| Championship Series | |
| Sport: | Lacrosse Sixes |
| Inaugural: | 2023 |
| Teams: | 4 |
| Champion: | Boston Cannons |
| Most Successful Club: | Chrome LC (1) Boston Cannons (1) |
The PLL Championship Series is an annual winter lacrosse tournament in the lacrosse sixes format. It is hosted by the Premier Lacrosse League. It features the top four teams in the regular season standings of the previous Premier Lacrosse League season. The inaugural championship series occurred in 2023.
Announced in May 2022, the Championship Series was created for a variety of reasons: incentivize a teams regular season finishing position(as of 2023 only the last place team in the standings does not qualify for playoffs in the PLL), provide more playing opportunities for PLL players that do not play in the NLL, aid in the broader push for lacrosse's inclusion in the Olympics, and to create more inventory for the PLL's broadcasting partners.[1]
The four qualifying teams were allowed to roster 12 players, ten field players and two goalkeepers.
The lacrosse sixes format is a version of lacrosse which aims to provide greater access to lacrosse by eliminating barriers of entry. This format is also designed to be more applicable for the modern olympic framework.[2] The Championship Series selected this format as part of its broader push to be included in the 2028 Olympics.
The typical major changes for Lacrosse Sixes are as follows:
For the Championship Series, the PLL also included a 13-yard 2-point arc.[3]
The 2023 Championship Series took place from February 22, 2023 to February 26, 2023. The round-robin games took place from February 22, to February 24. The semifinals games took place on February 25, and the finals took place on February 26. The participants were the Whipsnakes, the eventual champion Chrome, the Archers, and the eventual runner-up Atlas
Round-robin teams are listed in their 2022 PLL regular season standings order.
The 2024 Championship Series featured the top 4 regular season finishers of the 2023 Premier Lacrosse League season; including the 2023 PLL Champion Utah Archers. The other competing teams were the eventual champion Boston Cannons, Philadelphia Waterdogs, and California Redwoods. It took place from February 14-19, 2023 at the St. James in Springfield, VA.[9] Round robin play was from February 14-17, 2024, the semifinals were on February 18, and the finals were on February 19.[10]
| Boston Cannons | Philadelphia Waterdogs | 23-22 (OT) | The St. James (Springfield, VA) | [11] |
The 2024 Championship Series final saw a 24% increase in average viewership on ESPN2 and a 42% increase in viewership on ESPN+. There was a 32% increase in attendance with a 46% increase in total ticket revenue.[12]
The Golden Stick Award is given to the player that had the most points during the Championship Series.
| 2023 | Romar Dennis | Atlas LC | 38 (34 SP, 4 A) | [13] | |
| 2024 | Kieran McArdle | Philadelphia Waterdogs | 38 (26 SP, 12 A) | [14] |