The PLL is Now With ESPN

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    The PLL just inked a new TV rights deal with ESPN & ABC. 

    Seems like something most people can get excited about right?

    I wish I could say Dan was correct, but I'm not willing to put that out there just yet. The deal was announced, but the details were not. We don't know yet how many games will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN main. How may games will be streaming only? Will they let baseball supersede lacrosse on broadcast channels and relegate the PLL to streaming only?

    ESPNs streaming app is awful. It will not work unless you're connected to wifi, so if you're out and about, jokes on you for paying for ESPN+. The league already has deals with NCAA lacrosse and the NLL, and while neither have been as active about marketing themselves when compared to the PLL, ESPN has still buried them in their lineups where they won't reach a more casual audience.

    I'm not sure why ESPN acts this way, they do the same thing with the NHL, which is a much bigger league than the PLL at this point. Why not tell us how many games will be on your broadcast networks? Are you going to bring the commentators from the NBC crew over, including bringing Ryan Boyle back? If not, are we going to be stuck with Quint Kessenich and Paul Carcaterra? I'm not here for that and you shouldn't be either. Give me the NBC crew, and if you can't get all of them at least get Boyle and put him together with Anish Shroff. I like Anish, and pairing him with Boyle would be solid.

    But I will go back on this again and again. If the company plans to bury a majority of games deep in the ESPN+ archives, this deal will be a complete bust for the PLL, and for lacrosse.

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