll was getting setting to kick off its 2025 season with a doubleheader this evera and another on Saturday. The Games Will Stream on Espn+ and Saturday’s Opener Will Air on ABC. He talked about the state of the plat of the Talks with potential media outlets as its four -ear deal with disney/espn nears ends, as well as the global spotlight of the 2028 Summer Olympics in La
The CAA-REPED RABIL ALSO DISCUSED HIS PRODUCTION COMPANY’S BIG-SCREEN ANDITS AND HIS Ties to Film Like Glen Powell and Oscar-Nominated Documentarian Matthew Heineman, Both of Whom Played Lacrosse. With Lines Blurring BetWene Show Business and Sports, Rabil Envisions The Pll Yielding Hybrid Personalities Along the Lines of Travis Kelce or Steph Curry Hybrids. “That’s what david stern got right,” he said. “He was poinking the nba in the ’80s around the players.
This interview has been edited for Clarity and Length.
DEADLINE: AS YOU HEAD INTO YOUR SEVARE SEASON, WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRIORITIES FOR THE PLL?
Paul Rabil: One of the say is, for the first time with our network partner espn we are rolling out a new brand Called Saturday Night Lacrosse. It CREATES APPOINTMENT Watching Throughout The Entire Summer. We have 17 on-air combinations with linear exposser between abc, espn and espn2, and then all of the games on espn+.
Deadline: Your Season Starts Right on the Heels of the Ncaa Tournament and Also Overlaps with College Baseball and Softball, Whose Playoffs Air Across Espn Over the Month. Is there a high overlap between those viewers and your?
Rabil: The College World Series Draws a Big Number, SO we try to get clever with our talent. If an accnsool is Featured and their fans are coming in to the PLL AFTER THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES, WE CAN TEE INTO A COUPLE OF OUR PLAYERS. There are these moms throughout the Calendar.
Deadline: Do You See Rabil’s Places Also Helping More Viewers Find the Pll?
Rabil: It ‘another example of what i was i was “Third-Door” grown opportunities, where it is just just about the experience of watching a Professional Lacrosse Game. It ‘subout how you can bring in other fans to try the pro product. AS (NBA Commisitor) Adam Silver Wold Say, there are a lot of fans of only College basketball in america, so the league is Constantly trying to convert more basketball fans. Other Third DOORS WOULD INCLUDE INCLDE INTO The Olympics and Lobbying to TRY to Turn the Additional 24 US States Don’t Sanction Lacrosse at the High School Boys and Girls Level.
Deadline: what’s in the work at two point Productions, Your New Company?
Rabil: There’s a project preyTty light on development now, which would be a Major Major Picture with a significant director and a significant writer.
Deadline: So you want to move Beyond unscripted sports?
Rabil: Of the beliefs the scales have tipped into the realm of saturation for unscripted sports follows. You can initiate and greenlight production and turn Through post far more quickly in the unsripped space than you can in scripted. And i do not think very many sports executives or sports organizations have experience with film, eather, and understand the nuances in today Remember the titans or The Mighty Ducks or Rudyor something as Clever as The Queen’s Gambit. SO, WE HAVE Marty Supreme Coming Out, and Smashing machine and the F1 Movie. When you take a sport that is mess relevant, the disproportionate opportunity to the benefit from a hit movie or television series is extraordinary. But these Time Things.
Deadline: from your book to the way you built the PLL AFTER Playing at the pros and at at Johns hopkins in College, it’ve you always set your Well Beyond Lacrosse. Who has made an impression on you and shaped your thinking about business or life in general?
Rabil: Among athletes that I look up to that have Crossed over, you start with dwayne Johnson. You stay with wrestling with Paul Levesque and John Cena and THEN I WOULD SAY IN ACTION SPORTS You look at tony hawk and travis cleanse and sean White. Some of My Most Favorite Courageous Leaders in Sports Wauld Be Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird and Serena Williams. And Adam Silver Has Been A Friend and a Guiding Light Since we were forming the PLL. We have a really great board, with members like joe tsai. I ALSO SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH ARTISTS, WHATHER THAT’S JEFFREY WRIGHT OR AROOME LIKE Glen Powell, Who Grew Up Playing Lacrosse. I SPEND TIME WITH THEM TO LEARN ABOUT CRAFT AND HOW THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING FROM ACTING TO PRODUCING TO Directing. Someone Like Matt Heineman, Who’s a World-Redowned Director (Cartel Land) Who played lacrosse at dartmouth. IT’S About Being A Sponge and the Beauty in Sport, what’s so Attractive about it is it really touches every industry. There’s Never Been More Crossover Appeal than there is, if you look at fashion or culinary or look at the met gala – three of the four hosts were athletes.
DEADLINE: HIGHTE’S PRETY IMPRESSIVES THAT HE DELIVERED ON HIS PROMISE TO MORE THAN TRIPLE The Value of the NBA Rights Deals, with NBCU and Amazon Jaining Disney-Espn.
Rabil: He’s Got Kevlar Skin. He’s Also Really Clever. He’s forward-thinking and he’s risk-aggrassing and he’s the Consummate Professional. I have talked with Him Frequently, Including Throughout the process he was going through and learning for when rights were coming up. If you’re the nfl or the nba, everyone is showing up with a proposal. For the rest of us, we have to create compelling CASES, Through a Combination of Our Ratings, Our Year-Over-Eyar Growth, Our Plass to Grow, We Have Talk About Audience. In our case, our audience is really Young. They’re native streamers. They have crossover appeal to other sports and entertainment.
Deadline: Speaking of Rights, Your Current 4-Eyar Deal With Disney/Espn is Ending Next Year. Have you been talking with say or oters for the Next Agreement?
Rabil: We’ve been in negotiations for the last several months. We’re Really Close at Arrival at Our Next Network Deal. That announcement will come in the coming Weeks and we’re really excited about it. Since the Last Agreement with Espn, We Created Our “Olympic 6s” Championship Series and the Women’s Lacrosse League. Nor good partners, we tucked these into our Current deal and we think they helped to grown the sport. This Next Round, We’re Looking to Strike A Longer-Term Deal. Our first one was with nbcuniversal, and that was for three years, the current one was four.
Deadline: COULD The Various Pieces, with 6-on-6 and Wll, Be Broken Out Separately? And are you talking with Multiple Potential Partners?
Rabil: Correct on Both. We are so thrilled with our partnership with espn. It ‘everynding we have hoped for. What You Get With Espn, in Addition to the Great Live Coverage, Is A Flywheel Effect of EveryThing they will. It ranges from television shows to have the Larger social media flow of any networking in the world to onsite opportunities or tan Laddering up to dissney’s Team and Potential Crossover Opportunities with Marvel and Our Younger Audience.
Deadline: at the Olympics, the games will be 6-on-6 as opposed to the 10-on-10 played at the PLL and College Levels. What are the advantages to adding 6s?
Rabil: Its been a part of our pitch, first to casey wasserman at la2028 and then with the iOC.
Deadline: I Pictured Olympic Lacrosse Being Played Outdoors, as you will at your Current Pll Sites.
Rabil: With 6s, you can play indoors. It’s 50 yards goal to goal. SO THAT’S ANOTHER EXCITING THING. We Continue to Build Plass Around the Future of a First Professional Lacrosse Stadium, which in my eyes Wauld have a roof for a number of reasons. For one thing, the world is not getting any Coos. And the Production Value Skyrockets. We play the Star in Frisco, TX. We Always Get Feedback from Fans and Players that they can be track the ball better Because of indoor Lighting, theatrical acoustics. Scan Rates for Tickets Goes Up. You would also be able to budild a 10-on-10 in that stadium.
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