| League: | Premier Lacrosse League |
| Sport: | Field Lacrosse |
| Defending Champs: | Utah Archers |
| No Of Teams: | 8 |
| Duration: | June 1 – September 15 |
| Season: | 6th Season |
| League Champs: | Utah Archers (2nd Title) |
| Second Place: | Maryland Whipsnakes |
| Mvp: | Jeff Teat |
| Finals Mvp: | Brett Dobson |
| Seasonslistnames: | PLL |
| Prevseason Link: | 2023 |
| Prevseason Year: | 2023 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2025 |
The 2024 Premier Lacrosse League Season was the 6th season of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The regular season began on June 3 and ran through August 17th. The playoffs ran from September 2 through September 15. This is the first season where PLL teams were assigned to home cities.
The Atlas went 7-3 and earned the #1 seed on the back of Jeff Teat shattering the single-season points record with 64– the previous record being 44, and breaking the assists record with 28.
The Utah Archers were crowned champions on September 15th, beating the Whipsnakes 12-8, securing back-to-back championships for the first time since the Whipsnakes in 2019-2020.
On May 25, 2023 the PLL announced that the 8 teams will be assigned home cities for the 2024 season. The PLL's tour-based model would still be used with every team playing in one city every weekend (excluding byes), but the home team would play a weekend double-header in the new scheduling system. This move was explained by PLL co-founder and CEO, Mike Rabil in their announcement, “When we looked at our growth over the last five years, matched by our goals, objectives and expansion, tying our teams to home cities was a natural next step for the business."[1]
Starting on June 3, PLL fans were able to vote on which cities should receive teams, but the league would also be considering previous pro-lacrosse ticket success, fan engagement, venues, and TV ratings.[2]
Home cities and team identities were announced on SportsCenter on November 14, 2023. The eight teams would be the Boston Cannons, California Redwoods, Carolina Chaos, Denver Outlaws, Maryland Whipsnakes, New York Atlas, Philadelphia Waterdogs, and Utah Archers. All eight teams were rebranded with new logos, fonts, and jerseys. However, major changes came to the Maryland Whipsnakes and Chrome Lacrosse Club. The Whipsnakes changed their colors from red and green to red, black, and yellow to better match the Maryland Flag. The Chrome rebranded as the Denver Outlaws, sharing a name with Denver’s former MLL team.[3]
Home City Location Map
New League Structure
Alongside the addition of geographical teams, the PLL added conferences and a new playoff bracket for the 2024 season. In the new Eastern and Western Conference system, the top team from each conference will receive a first-round bye to the semifinals. The next best 4 teams, regardless of conference, will receive the final playoff spots, and subsequently the worst two teams, regardless of conference, will be eliminated from the playoffs.[4]
Notable Retirements
Other Retirements
Free Agency
Free Agency occurred from March 4 to May 10. Eligible players were any player with an expired contract or any player who was not on an active roster for 30% of the clubs' games.[17]
The college draft took place on May 7 at 7 pm (ET) and was broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN+.[19] The newest PLL team, the Denver Outlaws made the most selections with 5, including the number one overall pick, Duke Attackman Brennan O'Neill. The Boston Cannons made the fewest selections with 3.
In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades that took place during the 2024 draft.
| America East | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| ACC | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| Atlantic 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Big East | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| Big Ten | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 11 | |
| CAA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Ivy League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Patriot League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Duke | |
| 3 | Notre Dame, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins | |
| 2 | Virginia, Maryland, Rutgers, Michigan | |
| 1 | Albany, Yale, Marquette, Syracuse, Penn State, Saint Joseph's, Villanova, Ohio State, Towson, Loyola (MD) |
| Attack | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 12 | |
| Defense | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | |
| DefensiveMidfield | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Faceoff | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Goalie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| LSM | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Midfield | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Veteran Attackman and 6-year member of the New York Atlas, Eric Law was released by the Atlas on July 9. He spent the first half of the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list but was removed from the PUP list the day prior. Law was signed from the player pool by the Denver Outlaws the same day. Law was drafted out of the University of Denver to the Outlaws and played 6 seasons with them in the MLL.[23]
The Whipsnakes released their 2023 leading scorer, Attackman Will Manny to the player pool as a part of their final round of training camp cuts on May 30.[24] Manny went unsigned through the All-Star break until the Boston Cannons signed him from the player pool on July 15. Manny was drafted 14th Overall by the Cannons in the 2013 MLL Draft and played 5 seasons for the team, making this the second homecoming for a PLL player to his former MLL team in the 2024 season.[25]
On June 12, the California Redwoods traded Saint Joseph's rookie, Levi Anderson, to the Maryland Whipsnakes for a 2025 4th-round pick. Anderson was the Redwoods' 3rd round pick in the 2024 draft.[26] He was activated from the Unavailable-to-travel list and debuted on June 28 against the New York Atlas.[27]
On August 6th, the Philadelphia Waterdogs traded midfielder Ryan Conrad to the Maryland Whipsnakes for a 2025 2nd-round pick.[28] Conrad spent 5 seasons with the Waterdogs and played in 7 games in 2024, scoring 5 goals and 1 assist.[29] This trade came after the Waterdogs were the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention.[30]
On August 13th, the Maryland Whipsnakes traded midfielder Jackson Morrill to the Utah Archers for a 2025 3rd-round pick.[31] Morrill was traded to from the Chrome to the Whipsnakes in 2023[32] where he played 4 games, notching 2 goals and 8 assists.[33] This trade came at the trade deadline, Morrill was not activated for week 11.
3 rule changes came into effect for the 2024 season.[34]
The Premier Lacrosse League's 2024 training camp was held from May 24, 2024 to May 31, 2024 in Albany, New York at Tom and Mary Casey Stadium at The University of Albany. Teams began camp with a 30-man roster that was finalized on May 23. Teams were required to finalize their 25-man rosters on May 29.[39] Training camp consists of individual and multi-team practices, as well as scrimmages between the teams.
| 1 | Tom & Mary Casey Stadium | New York Atlas | Albany, NY | 8,500 | ||||
| 2 | American Legion Memorial Stadium | Carolina Chaos | Charlotte, NC | 10,500 | ||||
| 3 | Villanova Stadium | Philadelphia Waterdogs | Villanova, PA | 12,500 | This was the first year the PLL held an event at this venue. | |||
| 4 | TCO Stadium | Neutral Site | Eagan, MN | 6,000 | ||||
| 5 | Harvard Stadium | Boston Cannons | Cambridge, MA | 25,000 | This was the first year the PLL held an event at this venue. | |||
| 6(All-Star Game) | Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium | All-Star | Louisville, KY | 5,300 | [40] | |||
| 7 | Rafferty Stadium | Neutral Site | Fairfield, CT | 3,500 | ||||
| 8 | Torero Stadium | California Redwoods | San Diego, CA | 6,000 | ||||
| 9 | Homewood Field | Maryland Whipsnakes | Baltimore, MD | 8,500 | ||||
| 10 | Barton Stadium | Denver Outlaws | Denver, CO | 2,000 | ||||
| 11 | Zions Bank Stadium | Utah Archers | Herriman, UT | 5,000 | ||||
| 12(Quarterfinals) | Gillette Stadium | Playoffs | Foxborough, MA | 65,878 | ||||
| 13(Semifinals) | Shuart Stadium | Playoffs | Uniondale, NY | 11,929 | ||||
| 14(Championship) | Subaru Park | Playoffs | Chester, PA | 18,500 |
The addition of home cities and conferences brought slight changes to the schedule. Every team has one weekend where they are the home team and play a weekend doubleheader. There are two weekends (Minneapolis and Fairfield) when there is no home team and every team plays. Each team will play in-conference opponents twice and out-of-conference opponents once.[41]
Source:[42]
For the 3rd season, the PLL is on ESPN platforms. Every game can be streamed on ESPN+, while 9 games will be broadcast on ESPN's linear platforms. Additionally, 7 games will be broadcast on ABC, a one-game decrease from 2023.
Opening Weekend
The PLL had a record-setting opening weekend with the best merchandise sales weekend and the highest ever amount of active users on the PLL app. TV ratings also improved as ESPN engagement was up 23% and viewership from the 18-34 demographic was up 71%, both compared to last year. Additionally, the Archers vs Waterdogs game on ABC was the 3rd most-viewed game in PLL history.[43]
| 2024 Western Conference Standings | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | |||||||||||||
| Utah Archers Y | 6 | 4 | 129 | 120 | 9 | ||||||||
| Denver Outlaws | 5 | 5 | 117 | 121 | -4 | ||||||||
| Carolina Chaos | 4 | 6 | 100 | 110 | -10 | ||||||||
| California Redwoods | 3 | 7 | 104 | 136 | -32 | ||||||||
| 2024 Eastern Conference Standings | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | |||||||||||||
| New York Atlas Y | 7 | 3 | 151 | 124 | 27 | ||||||||
| Boston Cannons Y | 7 | 3 | 126 | 115 | 11 | ||||||||
| Maryland Whipsnakes Y | 6 | 4 | 135 | 124 | 11 | ||||||||
| Philadelphia Waterdogs | 2 | 8 | 111 | 123 | -12 | ||||||||
| Top Team in Each Conference Receive a first-round bye | |
| Top 6 Teams Qualify for the 2024 Playoffs | |
| Bottom 2 Teams Miss 2024 Playoffs | |
| Y = Qualified for the Championship Series |
Source:[44]
With the new Home Cities format, the playoff bracket was changed to have two first-round byes for the conference winners and 6 teams total making the playoffs. The one seed plays the winner of the four and five seeds and the two seed plays the winner of the 3 and 6 seeds. The first round games took place in Foxbourough, MA in Gillette Stadium, the semifinals on Long Island, NY, and the Championship in West Chester, PA.[45]
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 | |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
Utah Archers goalie, Brett Dobson won back-to-back Championship Game MVP after a 17 saves and 68% performance. He is the first player in PLL history to win back-to-back Championship MVPs.[46]
The 2024 PLL championship game was broadcast on ABC and ESPN+ with Paul Carcaterra, Ryan Boyle, and Drew Carter in the booth, and Quint Kessenich reporting on the field.[47]
3x MVP and 5x Midfielder of the Year, Tom Schreiber missed all of the playoffs after suffering a fractured clavicle in the Archers' final game of the regular season. He went on to win his fifth Midfielder of the Year this season.[48]
Brendan Krebs ended with 12 saves and a 52.2% save percentage. Brett Dobson wins his second-straight Championship MVP with 20 saves and a 71.4% save percentage.[49]
| Points | Jeff Teat (64)^ | Attack | New York Atlas | |
| One-point goals | Jeff Teat (28) | Attack | New York Atlas | |
| Two-point goals | Romar Dennis (7)+ | Midfield | California Redwoods | |
| Scoring Points | Jeff Teat (28) | Attack | New York Atlas | |
| Assists | Jeff Teat (36)^ | Attack | New York Atlas | |
| Shots | Brennan O'Neill (82) | Attack | Denver Outlaws | |
| Shot Percentage | Tre Leclaire (50%) | Midfield | Utah Archers | |
| Faceoff Percentage | Joseph Nardella (67.5%) | Face-off | Maryland Whipsnakes | |
| Save Percentage | Blaze Riordan (59.4%) | Goalie | Carolina Chaos | |
| Caused Turnovers | Garrett Epple (20)+ | Defense | Boston Cannons |
^ New PLL single-season record
+ Ties PLL single-season record
| Offensive | ||
|---|---|---|
| Scores per Game | New York Atlas (15.1) | |
| Shots per Game | New York Atlas (44.2) | |
| Shot Percentage | New York Atlas (32.8%) | |
| One-point goals | New York Atlas (139) | |
| Two-point goals | Boston Cannons (16) | |
| Turnovers (High) | Utah Archers (200) | |
| Turnovers (Low) | Boston Cannons (160) | |
| Defensive | ||
| Scores Against Average (Low) | Carolina Chaos (11) | |
| Scores Against Average (High) | California Redwoods (13.6) | |
| Two-Points Goals Against (Low) | Boston Cannons (4) | |
| Two-Point Goals Against (High) | New York Atlas (15) | |
| Caused Turnovers | Philadelphia Waterdogs (84) | |
| Groundballs recovered | New York Atlas (389) | |
| Saves Per Game | Utah Archers (14.1) | |
| Save Percentage | Carolina Chaos (57.3%) | |
| Power Play and Penalty Kill | ||
| Power Play Goal Percentage | New York Atlas (45.8%) | |
| Power Play Goals | Archers and Atlas (11) | |
| Penalty Kill Percentage | Maryland Whipsnakes (100%) | |
| Penalty Kills | New York Atlas (22) | |
| Penalties (Low) | Maryland Whipsnakes (11) | |
| Penalties (High) | New York Atlas (35) | |
| Penalty Minutes (Low) | Maryland Whipsnakes (8) | |
| Penalty Minutes (High) | Carolina Chaos (28) | |
On August 22, the PLL announced the finalists for the 2024 End of Season Awards via Instagram. The Winners were announced on September 13th, two days prior to the Championship Game in Philadelphia. The players voted on the nominees and the winners were selected by the PLL Coaches and Front Office, Award Namesakes, and members of the media.[52]
| Jim Brown Most Valuable Player | Jeff Teat | New York Atlas | 64 points (28 goals and 36 assists) | Broke the single-season points and assists records. | |
| Eamon McEneaney Attackman of the Year | Jeff Teat | New York Atlas | |||
| Gait Brothers Midfielder of the Year | Tom Schreiber | Utah Archers | 27 points (10 goals, 1 two-point goal, and 15 assists) | Third straight season winning Midfielder of the year and five out of the last six seasons. | |
| Dave Pietramala Defensive Player of the Year | Matt Dunn | Maryland Whipsnakes | 11 caused turnovers, 13 ground balls, and 4 points. | Third DPOY, second in the PLL. | |
| Oren Lyons Goalie of the Year | Blaze Riorden | Carolina Chaos | 92 saves, 59% save percentage, 9.8 scores against average, and 3 points. | Fifth win in 6 seasons. | |
| Paul Cantabene Face-Off Athlete of the Year | Trevor Baptiste | New York Atlas | 66% face-off percentage, 109 ground balls, and 6 points. | Fourth win in a row, longest active streak in the PLL. | |
| Brodie Merrill Long Stick Midfielder of the Year | Tyler Carpenter | New York Atlas | 6 caused turnovers, 41 ground balls, and 7 points. | ||
| George Boiardi Hard Hat Award - Awarded to the SSDM of the year | Danny Logan | New York Atlas | 3 caused turnovers, 9 ground balls, and 2 points. | Third win in 4 seasons. | |
| 2024 Rookie of the Year | TJ Malone | Maryland Whipsnakes | 37 points (19 goals and 18 assists) | Led all rookies in points, goals, and assists as a third-round pick. | |
| Dick Eddell Coach of the Year | Mike Pressler | New York Atlas | Second-season as coach of the Atlas. Improved from 2-8 to 7-3 this season, securing the #1 overall seed. | ||
| Dave Huntley Sportsmanship Award | JT Giles-Harris | Denver Outlaws | |||
| Welles Crowther Humanitarian Award | Romar Dennis | California Redwoods | |||
| Jimmy Regan Teammate Award | Ryan Ambler | Utah Archers | |||
| Brendan Looney Leadership Award | Tom Schreiber | Utah Archers | Back-to-back wins. | ||
| References:[53] | |||||
The winner of the award are highlighted in Bold.
On March 28, 2024 it was announced that Legendary Denver Coach, Bill Tierney would take over the Waterdogs Head Coach vacancy. Tierney had spent the last 14 seasons coaching the University of Denver, taking them to the tournament 10 times and winning the National Championship in 2015. Tierney is taking over the Waterdogs from 4-year Head Coach Andy Copelan.[54]
Every team was given two new uniforms for the 2024 season showcasing the new assigned cities.
The PLL continued its partnership with Champion, while six teams displayed additional jersey advertisements.
Source:[55]
Former 6-year pro-lacrosse player Callum Robinson, his brother Jake, and their friend Jack Rhoad were killed during a surfing trip in Mexico on April 27. An outpouring of support and stories came from the entire lacrosse community after news broke. Callum was a loved and respected member of pro lacrosse for his entire career and beyond.[56] Callum played for the Atlas for 2 seasons and the team showed a tribute to him by displaying a "CR" patch on the left chest of both uniforms and a "Big Koala" (Callum's Nickname) sticker on all helmets.[57]
July 8–9 in Eagan, Minnesota, was the PLL's Indigenous Heritage Weekend for the 2024 Season. This included unique jerseys designed by Patrick Hunter "a 2Spirit, Ojibwe artist, graphic designer, and award-winning entrepreneur",[58] on-air analysis from Jeremy Thompson, and orange chip straps dedicated to Every Child Matters, a movement memorializing the thousands of children killed in Canadian Residential Boarding Schools. The PLL held their annual Throwback Weekend for the 2024 season July 19–20 in Fairfield, CT.[59] Each team was given a new retro-designed logo and throwback style porthole jerseys.[60]
The 2024 PLL All-Star Game was held at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium on July 13. New in 2024, the All-Star teams were divided by conference. The West Team was coached by Archers coach, Chris Bates, and the East Team was coached by Waterdogs coach, Bill Tierney. Just as in years prior, there was a variety of skills challenges before the All-Star game, also on July 13.[61]
The East defeated the West 15-12.[62]
Skills Challenge
The All-Star Skills Challenges included 5 competitions,[63] some including women's lacrosse players from Unleashed Women's Lacrosse, the women's training and content arm of the PLL.[64]
4 PLL players and 4 Unleashed players competed in the Accuracy Challenge where players hit various targets on an open net. 4 PLL players and 4 Unleashed players competed separately in the Fastest Shot Competition. The Goalie Challenge included 4 PLL goalies and the new "Air-Gait Challenge" had 4 PLL players attempt their best "Air-Gait" crease dive style goal. Finally, teams of 2 PLL players and 2 Unleashed Players competed East against West in the Derby Challenge which included a sprint, agility and dodging course, wall ball, and accuracy shot.[65]
| Air-Gait Competition | Ryder Garnsey | California Redwoods | |
| Accuracy Competition | Marcus Holman | Boston Cannons | |
| Goalie Skills | Tim Troutner | New York Atlas | |
| Fastest Shot | Jarrod Neumann | Carolina Chaos | |
| Charlotte North | Boston College | ||
| Derby Challenge | West (Tom Schreiber, Piper Bond, Izzy Scane, and Emily Hawryschuck) | Utah Archers, Northwestern, and Syracuse |
Viewership
The PLL posted a 35% increase in All-Star Game viewership on ESPN. This increase coincided with other increases at the midseason point of the season. Both online and in-person stats increased. The PLL posted a 47% raise in PLL App users and an increase of 159% in social media views. Alongside a 16% increase in attendance and a 32% raise in merchandise sales.[67]