The Premier Lacrosse League will be dropping their highly-anticipated inaugural list of home cities Tuesday, November 14th. The announcement will come during the 2PM episode of Sports Center with league co-founder Paul Rabil breaking everything down.
Eight teams. Eight homes.
Coming tomorrow.
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— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) November 13, 2023
This announcement by the PLL appears to be a double-edged sword. On one hand, I’m beyond excited and curious to see which cities/regions get selected to play home to the right franchises; on the other hand, it appears as if the league is about to make a massive mistake with its branding.
Let’s start with the cities. There are some options that seem obvious like Cannons returning to their original home turf during their MLL days up in Boston. Waterdogs seem like a solid fit for Chicago given their attachment to the Pardon My Take podcast and the free advertising that comes with it. A lot of people seem to think the Archers belong in Philadelphia (I don’t and I hate anyone who suggests it as an option). Others seem like a bit of a toss-up.
This leads into what I believe would be a major mistake when it comes to branding. Regions like the Baltimore/DMV area as well as NYC and Rochester are major hotbeds and former MLL home cities. It would make a lot of sense to have them to be a part of this announcement… Until you realize the league might drop current brands for the old ones.
First things first, I will assume the right to speak for all Marylanders and say we’ll be just fine if the Bayhawks don’t return right away and come a year or two later as an expansion team. Our fandom won’t diminish if we don’t get a team right away. I’m sure the people of the tri-state area would feel the same way about the Lizards and Rattlers. Although the name Lizards should never return.
The league has spent 5 years building up 7 new brands and reviving one previous MLL brand. This clearly shows the revival-through-expansion option is completely viable and sensible. Also, if the league does away with the other 7 I can’t see any avenue to ever bring them back. The old MLL brands can be revived anytime they want and it will always make sense.
I really hope the league does the right thing and keeps all 8 current brands when they announce these cities.
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