PLL Launch (Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2)

[admin]

In Boston, next weekend, the PLL launches.

[Sativa Specialist]

Wonder how many tickets have been sold ?
This will be interesting.

[youthathletics]

I may have missed it, did the PLL advertise their league and the upcoming opening weekend during the NCAA Finals? Or was their some conflict of interest with NBC and ESPN. I suppose that is why they threw Paul a bone during halftime?

[xxxxxxx]

The big question now after all the hype, social media, advertising etc...... How many people will buy tickets this weekend in Boston? Filling those seats is critical to their success.

[bulax]

I may have missed it, did the PLL advertise their league and the upcoming opening weekend during the NCAA Finals? Or was their some conflict of interest with NBC and ESPN. I suppose that is why they threw Paul a bone during halftime?

Yes they did advertise during their he finals, but the ads didnt mention NBC. They were ticket/general ads.

[Sativa Specialist]

I'm not sure the ad's were effective. It seemed that the PLL is talking about upgrading the player's experience. I'm not sure how that gets fans in the seats.

[njlax1234]

Just something I thought of:
I feel like the Atlas may get some “special” calls and stuff like that from officials with Paul Rabil who founded the league being on their team. Hopefully this won’t happen, but could definitely see it being a possibility. Don’t recall any sports league where the commissioner/founder(or whatever you wanna call him)was actually on a team.

[Dunker]

When Dean Beman was commissioner of the PGA, he played in some events.

[njlax1234]

@Dunker
I’m not a big golf guy, but I do know that it’s a lot different with golf. No referees, they don’t play games, etc.

[old salt]

Meh. Not that different from the MLL. Not as exciting or as high scoring as most of the ncaa tourney games.

Without the hook of USA vs Canada, or the link to college traditions, it's still a niche sport with a limited fan base potential audience.

In the midst of the Stanley Cup payoffs, it's a reminder that lax was an adaption of the Creator's Game, formalized for hockey players to play when the ice melts.

Gillette Stadium ? ...not as good a lax experience as Norris Field on a Fri night, or the field by the Carling brewery, ...or the Pimlico infield.

[Fanlax999]

i watched a little yesterday and today. wanted to watch more but had other games in other sports going on. anywho, good to watch all these great former college players play, including Conrad from UVA. play is great. giant pro stadium which i have to question because it looks like barely anyone is there. i think only barely anyone on one side of the lower bowl based on camera shots here and there.

personally i would love pro lax to succeed, but deep down i know it is just a niche sport for the wealthy. until it is played and enjoyed by lower and middle class families, this sport will NEVER grow to mass popularity. frankly, womens softball and sand volleyball are more popular, just because pretty much every hs and college has softball and womens volleyball teams, and almost everyone in the WORLD can relate to those sports. until we can stop the greed that has infested this sport, it will never grow more than it is now. and if it does grow to be anything, i will long be gone and my son's son will maybe, maybe make something of it-- and that should be in like 30-40 years from now.

anyway, i digress.........didn't really care for the uniforms by addidas. they looked cheap and substandard. too bad they didn't get UA or Nike sponsorship. mll unis look a whole lot better. and the team names seem cartoonish.

again, love the sport overall. hope this pro league makes it, but so much demographics and social-econ. to overcome.

[Matnum PI]

https://twitter.com/NBCSports/status/11 ... 29120?s=19

[hooligan88]

I didn't like when Rabil was complaining to the refs, he has to take himself out of that. I know it may be hard for him but that looks fishy. Along with those "Soccer" Jerseys.

[Mike75]

I watched a bit of it this weekend. The product on the field is good, but the marketing is terrible. Unis are awful, team names are awful and this nomadic schedule is awful - seems like they are overthinking this. If they want to try something new, why not build the teams around a region or college conference? Have a team composed of all Ivy grads, another with all B1G, another with ACC etc. Or a team with players all from New England, another from LI, another from MD. Instant rooting interest for the vast majority of fans.

I'm interested to see how the Red Bulls stadium looks this weekend. Gillette is not a great venue for lax, and its even worse with a sparse crowd. Red Bulls is smaller so should look better on TV.

[hooligan88]

You are a 100%!! For it to last they are going to have to play in cheaper stadiums.

[FACEvalue]

The success of this league will depend on one singular question - does the average fan enjoy the barnstorming experience where the score or winning team does not matter - as long as he/she is entertained by the product in front of them. This enterprise has plenty of money and big egos behind it so it won’t fail easily. I suspect minor to major tweaks will be made each year until they hit on a viable product.

[DMac]

Watched the Atlas-Chaos game this week end, shortening the field is interesting, the ball definitely gets down field pretty darn quickly. Absolutely prefer the college game, the PLL game is almost too fast with the shorter field and 52 sec shot clock. I don't like a slow game but I think the 80 second clock nailed it, it allows for a little different pace now and then whereas the PLL clock makes every possession pretty much the same and feels a little rushed to me. Definitely don't like the 2 point arc, it's BS and can really change the game. Chaos hit 3 2s early on. 6 goals on 3 shots, now what have you got? A game being played from beyond the arc to play catch up? No thanks.

[palaxoff]

Caught the games on TV Sat and Sun. While there were some spectacular plays, ESPN Top 10 Worthy, afterwards thinking about it , I kind of felt like I watched the NFL Pro Bowl or the NBA All Star Game. Not much strategy, little team work, simple defense and a lot of I'll take it to the goal or make the flashy assist mentality. Hopefully as season progress some of these will change. Also smaller stadium, too many empty seats.

[luxlaxbro]

Thoroughly unimpressed with the PLL - and MLL for that matter. I think the harsh reality is that the a professional lacrosse league is just not gonna happen. Lax is a niche sport with a very small fan base compared to soccer, football, baseball, NASCAR etc. Lax has been a " the fasting growing sport" for decades now - if that were the case then there should be no problem w getting the fan base for college or pro league. Even at the college level one is lucky too see may a few thousands fans and then only at a high profile rivalry. Most college games get maybe a couple hundred fans. That fan base is not going to translate to a substantive fan base for a professional league.

The two weekend of PLL that I have watched - quite frankly boring. Clearly they are not drawing fans. Changing cities every week is a bad model - anyone remember LMX pro league - didn't think so. Same model and it failed.

As much as I am a lax fan, it is time for reality to set in - pro lax is a dream that will not make it. Time to watch some baseball and get ready for college football season.

Peace out

[Typical Lax Dad]

Caught the games on TV Sat and Sun. While there were some spectacular plays, ESPN Top 10 Worthy, afterwards thinking about it , I kind of felt like I watched the NFL Pro Bowl or the NBA All Star Game. Not much strategy, little team work, simple defense and a lot of I'll take it to the goal or make the flashy assist mentality. Hopefully as season progress some of these will change. Also smaller stadium, too many empty seats.

The short field and short shot clock lead to that. I noticed it last year with the MLL. a sameness quality. I am dreading college lacrosse going to a shorter clock. I think 80 seconds is fine. Didn't watch a single game last season and thought it was too slow. 20 second clearing clock and short box added to the game and increased "pace of play".