​The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) recently announced the closing of a $100 million Series E financing round led by Ares and Joe Tsai. ESPN, Creator Sports Capital, Glen Powell, and Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney) are among those who invested alongside.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPLL leadership recognized there were opportunities to capitalize on its recent momentum (see: the growing core business, the successful integration of a prominent youth sports business, the signing of new five-year media rights deals for PLL and WLL with ESPN) and position its two leagues to take advantage of the spotlight LA28 will place on the sport. The upcoming Olympic cycle is considered internally one of the most important periods in the organization’s history.“We have a chance to introduce the sport to a new generation of fans and athletes around the world,” Mike Rabil (co-founder and CEO, Premier Lacrosse League) said.Lacrosse has not appeared in the Games as a medal sport since 1908.But “all of those initiatives required growth capital,” Mike Rabil added.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSo, it went out and executed the largest capital raise in the history of professional lax.“We now have a good platform to continue to build off of,” Mike Rabil said. “The timing was right and the investment dollars will be used to fuel our growth.”The bet is the entity can harness modern media distribution and an integrated ownership structure to build a top-tier property.“Investing in the PLL and WLL means backing a property of a global discipline at [its] earliest stage, one whose rise is accelerated with the evolution of new media, and in doing so, owning a piece of the rare power sports have to command monolithic consumption operate commercially, and build real community and unity,” Paul Rabil (co-founder and president, Premier Lacrosse League) said.The influx of capital will enable PLL to invest in four core areas.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe first is the continued development of its men’s league, and that starts with expanding the season into spring. Historically, the PLL schedule ran June through early September to avoid overlapping with the high school and collegiate lacrosse seasons.“But summer is difficult. People travel, particularly between June and early July for club lacrosse. So, a lot of our core demo just isn’t in the markets when we’re there,” Mike Rabil said. “We also need to, from a tonnage perspective, create more games. More inventory means more revenue.”The alternative is to expand into the fall. But television windows are harder to come by post-Labor Day and competing for viewer attention with the NFL and college football is a losing proposition.The second is in developing its newly launched Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL).AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We’re excited about that property. We think it’s undervalued in our current valuation,” Mike Rabil said.That is partly a functi