Premier Lacrosse League Opening Weekend

Premier Lacrosse League Announces Return to Gillette Stadium for Opening Weekend of 2020 Season
Gillette Stadium will host the Premier Lacrosse League’s first three games of the league’s second season on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30
Tickets will be available for sale on February 17
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) today announced that the league will return to Gillette Stadium to open the 2020 season with a three-game slate May 29 and 30, 2020.
The PLL season will begin at Gillette Stadium for the second consecutive season, getting underway with a primetime matchup under the lights on Friday, May 29 before continuing with two games Saturday, May 30.
PLL Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder Paul Rabil made the announcement during a press conference at Gillette Stadium Tuesday afternoon. Rabil, a lacrosse superstar, 2x Gold Medalist with Team USA and veteran of 11 seasons in professional lacrosse, launched the PLL in October 2018 alongside his brother, PLL CEO and Co-Founder, Mike Rabil.
“We couldn’t think of a better location to kick off our action-packed 2020 schedule,” Mike Rabil said. “Last season, we saw an unbelievable turnout from fans looking to watch the best players in pro lacrosse at the fastest level. The stadium offers fans and players a first-class experience from the minute they walk into the venue and we will look to take things to an even another level this summer. Lastly, working closely with the Patriots organization was exceptional. They understand the seriousness of gameday operations and work at a rapid pace with their partners. This was a no brainer for us.”
The PLL is a tour-based model featuring seven teams and the 180 best players in the world. In addition to being full-time employees and receiving health benefits, players will get equity stakes in the league – a first in professional sports. The league recently announced its expansion to seven teams, adding the Waterdogs prior to the start of the second season.
The 2020 PLL season will take place over the course of 15 weeks running from May to September of this year. For the second consecutive year, PLL games will be distributed via an exclusive media rights agreement with the NBC Sports Group, with action being shown through a combination of NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold, the network’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform. Remaining regular and postseason locations will be announced over the next several months.
Paul Rabil, a John Hopkins men’s lacrosse alumnus, played in Gillette Stadium’s first NCAA Lacrosse Championship weekend in May 2008. He also played at Gillette Stadium as a member of the Atlas during the 2019 PLL season, notching a goal and an assist.
This weekend will mark the second straight year Gillette Stadium has hosted PLL games after hosting the league’s inaugural games last June. Gillette Stadium has also hosted five NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships since 2008 and holds the NCAA Men’s Division I Championship attendance record (2008: 48,970), the top three attendance records for Division I National Championship Games since 2012 (2012: 30,816, 2018: 29,455 and 2017: 28,971) and the top three Division II and Division III National Championship attendance records (2017: 31,560, 2008: 24,317 and 2009: 24,072). The venue also hosted professional lacrosse games in 2015.
Kraft Group President-International Dan Kraft, who played lacrosse goalie at the collegiate level for Tufts University in the 1980s and served on the executive Board of the Federation of International Lacrosse’s World Championships, expressed his continued support for the league and its ongoing potential to further grow the sport in New England and throughout the country.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Paul and Mike Rabil and the Premier Lacrosse League to once again host the league’s opening weekend at Gillette Stadium this summer,” Kraft said. “Following such an exciting and successful slate of games here last season, we look forward to welcoming the PLL back for another weekend. We strongly believe that Gillette Stadium is a top lacrosse venue in the country and we look forward to hosting another world-class event promoting the sport in such a large and passionate lacrosse region.”
For more information about the PLL, visit www.premierlacrosseleague.com. For more information about the PLL’s opening weekend games at Gillette Stadium and tickets, visit www.gillettestadium.com.
ABOUT PREMIER LACROSSE LEAGUE
The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) brings the sport of lacrosse to a national stage for the first time through a tour-based model, complete with the best players the sport has to offer. Co-founded by lacrosse superstar, philanthropist, and investor Paul Rabil and his brother, serial entrepreneur and investor, Mike Rabil, the Premier Lacrosse League is backed by an investment group comprised of The Raine Group, Joe Tsai Sports, Brett Jefferson Holdings and Creative Artists Agency (CAA). The upcoming 2020 season is scheduled to begin on May 29 with the season culminating with a Championship Game on September 20. The PLL season is distributed through an exclusive media-rights agreement with NBC Sports Group. For more information, visit www.premierlacrosseleague.com and follow on social media: Instagram (@PLL), Twitter (@PremierLacrosse), Facebook (@PremierLacrosseLeague) and YouTube (YouTube.com/PLL).
ABOUT GILLETTE STADIUM
Gillette Stadium, located in Foxborough, Mass., is New England’s premier sports and entertainment venue. The 65,878-seat stadium is the full-time home of the NFL’s six-time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, which has sold out every home game at Gillette Stadium since the venue opened in 2002. Gillette Stadium is also the home field of the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer and one of the world’s top grossing concert venues, according to Billboard and Pollstar. Other notable sporting events held at Gillette Stadium include the 2016 NHL Winter Classic, international soccer matches, NCAA athletics, professional lacrosse, motor sports and the Massachusetts high school football state championships. For more information, visit www.GilletteStadium.com or follow @GilletteStadium on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.