Hollywood A-listers Glen Powell and Rob Mac are among the many traders collaborating within the Premier Lacrosse League’s new $100 million financing spherical.
The Sequence E spherical, led by Ares and Joe Tsai, is the biggest capital elevate within the historical past of professional lacrosse. ESPN, which took a stake within the league in 2025, made a brand new minority fairness funding as a part of the most recent transaction. The funds will go towards the PLL in addition to its company sibling the Girls’s Lacrosse League.
A breakdown of particular person stake particulars and financials was not supplied by the league or its traders.
Together with co-creating and starring in It’s All the time Sunny in Philadelphia, Mac (who filed to legally change his surname final 12 months from McElhenny) has teamed with Ryan Reynolds on FX docuseries Welcome to Wrexham. The sequence tracks the pair’s funding in Wrexham AFC, a once-downtrodden group in Wales that has since risen to the verge of a promotion to the Premier League, the best tier of British professional soccer.
In an interview with Deadline, PLL co-founder and president Paul Rabil mentioned Wrexham presents a mannequin of the type of pop-culture crossover lacrosse is eyeing because it continues to develop. Whereas the ranks of highschool and school gamers are steadily growing, and ESPN’s buy-in has delivered a lift, the game hopes to in the future have its Mighty Geese second. Mac and Reynolds confirmed savvy in exploiting the upside in American fandom for Wrexham AFC and Rabil mentioned he has mentioned the same potential for lacrosse. Powell, who first met Rabil in 2023, “has ambition past the display screen,” Rabil mentioned, “and he’s actually considerate and likes to construct issues.”
Together with common lead roles in function movies, Powell entered extra entrepreneurial territory with Chad Powers, a Hulu comedy sequence he starred in, co-created and govt produced. The present’s producers additionally embrace former athletes Eli and Peyton Manning in addition to ESPN.
Lacrosse has “the substances to develop into one of the vital thrilling development tales in sports activities,” Powell, who performed on a membership group throughout highschool, mentioned in a press release. The star will collaborate as a inventive advisor to the PLL on “storytelling, model technique, and inventive growth” and work with league co-founders Paul and Mike Rabil to increase the PLL and WLL to Texas, a press launch mentioned. “I’m thrilled to put money into the PLL and WLL and assist carry skilled lacrosse to the forefront of tradition,” Powell added. “Beginning with my dwelling state of Texas.”
Different traders within the Sequence E spherical embrace nation music artist Warren Zeiders, and actor Tony Cavalero. As a part of the financing, Co-Head of Ares Sports activities, Media and Leisure Jim Miller will be a part of the PLL’s board of administrators.
The PLL mentioned the inflow of capital will go towards increasing media distribution and authentic storytelling; rising sponsorship and business partnerships; deepening funding within the WLL; and broadening entry to youth lacrosse. The funding comes in the course of the runup to a milestone for the fashionable incarnation of the game, which was invented centuries in the past by Native People, with its inclusion within the 2028 Summer season Olympics in Los Angeles.
“Lacrosse is coming into one of the vital necessary durations in its historical past. With the Olympics on the horizon, we have now a possibility to introduce the game to a brand new technology of followers and athletes all over the world,” mentioned Mike Rabil, co-founder and CEO of the PLL.
Further traders embrace Creator Sports activities Capital, Carolyn Tisch Blodgett’s Subsequent 3, FirstTracks Sports activities Ventures, Jed Hart, West Finish Funding Administration, James Younger, Bolt Ventures (the non-public funding platform of David Blitzer), and Chris Shumway.
“We couldn’t be extra excited to associate with Ares, Joe Tsai, and this suite of strategic and passionate traders,” Paul Rabil mentioned within the press launch. “It’s a strong sign when probably the most revered traders in sports activities consider not solely in the place lacrosse is at this time, however in the place it’s going. And to carry a former participant now transcendent actor like Glen Powell onto our possession group, paired with Wrexham proprietor, actor and producer, Rob McElhenney – amongst different entertainers – will make a giant distinction in our model and storytelling efforts.”
The Raine Group served as monetary advisor to the PLL on the transaction.