Rabil on PLL Championship

going to be in front of the TV. I can tell you on Sunday whether I like it or not. And I want to be because the championship the Premier Lacrosse League it's happening. The slate is set. So let's understand what led us to this place. Because we heard about the plans from him back in May, and now he has pulled it off. We're talking about Paul Rabel, co founder, chief marketing officer, star player of the Premier Lacrosse League. He joins us on the phone from the

bubble there in Utah. Alright, pr, how you doing? I'm doing all right? How are both of you? I wish I could be on the video conference too. Oh God, we would love that. I would love to do that. I'm going to do that next time so you can see how ridiculous we are, like signaling each other back and forth. Um. So here we are you you the league has played keep me on this here nineteen games, one to go. UM the Championship on Sunday. It'll be on main NBC NBC Sports. Remind me NBC at twelve

thirty Eastern. We have about a three hour windows, so you'll get the not only the championship game of the of the two teams that have survived the Gauntlet and the whip, Snakes and Chaos, and it's a it's a really interesting storyline. So I remember being on with both of you and May and talking about the concept that that we've been able to basically pull off that's medically safe and and this bubble that that a lot of leagues that we're seeing, leagues that haven't done it, um

are in trouble. Um. You know, we created essentially a World Cup tournament, and what we ended up getting was the team who finished last place in group play ended up upsetting in the elimination round to higher seeded teams. So we have this David versus Goliath number one team and the Whips versus the number seven team in chaos, um and uh, and it's gonna be an exciting game. So everything that we bet on, that that the three of us talked about around Rationale is to why do it?

And what's the business model? Looks like it's all it's all really paid off. Viewerships up, uh, subscriptions are up. Just excitement and general energy around the sport. And then for us um as as a new league, this is

our second season. A lot of the challenges you get as a co founder as an operator when you pitch networks and brands is well, why are you not going to be the next XFL or the next a S And for us to be able to pull this off with class and success and and having negative COVID tests, And I think it's for us as we go to market next year and begin selling the business and generating revenue. I've told our b D team we're gonna lead our pitch decks with this. Yeah, so it's it's uh, it's

a silver lining. So I gotta tell you, you know, Jason, I've talked a lot Paul about what you did because I feel like you were certainly ahead of the curve when it came to sports trying to figure out the way back. And you guys did the bubble and did it really well. When you see the other stories of other leagues and players in other sports and say baseball and they're testing positive and it's just not going well, you know what's the difference. What it is it that

you did that made it work so well? And what do you think is going wrong with some of the other leagues? And I think the NFL is up next if they don't create like a multi bubble uh season.

And I think the the NFL, given that they are are held to the highest standard in pro sports of the guess business in the industry standalone, Um, you know, canceling our postponing games is I don't think it's gonna land as well as And then a lot of people they're they're discussing MLB would say that it hasn't landed well.

But I can't imagine a week where it just as the much revenue and attention goes in the NFL, of all of a sudden, you know, the Dallas Cowboys have nineteen positive COVID test and then well we're gonna postpone this critical week. It's just not gonna sit well. So, UM, the the difference, Carol. For us, we were already doing a single site model going tour based, and that was disruptive to the pro sports landscape, and we had our

investors that came in and believed in it. So we we had a step ahead of the competition, call it other sports leagues, because we knew how to operate a single site model where we were bringing all of our teams to one site over a weekend. So what we did is took those principles and expanded them over three weeks, and then we layered over top of it, but really a table stakes COVID nineteen Medical Team and Health protocol where we were began our testing with all of our

participants at home. You had to have a negative test to then resumed to transportation, and then on arrival you had to have another negative tests that were quarantine involved. We got through UM and and thankfully to all the participants and everyone who and it took themselves took the process safely. We we had fewer than half a dozen positive tests to start from at home, and then when we began testing on site, but three subsequent tests have

all been negative. Every single test was negative. And so the bubble and my my co founder and CEO, has called it more of a force field. Force field it works because if you can isolate the virus and and not let anyone else in, then uh, as long as everyone does their job from a disciplinary standpoint, you can get back to business. So can I just say it's a great lesson for society at large? Totally? And I mean, and then it's a lesson the world gonna have to

learn as we go through this. Only about a minute left before we do some news. Um, your co founder brother Mike Rabel, were there any moments, Paul where you looked at each other and we're like, we're really nervous about this. Yeah, all the way through April and May. Um and then uh and then you know, I remember telling you all because you were the second show I did after the announcement on the Today's Show was like, well,

we're here now. So it's one of those things like when we raised our money a couple of years ago, we made the announcement, we're here now, and uh, and let's just focus on one step at a time, one day at a time one Uh, you know, one mask at a time, and uh, it's it's it's analogous to sports and and as Carol said, it's analogous to how this country is going to change, this first wave or not is like that the details live in the nuance of our day to day and it's like taking care

of yourself, wearing ppe and being respectful, right, respectful of your community. And I thought, and you're gonna say, was there any time you looked at your brother and said, I'm kind of sick and tired of you living together in this bubble? And I love my siblings. Listen, these brothers, they are something special. It's a special time, as you

have seen up close and personal. So, Paul, one of the things we've talked with you a lot about you and I have talked a lot about on the sidelines, as it were, is the media and broadcast side of this. And I remember talking to you and Mike about the fact that you guys are constantly pushing on how to make it a more immersive and more interactive type of broadcast. You're making up players, you're doing all sorts of things. What was new and different? What did you learn from

this experience of over the last couple of weeks. Yeah, it's a great question. And and your your broadcast is your product as a as a pro league, so you got to get it right. And things that we got right in our inaugural year was our talent with NBC. Those are the first two people that if you were at home, engages with. If they're welcoming, if they're insightful, if they're educational, if they're if they're motivational and exciting, like that creates a better experience for the viewer at home,

so that they're really important. You're looking for the curl mass of lacrosse. Basically, that's right. That's exactly right, Emma, Jason Kelly, don't. I'm just gonna say it's it's that's right. So you get that right. You know, the products on field competitively is going to be great, but you can enhance that and so we brought we doubled our hot mics on players during COVID, knowing that you were going to be stripped of like the fan ambiance, and that's

really exciting. You think about football broadcast, there's like anywhere from you know, I think twenty one minutes of actual gameplay over four hours on screen, there's a lot of panning out of the crowd. So we did a couple of things, and I think that we had the advantage of watching a few individual sports leagues go off before us first without fan noise that was pushed in either through the speakers of the stadium are done in posts

through the broadcast. We found that that created actually a more familiar viewing experience and was voted positively for the fans. So we have, uh, you know, kind of a pretty we haven't essentially like a DJ booth of of fan noise per what's happening on the game. That's what they're doing the MLS right now, it's what they're doing in the NBA, and it makes a better experience. Um, we go from the booth to our players on field live and have conversation with them that's unique to the p LLL.

And then we've done a lot of fan and the greatest stuff from home. So if our fans are no longer in the stands and they're on their couches at home watching, how can we get them involved? So we use technology called tagboard that enables our fans posts on social media be picked up through the broadcast. And we've

also done watch parties that we've included on broadcasts. And we've included celebrities uh through a zoom conference line that come in and and UH two boxes what you call it in the business where you'll see Bill Belichick from the lower third, UH talking to Paul Bermister and Ryan Boyle who are a host on NBC during a game and talking about the game. And that's one really exciting when you get that level of talent involved in the broadcast and it's fun for the viewer. But two our

celebrities that come in and Drew Brees is another. We've had Camio Acoustic. UM. They use their promotional platforms to bring more viewers to us. So that's what we've done from a broadcast standpoint. And UH and we have a couple more tricks up our sleeps through the championship game. So, Paul, I don't know if you've heard that. It's the phone ringing and the head of NBC Sports wants to hire

you to figure out how to reprogram how they cover sports. No, but I do think about that, right, you know, go back. You know, in the last couple of years, we've had tons of conversations about the NFL and you know, different sports and they're losing a younger audience. So from what you've learned, you know here in your second season, what do you think can apply or what do you think other sports maybe should be doing to really pull in

maybe a larger audience and a younger audience. Yeah, so I'm gonna go like kind of deep here in theory. So what we had the benefit of in we started building is what would a pro sports league built in the century look like? Because all legacy leagues were built in the twentieth century and your primary revenue generator was plinket sales. Now we all talk about media and broadcast

in social media as a promotional tool. And so actually, if you look at this pandemic what we're in, and you look at industries across the board, a lot of great executives are able to predict the future, what's the environment gonna be like ten years from now, and who can get their quickest. That's how you build momentum across generations.

COVID has for me presented this forcing mechanism for leagues now who are really left with no choice but to build a bubble to then say, okay, what are we focused on now and its viewership and the national sponsorship, So that means how do you then enhance the broadcast? And uh, I think what what we're seeing as a result is similar to what we've seen technology due to businesses over the last decades, similar to what we saw you know, subscription video on demand services due to the

film business. And I think we're going to see as a result, at least the positive results we're seeing in this bubble model is like some exploration of shifts on how sports are presented across the board, not just for broadcasts, but you know, how fans are experiencing them even at games, and and and I think this is that potential tipping point for pro sports that have been pretty past attend

enough to this point. And we're in an advantageous position because we're the most nimble as as a league, and we're well financed and and uh and we can take more risks. So when do you make a decision only about lap, but when do you make the decision about next season? Paul? Yeah, So the the interesting thing for us, So you guys know, we're tour based, and that's a difference that's a different look. But this has gone so well. Abstractly, I like to I like to look at both ends

of the spectrum apossible. Od one end is what individual sports have done so well, And take golf and tennis, they have the four majors. Is there a world where professional lacrosse, at least with the p LL, explores next year doing like four of these bubble bobs? And that's if that's if we don't solve for COVID nineteen. Now, if we have a vaccine and we can, I think

we'll go back to our tour based model. But there's a lot of success in what we've built here and it's it's worth taking another objective look at it with our board this offseason. Right all right, Well, we look forward to catching up with you on that. Best of luck this week in the championship game for the PLL. Find it on an NBC this Sunday, twelve thirty. Paul Rabel He is the co founder of the Chief Marketing Office, Sir, and the man behind it all. He and his brother Mike,

they created this league. Love catching up with him. So happy we were able to do that. Yeah, me too, good call, I know you were in touch with him, and it just makes me smile. And he's just so smart in terms of how he thinks about things.