Lacrosse League Startup Gets Backing from Alibaba's Joe Tsai to Build Media Business
*By Chloe Aiello*
Professional lacrosse league startup Premier Lacrosse League has big ambitions to take professional lacrosse mainstream ー and now it has funding from big investors to do it.
Premier Lacrosse League announced on Tuesday it closed a Series A round of funding, co-led by Alibaba billionaire Joseph Tsai's J Tsai Sports, the Raine Group, and Brett Jefferson.
*Disclosures: Cheddar Founder and CEO Jon Steinberg is a PLL advisor. Raine Ventures is an investor in Cheddar.*
"Joe and I have had a relationship for a few years. He actually played lacrosse at Yale, and then has built this sports investment company called J Tsai Sports," said Paul Rabil, co-founder and chief strategy officer. "There's a lot of cross promotional, cross-pollination there and it made a lot of sense for him to get involved in this Series A round."
A professional player with Major League Lacrosse, Rabil founded PLL with his brother Mike based on their shared love of the sport. They've built [a six-team league with a 14-game season](https://cheddar.com/media/wall-streets-lax-bros-the-real-life-brothers-bringing-lacrosse-to-the-masses), and have a live TV deal with NBC Sports. Rabil said the new funding will go toward funding of league operations, executive hires, and building out a media business.
"The league's going to be allocating resources toward creating content. We are the first team sports league in North America to actually open source content from games to give that to our players so they can post it natively on our platform," he added.
PLL isn't the first sports league to dip into direct-to-consumer media offerings. Professional Bull Riders [kicked off its over-the-top streaming service RidePass](https://cheddar.com/media/professional-bull-riders-ceo-is-bringing-the-rodeo-to-stadiums-online-streaming) in 2018 to offer subscribers live-event coverage and companion coverage for PBR events on CBS. [Ultimate Fighting Championship](https://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2019/01/debut-ufc-fight-night-on-espn-is-a-record-setting-night/) and [Chicago Fire](https://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2018/03/chicago-fire-soccer-club-announces-espn-exclusive-local-media-rights-partner/) soccer have also both inked exclusive deals with Disney's over-the-top streaming service ESPN+.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/premiere-lacrosse-league-ready-for-launch-after-latest-investment).
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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