LOS ANGELES – June 7, 2024 – The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) powered by Ticketmaster opened its 2024 season with growth across streaming, game attendance, merchandise sales, and social reach – recording the 3rd-most watched game in league history on ABC, growth in ESPN+ engagement, and the league’s highest ever sales weekend.

The opening game of the PLL season on ABC was the third-most-watched game in league history, with 421,000 viewers on average and 597,000 at peak, behind only ABC’s first games of the 2023 (543K) and 2022 PLL seasons (452K). Linear viewership grew among key demographics of P18-34 (up 71 percent) and P12-17 (up 14 percent), and ESPN+ engagement with the PLL’s 2024 Opening Weekend was up 23% year-over-year.

The PLL also recorded its highest merchandise sales yet, and charted growth across the business:

• Ticketing
  • 12% growth in attendance YoY
• Merchandise
  • 33.5% growth in sales YoY
• PLL App
  • 64% increase in active users YoY
  • 145% increase in user sessions YoY
  • Highest ever active users for a PLL game weekend
• League and Team Social
  • 26% increase in engagement YoY
  • 80% increase in views YoY
• PLL Play
  • 70% increase in Opening Weekend Classic participation YoY

“The momentum behind our league and the sport of lacrosse was palpable throughout Opening Weekend, when our teams took the field, playing for the cities across their chests for the first time,” said Paul Rabil, Co-Founder and President of the Premier Lacrosse League. “That momentum converted to continued growth across our league’s key business units among key demographics that we’ll build on through the rest of the 2024 season, as we bring the rest of our teams home to their new fan bases.”

This season, PLL teams will compete representing home cities for the first time, and Eastern and Western conference championships in pursuit of the 2024 PLL Cash App Championship. The PLL debuted new fan experience features at this year’s Opening Weekend – also the New York Atlas homecoming weekend – centered on elevating the home team. The New York Atlas went 2-0 in their home debut behind stand out performances from #2 College Draft pick Connor Shellenberger and veteran attackman Jeff Teat.

The PLL season continues in Charlotte – a homecoming for the Carolina Chaos – June 7 and 8 at American Legion Memorial Stadium with games on ESPN2 and ESPN+. To view the PLL schedule and purchase tickets, visit premierlacrosseleague.com/schedule.

About the Premier Lacrosse League
The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) powered by Ticketmaster is a men’s professional lacrosse league in North America, composed of eight teams rostered by the best players in the world. Co-founded by lacrosse superstar, philanthropist, and investor Paul Rabil and his brother, serial entrepreneur and investor, Mike Rabil, the PLL is backed by an investment group composed of Joe Tsai Sports, The Chernin Group, Arctos Sports Partners, Brett Jefferson Holdings, The Raine Group, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), The Kraft Group, Bolt Capital and other top investors in sports and media. The PLL is distributed through an exclusive media rights agreement with ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN+. The PLL was named 2023 Best Place to Work in Sports, and 2020 Sports Breakthrough by the Sports Business Journal, and recognized as a 2021 Best Employer in Sports by  Front Office Sports. For more on the league, visit www.premierlacrosseleague.com and follow on social media: Instagram (@PLL), Twitter (@PremierLacrosse), Facebook (@PremierLacrosseLeague), YouTube (YouTube.com/PLL) and TikTok (@pll).