PLL games will return either in the Mid Atlantic, Southeast or MidwestGETTY IMAGES
The PLL is changing the format of its season to a two-week tournament in quarantined conditions. The PLL Championship Series presented by Ticketmaster will air on NBC Sports and take place at a to-be-announced location during the previous Olympics window. Coming off a successful first year, the league planned to begin its sophomore season late this month at Gillette Stadium. However, due to the realities of the coronavirus pandemic, PLL co-Founder Paul Rabil said that he started evaluating 12 different scenarios for how this season could look and ultimately landed on the two-week tournament, which will take place July 25-Aug. 9. Rabil made the announcement this morning on NBC’s “Today.” Rabil said that he and his brother and fellow co-founder and CEO Mike Rabil were able to sell the PLL’s investors, board and partners on the idea because it will roughly fulfill all sponsor and media obligations for the year. Still, like all leagues this year, the PLL will take a financial loss on ticket revenue. Paul Rabil said the league is going to pick a location from three different options under consideration -- one in the Mid Atlantic, one in the Southeast and one in the Midwest.
HOPEFUL OF MORE TESTING: The late July time frame was chosen in part because the U.S. is expected to have significantly more coronavirus testing then. All participants will have to self-quarantine for a period of time before traveling to the tournament and will be tested for the virus multiple times before and during the event. Rabil expects to have fewer than 300 people on site, and pointed out that the league’s seven-team structure has now become somewhat of an advantage in this climate. He noted that the league has been consulting with infectious disease experts and has formed a medical committee. Twenty games will air on NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold. The PLL built up a sizable media arm during its first season to help pump out highlights and other content on social media, and Rabil said that has become an advantage for the league at a time when it cannot sell tickets.
WORKING WITH SPONSORS: The PLL has been able to work with its sponsors to shift event assets to more of a media package, and it is working with brands including Bose, Chipotle and Utz on digital campaigns. Rabil said, "This is an opportunity for new sponsors to come in, and we’ve said from the beginning that the gold standard is media rights and the sponsorship business. Certainly ticket, gate, merch, on-site local sponsorship activation -- all of that stuff is critical to our overarching revenue streams, and all leagues are having to deal with that. But for us it’s an opportunity to continue to push forward to try to capture mass eyeballs and then be able to fulfill and add new sponsorships.”
