In an extraordinary move, professional lacrosse organizations Major League Lacrosse (MLL), and the newest addition to the profession, the Premier Lacrosse League  (PLL) have merged, and will now be known as the Premier Lacrosse League. The merger is going to have a huge impact on former Major League Lacrosse teams, their officials, their administration, and their fans. It will also greatly affect the 2021 schedules, as well as all future schedules. The joining of the two programs comes with the hope that the sport’s popularity will grow, as stated by PLL co-founder Mike Rabil below:

[T]he unification of PLL and MLL puts the game first by providing our athletes and fans a single destination for the best lacrosse in the world, across every medium, coming this Summer 2021 on NBC Sports. I can’t think of anything better and more exciting for the sport.”

Our own (formerly) Boston Cannons are the first to feel the shockwaves:

LOS ANGELES (December 16, 2020) – The Premier Lacrosse League (“PLL”) and Major League Lacrosse (“MLL”) have merged with subsequent season operations and activities to formally exist under the Premier Lacrosse League.

As part of the merger, the PLL will immediately expand to include the Boston Cannons as the PLL’s eighth team, under the rebranded name Cannons Lacrosse Club. The Cannons Lacrosse Club roster will be entirely selected through an Expansion Draft in 2021. Additionally, the PLL will retain the rights to all of the former MLL teams for future expansion considerations.

The PLL will be rebranding all of its new teams to omit their affiliation with geographical locations. From now on, PLL teams will move from city-to-city, seemingly with no specific “home team.” In addition, the teams will basically be reformed from scratch, with all players entered into the expansion draft. I’m sure that the Cannons and other teams are busily preparing new websites, anticipating adding new logos, rosters, and schedules. 

The ramifications have yet to be fully realized, but we predict this shift will eventually be viewed as innovative, exciting, and the New Normal. At any rate, that’s our hope.