Co-Founder of Premier Lacrosse League

Paul Rabil | Biography 2021

• By Chetana
• Update : July 18, 2021

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Paul Rabil is a prominent lacrosse player of the indoor lacrosse National Lacrosse League. He is also the co-founder of the Premier Lacrosse League.

Who is Paul Rabil?

Paul Rabil, who started playing lacrosse at 12, started gaining popularity in 2008 when he played for the University Lacrosse team.

He was drafted by the National Lacrosse League in 2008 and was soon picked by the Boston Cannons to play in the Major Lacrosse League (MLL). He played for the Boston Cannons for seven years, till 2014. During his time with Boston Cannons, Rabil had won major accolades of the league such as MLL ‘All-Star Team’ for seven consecutive years, MLL ‘Most Valuable Player Award’ and ‘MLL First-Team All-Pro, for six consecutive years, and the MLL ‘Offensive Player of the Year Award’ for three consecutive years.

In 2011, he became the first MLL player to have both MLL Bud Light Skills Competition and the MLL Fastest Shot competition.

In 2015, he was picked by the New York Lizards, and then he went on to win the MLL Steinfeld Cup Championship, along with Coca-Cola ‘Player of the Game’ and ‘Most Valuable Player of the Championship.’

Then, in 2016, he co-founded an investing company providing expertise and advice for companies in need of funding, management, or operation. In 2018, Rabil introduced a new lacrosse league Premier Lacrosse League, which competed against the existing prominent league PLL.

In 2021, he began hosting the podcast Suiting Up that discusses the crucial moments of the sportspeople during their game, their strategies and gives motivational talks. 

Early Bio

Paul Rabil was born on 14 December 1985 in Montgomery Village, Maryland. He went to DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. Between 2004 and 2008, Rabil went to Johns Hopkins University and graduated with a degree in Political Science and Entrepreneurship and Management.

Rabil was introduced to lacrosse by a friend who gave him a spare lacrosse stick at 12. He lost his first game but eventually joined the Montgomery Village Sports Association in his neighborhood and went on to play for his university’s lacrosse team at Hopkins.

Career

While playing for Hopkins in 2008, Rabil was drafted by the National Lacrosse League (NLL), ranking him first in overall players. The same year, he was picked by the Boston Cannons during the first-round pick for the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft.

He began playing in the MLL, and his first game as a national league player was the 2008 All-Star Game. He won the 2008 game and received MLL ‘All-Star Team,’ which continued for seven consecutive years.

Then, in 2009, Rabil was named the MLL ‘Most Valuable Player Award’ and ‘MLL First-Team All-Pro, which also continued for six years in a row. He also won the MLL ‘Offensive Player of the Year Award’ three times in a row.

Further, in 2011, Rabil became the first player in MLL history to have won the MLL Bud Light Skills Competition and MLL Fastest Shot competition. He recorded the highest single-season points of the Boston Cannons as a midfielder, which was 72 points by a player.

Besides the MLL competitions, Rabil played for Washington Stealth in the 2010 National Lacrosse League Champions Cup team. His team defeated the Toronto Rock in that game, and he set a new team record for the number of loose balls in a season. He was ranked in the 153rd position among 16 National Lacrosse League games that year.

Then in the 2015 NLL draft picks, he was traded from Boston Cannons to New York Lizards. That year, his team defeated the Rochester Rattlers by two points and took home the MLL Steinfeld Cup, and Rabil was awarded the Coca-Cola ‘Player of the Game’ and ‘Most Valuable Player of the Championship.’

Premier Lacrosse League

In 2017, Rabil wanted to make some changes to the existing league system. So he soon partnered with his entrepreneur and investor brother, Mike Rabil, and planned to buy the MLL and work on it for changes.

However, in 2018 after series of discussions with the MLL, they found that creating a new league was more viable than buying an existing entity. So, Rabil formed a team with analysts and first began raising funds and attracting investors. But, the success of a new league was entirely dependent on the selection of players. Most importantly, they had to bring the popular athletes among fans, who would produce the highest level of competitiveness, and from whom the league could profit.

Almost all players Rabil got on board were drafted by the MLL, and to their benefit, MLL contracts were only one year long. So, they waited till the end of the season and approached selective athletes and offered them four times more remuneration than MLL with health benefits and stock options.

Subsequently, there was a significant decrease in the MLL players after Rabil made formal announcements about his League. As a result, in 2019, it reduced from nine all-time teams to only six teams in MLL.

In the initial announcement in October 2018, Rabil disclosed a great deal about his newly established Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The league aimed to provide the lacrosse community with a secure institution for the sport with the best players and a modern business model with significant financial support, national media coverage, and a unique touring structure to increase the engagement between the players and fans.

Additionally, Rabil introduced equity for the first time in the North American professional team sports league. The company was built in a conventional way where the player, through stock options, could own a part of the entity, which was different compared to the exiting leagues such as MLL and National Football League (NFL). 

“We’re building the professional sports league that lacrosse deserves. The best players in the world will be showcased like never before, thanks to a unique touring model, a robust media-rights partnership, and player content strategy,” he said in his press statement, and added, “…our players will be owners in the PLL, contributing to the build, competition, and ultimate success of the league. This is a product that aligns a league and the players like never before, serving a passionate fan base that deserves access to the sport nationwide, at state-of-the-art venues, and on screens everywhere.”

The PLL, when introduced in 2019, had secured economic backing from prestigious companies like The Raine Group, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), The Chernin Group, and Blum Capital. It had also signed up with NBC for an exclusive media partnership.

The league made its debut in 2019, with six teams playing for a season lasting for 14 weeks. It was a tour-based game module entirely televised by NBC.

By 2021, PLL was listed in the Fast Company’s ‘Top 10 Most Innovative Company in Sports,’ and had garnered additional corporate partners such as Ticketmaster, Adidas, Capital One, Gatorade, among others.

Other Ventures and Podcast

In 2016, Rabil co-founded an investment company Rabil Ventures, which provided advice and expertise on funding, operation, and business developments to entrepreneurs. The focal point of investment was sports companies, and it later extended its services to financial institutions and health services.

In 2021, Rabil launched his interview-style podcast Suiting Up, where he, along with other guests, reveals their sports experience, performance tips, etc., and gives motivation to the listeners from that experience and enlightens the viewers about the other side of the game. 

Personal Life

Rabil got married to a fellow lacrosse player Kelly Berger in 2014. However, they divorced in 2017.

Rabil then made headlines for dating the Baby Driver actress Eliza Gonzalez. Although he has not made any formal announcements, Gonzalez has updated their celebratory pictures on her social media platforms.