Box lacrosse’s beef with Paul Rabil, the PLL and “professional lacrosse”
Paul Rabil, Philadelphia Wings 2013 (Photo: Larry Palumbo)
Last week, Paul Rabil pissed off box lacrosse Twitter.
Again.
In an interview with Amazon Prime’s Sports Talk on Prime, Rabil was asked what needs to happen to allow professional lacrosse players (they were talking Premier Lacrosse League of course) to make a full-time living playing pro ball.
While Rabil discussed why and how the PLL has attempted to make bigger stars of their present-day players, it was this quote that sent box Twitter into another tirade…
Our MVP is Trevor Baptiste. He’s the first black lacrosse MVP, professionally speaking.
He elaborated further on making lacrosse more accessible to a greater number of people, but it was a hard stop for most box peeps after Rabil reeled off that inaccurate claim.
Travis Cornwall, who has played in the National Lacrosse League since 2012, responded by quote tweeting the show…
Dhane Smith, who was the NLL’s first black MVP in 2016 (“Dhane Smith, NLL’s first black MVP, went unacknowledged. Here’s why it matters.” - Buffalo News), and then won it again last year, plays for the NLL’s Buffalo Bandits and the PLL’s Chaos. Trevor Baptiste, who also competes in both leagues, won the PLL’s MVP in 2022.
Later that day, Rabil responded (and so did Baptiste):
For those new to the wonderful world of professional lacrosse, the MLL is Major League Lacrosse (not to be confused with Major Series Lacrosse, but more on them later), which was eventually eaten up by the PLL, and has one former team’s brand present in today’s PLL (the Cannons – previously known as the Boston Cannons). The NLL is box (AKA “indoor” to many still) lacrosse, the PLL is field, and the MLL was field.
Again, for those brand new or even just newish to pro lacrosse, after reading the above, how completely confused are you while trying to connect our game’s convoluted dots? Incredibly is the only correct response.
Although The Lax Mag will often take our own shots directed at the PLL on social media (just having a bit of fun, doubt they spend more than two seconds sulking over it), that continued chaos when it comes to lacrosse comms (and yes, we know this goes well beyond pro) is why we probably shouldn’t be so over-the-top outraged whenever Paul and the PLL attempt to stamp their burgeoning brand as “professional lacrosse”.
Even though it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to lacrosse’s million and one layers of leagues, governing bodies, versions, rules, etc., the below convo Crystal Sorem (AKA NLLer Jeff Henrick’s GF + a TikTok smash hit + a former Buckeye) is having with herself is absurdly accurate (and funny AF)…
Throw in Sixes, which is the still very new version of the sport that is now played on the international stage (and potentially 2028 Olympics), and most are left in a massive mental pretzel (- Paul Dawson). Also, probably best not to mention Sixes to Sorem, or that Casey Powell has a version called Speed.
How can someone sell a sport to a new audience, which Rabil is attempting to do with the PLL, when you need at least half an hour to effectively elevator pitch professional lacrosse to a newbie North American sports fan? You can’t.
Although the PLL has recently added Sixes to their on-field offering (and if that’s the version the world will be seeing, it kinda makes sense, no?), they’ve largely erased “box" lacrosse” from their vocab.
Why?
1. Sure there are many, many, many similarities, but field & box can also look wildly different from just the straight up visual, to the rules, playing field, equipment, style, culture, etc. So, again, constant confusion to those living outside of our lax bubble.
2. Whether you want to consider them an indirect one because of their opposite season of play, the PLL & NLL are competitors, both striving to be #1 in the pro lacrosse space.
When someone hears mention of “professional wrestling”, the overwhelming majority immediately thinks of the World Wrestling Entertainment. You could count on one hand the number of times the WWE, and WWF before that, have referred to one of their competitors on television, in their magazine, website, social or any other public space as far back as the very early 80s.
Most simply refer to mixed martial arts (which started selling itself as no-holds-barred fighting in the US before the less violent MMA moniker was more often used) as UFC, the Ultimately Fighting Championship. Hockey the NHL. Football obviously the NFL. MLB is baseball. You get the idea.
Lacrosse? You’ll either get NLL, PLL or, like Joe Rogan asked, “Who the fuck plays professional lacrosse?” Whether you want to believe it or not, Rogan’s opinion is the one most in the mainstream have.
The only time Pepsi or Coke acknowledge the other exists is when they’re telling us how pitiful that other pop tastes. Remember The Pepsi Challenge?
Although NLL & box backers often feel like he’s taking a giant shit on our product, when Rabil refers to the PLL as “professional lacrosse”, it’s just Marketing 101. The PLL & Rabil want to own the professional lacrosse space. They want their audience to have the PLL logo pop into their head when someone says “professional lacrosse”. Although Sorem did a stupendous job on breaking down the two versions in a tiny Tiktok window, most don’t have the patience or Fs to give to listen to our sport’s sorted story.
Paul Rabil, Team USA, 2017 Heritage Cup (Photo: Larry Palumbo)
So, should we throw a fit when Rabil attempts to take ownership of pro lacrosse, which actually predates even the NLL (with of course another NLL-named league that has absolutely nothing to do with today’s actual NLL), or fight back?
Also, does Paul Suggate go ballistic when his 458 points with the Maryland Arrows (1974 & 1975) get zero mention in pro-lacrosse-point-total talk? He did a bit of scoring in a third (and actual original) NLL league and the Eastern Lacrosse League (considered pro-level lacrosse) in the 60s too.
As many have pondered, does Rabil hate box lacrosse?
While he did choose pro field (MLL) over the NLL about a decade ago, that was done in order to fully commit himself to one league, versus giving under 100% to both. We’ve referenced the tweet in the past, but just to reiterate his reasoning…
Rabil would later leave the MLL, co-found the PLL, work & play in the start-up league, but again, to invest himself one hundo to one gig, eventually hung up his cleats to push the PLL as their president (and PR machine).
That’s not the box or Canadian lacrosse way, where players typically play as much lacrosse over a calendar year as possible, whether seasons overlap or not. While the NLL is always their focus, fitting in Senior A seasons in the summer, previously either the MLL or PLL, rando field tournaments, and even the odd men’s league game was a way of life. Especially if an extra couple bucks could be made. Whether they’re playing for love, money or both, can you blame them?
Paul and the PLL kinda pissed on that too, this past summer preventing players from competing in Canada’s amateur (which are actually professional, let’s be honest) leagues through a clause in their contracts.
It wasn’t that long ago that the NLL almost attempted to do the same after seeing many of their stars sidelined while playing in Major Series Lacrosse (Ontario), the Western Lacrosse Association (British Columbia) or other lesser Senior seasons north of the border. It never went past internal-league talk though.
While both the PLL & NLL have invested heavily in their teams & players, millions and likely billions by now, one snapped ankle sliding on sweaty Canadian concrete in the summer could keep top talent out for as much as a year depending on the severity of the injury. It’s happened, many times.
While professional lacrosse paydays (we’re talking both leagues just to clarify) have increased over the years (by a lot in comparison to cheques cut in the 90s), it’s not nearly enough to dictate where a player can or can’t play after their pro campaign has closed for the season. Although it would only be a handful of elite players (many of which the PLL wants if not needs,), some make more money playing “amateur” lacrosse during Canadian summers than they do in the PLL. Although most of those elite players opted for the PLL last summer, many believe that a number of those talents will choose Canadian box over American field in 2023.
Bryce Sweeting and Mark Matthews, Peterborough Lakers (Photo: David Pickering)
The NLL also came kinda close to launching their own pro field league well over a decade ago, even including player’s summer-season rights in trades. It obviously never happened. Many saved millions.
From conversations and online interactions I’ve had with him, Rabil absolutely loved his time playing in the NLL, and would have continued if he could. Although there’s that narrative that he left the NLL because he wasn’t good enough, that just isn’t true. During his time playing a transition-heavy role with the San Jose & Washington Stealth, he was one of the league’s better two-way talents, especially in the franchise’s 2010 Cup run. As a full-time forward in Philadelphia, he wasn’t as successful, but was far from forgettable.
But does he hate box now?
If he does, attending this past weekend’s first-ever outdoor NLL game between the San Diego Seals & Las Vegas Desert Dogs must have been hell for him. It wasn’t.
In The Lax Mag’s 2022-23 pre-season NLL poll, we asked players how the NLL should approach the PLL: compete, partner or ignore? The creating-some-type-of-partnership option easily conquered the question (71%). In reality, however, how would that even be possible while avoiding the various roadblocks we’ve already addressed?
The leagues, who share a handful of owners and/or investors, are two separate businesses searching for space in a suffocatingly saturated North American sports market. They can’t waste time on offending the opposition and being nice in the boardroom won’t get you very far.
Do you remember Dana White begging for forgiveness when he regularly scoffed at Strikeforce (exactly, you’re probably saying, “Who?”) while building UFC into one of the biggest sporting brands on the planet? Never happened.
If the PLL & NLL high-fived & partnered up to #growthegame, again, how would that even look? Outside of solving a few problems within our lacrosse bubble (avoiding schedule overlaps being a big one, although Baptiste points out the PLL has recently done their part), would a partnership even help much with the ultimate goal of pushing professional lacrosse in front of a more mainstream sports market? Those North American pro sports fanatics are already not watching our game (sure, a small percentage are), and now we want them to invest their eyeballs & dollars into two pro versions of the game? That’s an astronomical ask, but is very much what’s being attempted now.
Can the two leagues coexist? Not in perfect harmony obviously, but sure, they’ve been doing it since 1999 when the MLL first set up shop (Note: the NLL was founded in 1987). Sharing multiple owners/investors and some of their very best players, they kinda have to, although as schedules expand (and if players want to earn more money, well, more games & tickets sold are a must), players may need to choose - like Canadians were already forced to last summer - one or the other.
So, should the box lacrosse bubble have beef with Paul Rabil? We believe our game is better, it’s been around longer, and it most certainly is professional lacrosse, so sure, get fired up, but remember…
It’s not personal, it’s just business.