Thought I would break the Premier Lacrosse League into a separate thread, and at the same time focus on one particularly interesting aspect of the league.
For background, the PLL is a six-team touring league of professional lacrosse players in its first year, competing concurrently with an established field lacrosse league in the MLL. The league has a broadcast/streaming deal with NBC Sports and a fantastic, passionate approach to social media. Katie Baker profiled the effort in The Ringer this week in a pretty great piece.
The action is incredible to watch as the players are supremely motivated to put a great product on the field.
Regarding innovation, some on-field innovations include putting microphones on players, on-field in-game "interviews", and changes to established field rules to make the game even faster. But a very interesting playoff format was introduced this week that is worthy of conversation. The three stated goals are to:
Game 1: #1 plays #2. Winner gets a bye week and advances to championship game (not listed, but technically Game 6)
Game 2: #3 plays #4. Winner plays the loser of #1 vs. #2 in following week in Game 4. Winner of that game plays winner of Game 1 in championship (Game 6).
There is also a bracket for the right to pick first in the draft:
Game 3: #5 plays #6.
Game 5: Loser of Game 2 plays the loser of Game 3. The winner plays the winner of Game 3 for the right to the #1 draft pick.
I think the format is outstanding and achieves the stated goals. Understanding that it is easier to implement in small-scale leagues, hopefully some aspects of this type format could be adopted by other professional leagues that are plagued by tanking.
In any event, the PLL is a great product with a bright future. I play and coach in a non-hotbed area on the West Coast and the launch of the league has created a real buzz that didn't exist with the MLL. I hope folks check it out.
For background, the PLL is a six-team touring league of professional lacrosse players in its first year, competing concurrently with an established field lacrosse league in the MLL. The league has a broadcast/streaming deal with NBC Sports and a fantastic, passionate approach to social media. Katie Baker profiled the effort in The Ringer this week in a pretty great piece.
The action is incredible to watch as the players are supremely motivated to put a great product on the field.
Regarding innovation, some on-field innovations include putting microphones on players, on-field in-game "interviews", and changes to established field rules to make the game even faster. But a very interesting playoff format was introduced this week that is worthy of conversation. The three stated goals are to:
- Make regular season performance matter
- Give every team something to play for.
- Mitigate “tanking”
Game 1: #1 plays #2. Winner gets a bye week and advances to championship game (not listed, but technically Game 6)
Game 2: #3 plays #4. Winner plays the loser of #1 vs. #2 in following week in Game 4. Winner of that game plays winner of Game 1 in championship (Game 6).
There is also a bracket for the right to pick first in the draft:
Game 3: #5 plays #6.
Game 5: Loser of Game 2 plays the loser of Game 3. The winner plays the winner of Game 3 for the right to the #1 draft pick.
I think the format is outstanding and achieves the stated goals. Understanding that it is easier to implement in small-scale leagues, hopefully some aspects of this type format could be adopted by other professional leagues that are plagued by tanking.
In any event, the PLL is a great product with a bright future. I play and coach in a non-hotbed area on the West Coast and the launch of the league has created a real buzz that didn't exist with the MLL. I hope folks check it out.