For Trevor Baptiste, the 2018 offseason was a battle of racing thoughts against a racing clock.

The star faceoff specialist debated whether or not to spend a sophomore season with the Boston Cannons, the team that spent their first overall pick in the 2018 Major League Lacrosse Draft on him, or bet on Paul Rabil and join the Premier Lacrosse League.

He did the latter.

“Fate of A Sport” streams on Hulu starting Friday. The film follows PLL co-founder Paul Rabil through the intersection of his last years as a professional lacrosse player and beginning years as an entrepreneur, while he and his brother Mike Rabil contrived the PLL.

Paul Rabil was weary of the lack of funding, resources and exposure of the MLL. Recruiting some players to join his new league was easy, but others, like Baptiste, took longer to decide if they wanted to put the fate of their careers in the Rabils’ hands.

“I played one year in the MLL. I was a rookie. Humbly, I went No. 1,” Baptiste said. “I was feeling good about being a pro player. I didn’t really understand all of the mishaps that happened in the past. I wasn’t really privy to them. I can say with the Boston Cannons, I was treated extremely well as a player and a highly-drafted player. At first, I’m thinking I don’t want to jump ship on a team that picked me No. 1 unless it’s a really good reason.”

The promise of better compensation, game exposure and growth was sturdy enough grounds for Baptiste to stand on.

He joined the PLL in its inaugural year. In his four years on Atlas, he’s won 523 of 815 faceoffs (64.2%) and grabbed 261 groundballs. He was the league’s 2022 MVP, and the first Black player to ever do so. Baptiste is only the second-ever faceoff athlete to earn MVP honors in professional lacrosse history, joining Greg Gurenlian (2015 MLL MVP).

“The feeling that I got from Paul and Mike was that they’re in this to push the sport forward and they want this game to grow,” Baptiste said. “I had to take their word for that. There was a very high level of trust that had to happen with me and a lot of players.”

Grow it did.

The 2022 season, which streamed on ESPN and ESPN+, was the most-watched season across broadcasts in the PLL’s four-year history. Game attendance went up 15% from last season, viewership increased and social media impressions for the year hit 354.5 million.

“I’ve had more experiences than I’ve ever had in lacrosse in these four years,” Baptiste said. “That comes from playing professionally on TV, having a prime-time game spot and doing interviews with brands. When it comes to sponsorships too, I’ve 100% benefited from the PLL more so than I was in the MLL.”

Baptiste’s game also improved. The 2020 merger of the PLL and MLL brought the best lacrosse talent in the world together in one league. Every roster spot was sought after and fought for. The competitive nature rose with the skill level. There was a tectonic shift in the sports foundation. Players wanted to play. 

Many who were drafted in the second and third rounds of the MLL could play, but often didn’t, Baptiste said.

“There was this undertone of top Division I lacrosse was the pinnacle of the sport,” Baptiste said. “What I think the PLL has shown undoubtedly is that this is the next level. Now, you have guys getting drafted in the third round that are coming to camp and want to make a roster.

“In the MLL, there was always that question of, ‘Are you going to play or not?’ Now, it’s a no-brainer, it’s ‘Why wouldn’t I?’”

Baptiste hopes the more the league expands, the more diverse it will become.

“It doesn’t matter who where you come from, who you are, where you went to school, you have a spot if you work hard and try to be the best and lacrosse is happy to have you.”