PLL Project Next: The Anatomy of a Host City

Will Manny is one of the directors of the Utah Summit Lacrosse Club. He also is a founder of the Utah Lynx Lacrosse Club, an elite girls’ program. He said between the two, they have over 400 boys and girls involved. When the PLL visits Salt Lake City in the final weekend of the regular season August 25-26, not only did Manny say it was going to be a sold out crowd, he added that players from his 2031 and 2032 teams are going to be playing at halftime.

Utah is a finalist to be one of the eight home cities for a PLL team in 2024, and Manny — an attackman on the Whipsnakes — already has some branding ideas.

“It rolls off the tongue nice,” he said. “The Salt Lake Snakes sounds pretty cool.”

With 12 of his Whipsnakes teammates being alumni of Maryland — and Baltimore and Washington, D.C., also among the finalists — he might be the only player thinking of putting the Whipsnakes in Utah, but the PLL going to a city-based format does have people, players included, fantasizing.

The conversation got closer to reality as the league announced the 26 finalists to be home locations. That list seems even smaller when you consider how some of those selections overlap or cover similar territory, such as Albany and New York; Carolina, Charlotte and Raleigh; Baltimore and Washington, D.C.; and Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Even Manny said a team in Utah could have plenty of supporters from nearby Denver, Idaho, Wyoming and Arizona.

FINALIST LOCATIONS

Albany
Baltimore
Boston
California
Carolina
Charlotte
Chicago
Columbus
Connecticut
Dallas
Denver
Great Lakes
Kansas City
Louisville
Maryland
Minneapolis
Minnesota
New York
Pacific Northwest
Philadelphia
Raleigh
Rocky Mountain
Seattle
Texas
Utah
Washington, D.C.

According to league co-founder Paul Rabil, who spoke to the media prior to the All-Star Game, finalist locations were based off fan voting, ticketing turnouts in markets they had been in, and, for markets they hadn’t been in, like All-Star Game host Louisville, they collected data from ESPN, Ticketmaster and Live Nation, and USA Lacrosse participation data.

Rabil also said the feedback from players and coaches and venue availability — primary, secondary and tertiary options — also play a role. Depending on how much they factor player opinion, Louisville is a strong candidate after the 2023 All-Star Game.

Many of the finalist locations did not surprise players. The PLL has played in Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore every season. The league has also started each of the past two seasons in Albany, and before the opening weekend, Rabil spoke highly of the city not only for the crowd it drew but for its ability to house the league for multiple weeks of training camp.

Players were surprised, however, when the PLL announced the All-Star Game would be played in Louisville. After the festivities, the players came away impressed.

“Their facilities were top notch,” Chrome goalie Sean Sconone said. “The soccer field, the grass we played on was pristine.”

“When we arrived to the stadium, specifically, I was honestly blown away,” Atlas midfielder Bryan Costabile said. “The stadium itself was really cool. It was a good size to where they could fit enough fans in the stands, but also there was like little grassy parts that people could sit on. They packed it. … I don’t know how many tickets they sold, but it had to be quite a lot, so the atmosphere was awesome.”

They also enjoyed the entertainment options away from the field, whether it was checking out Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, or the plentiful barbecue available to consume postgame.

While some cities may be more familiar than others, Sconone said every place features something special, and he tries to take part in as much as he can. In 2022, the PLL traveled to Seattle for the first time. Sconone and Connor Farrell flew in a day earlier, went to a Seattle Seahawks preseason game and enjoyed the Pike Place Fish Market. When the PLL was in Denver, Costabile visited Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre.

Manny, who is now in his eleventh season as a pro, said he makes it a point every year to pick two or three places ahead of time and extend the weekend and explore the city with his fiancée.

“Last year, we were in Dallas, and one of her really good friends growing up was there, so we stayed an extra night or two, went to a rodeo and did some fun stuff there,” he said. “My fiancée hates that I leave every weekend over the summer, but it’s also great to have her there and explore a different city together for two or three days because it doesn’t happen too often, and I just feel grateful every time I have the opportunity to do something like that.”

In addition to Louisville, another non-hotbed finalist players spoke highly of was Minneapolis. Costabile pointed out that the hotel the players stay in — the Omni — is comfortable, and he loved getting to not only practice at the training facility of the Minnesota Vikings but also have meals prepared by the team’s chefs.

Similar to how many players in Major League Lacrosse enjoyed visiting the Outlaws, which was owned by Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, the places that made players feel like respected professional athletes were memorable.

“All we’re looking for is like a good place to sleep or hang out and have some good food and just be able to really be professional athletes and treated seriously like we do, and I know the league does,” Costabile said. “Obviously, lacrosse sometimes isn’t looked at as maybe a football or a basketball or a baseball where they’re not staying in five-star hotels and getting the best stuff, and we understand that. We’re not looking for that, but it’s just a matter of having somewhere good to rest your head at night and eating well and not having to eat like cheeseburgers before a game, being able to fuel your body well to play at the highest level.”

At the end of the day, however, the factor that makes the biggest impact on the players is the engagement from the fans. The cheers after great plays, the appreciation after a postgame autograph or selfie and even the chirping from the stands make for an exciting environment.

“What really makes our experience that much better is when you walk out of the locker room, and all the kids are screaming at you, yelling at you for high fives,” Sconone said. “Like when we go to Homewood or go to Fairfield, Connecticut, and kids are swarming you at the end, it’s a really cool experience.”

As the PLL moves forward in Project Next, the players hope having connections to a city can give their teams a home-field boost.

Sconone watched the Netflix documentary series “Quarterback” and saw the impact the energy of the fans gave the Kansas City Chiefs. It reminded him of the 2019 MLL championship game and how the crowd in Denver got behind the hometown Outlaws. Manny said there was “nothing better” than living in Boston, working in Boston and playing for the Boston Cannons. He added it was exciting to get to a game and see most of the crowd wearing Cannons apparel — not to mention Manny jerseys.

“That’s pretty damn cool,” he said, “and something that I think brings the community together.”

Costabile said he frequently talks with his teammates about how cool it would be if they were all able to live in the same city and hang out together. He wished he could head to a field after work and get shots up with Xander Dickson and Jeff Teat. As the PLL plans to continue its touring model, those days may still be farther in the future.

That said, whatever cities the league does develop roots in for the 2024 season will likely have a fanbase excited for lacrosse.

“We’re all professionals, and we play this sport not for the fame, not for the money, like we really do play it because we love the game,” Costabile said. “We love traveling to these cities and experiencing people being super excited and wanting to see us play a sport that we have devoted our life to.”