Premier Lacrosse League, founded in 2018 by Michael Rabil and Paul Rabil, closed a $100 million Series E in June 2026, bringing its total equity funding to $100 million. The round drew a distinctive investor lineup blending institutional sports capital β Ares Management and Arctos Sports Partners β with athlete and celebrity investors including Joseph Tsai, Glen Powell, Rob McElhenney, and NASCAR driver Warren Zeiders.
The league operates elite men's professional field lacrosse competition, part of a broader trend of alternative and emerging sports leagues attracting serious institutional capital as investors look beyond legacy major sports leagues for growth opportunities.
The mixed investor base β professional sports finance firms alongside individual athlete-investors β reflects a funding pattern increasingly common in sports business: leagues building credibility and audience through athlete ownership stakes as much as through media rights deals alone.
For founders in sports business, media, or entertainment, PLL's raise illustrates how alternative leagues are increasingly funded like venture-backed startups β with growth capital tied to audience-building milestones rather than purely traditional broadcast economics.