When Paul Rabil began filming behind-the-scenes footage of his efforts to launch a new professional lacrosse league, it was still two years before the idea of ESPN+’s recent documentary, Fate of a Sport, was really even a thing. Rabil, a four-time All-American and two-time national champion at Johns Hopkins from 2005-08, disrupted the world of professional lacrosse with the launch of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) in 2019.
After graduating from Hopkins, Rabil played 11 seasons in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) with the Boston Cannons and New York Lizards, and five seasons in the National Lacrosse League (professional indoor). The conditions in the MLL — lack of medical resources, tents for locker rooms, under-marketing, and low pay — led Rabil to think there had to be a better way to do this.
