Your first look at the jerseys for the new Premier Lacrosse League
A new professional lacrosse league is coming this summer and hoping to make a dent in the U.S. sports mainstream the same way soccer has in the past two decades.
The Premier Lacrosse League is launching June 1, backed by big-money investors and created by men’s lacrosse’s top star — Paul Rabil. Imagine if LeBron James decided to create his own basketball league, raising venture capital and striking partnerships aimed at taking his league to the mainstream. That’s essentially what’s happening with the Premier Lacrosse League.
Part of the rollout of this new league includes a high-profile national TV contract with NBC Sports and a uniform deal with Adidas, which on Monday is unveiling the inaugural uniforms for the Premier Lacrosse League.
Unlike most professional sports that we’re used to, the six teams in the PLL aren’t tied to a specific city. It’s more of a tour. The six teams in the new league — Archer, Atlas, Chaos, Chrome, Redwoods and Whipsnakes — play in the same city each week of the schedule. For example, the league’s debut is June 1-2 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the New England Patriots, with three games over two days. The next week they play in New York, then Chicago and so on.
Here’s a look at each team’s uniforms, plus a little bit about the design inspiration, via Adidas’ announcement:
Archers
“Taking the theme of a sharpshooter and centered around the design elements of an arrow, Archers LC uniforms are detailed with feather fletching graphic elements on both the sleeves and short panels. To complete the package, Archers LC helmets are donned with an arrow from the team logo.”
Atlas
“Featuring a bull as a statement mascot that represents size, strength and speed, Atlas LC jerseys integrate a topographical pattern to pay homage to the team name. With baby blue and white as the base colors, the shorts are adorned with a bull horn to accentuate the team mascot. To finish out theme, Atlas LC helmets feature a bullhorn from the team mascot and team moniker on the back.”
Chaos
“Chaos is defined as complete disorder and confusion, which is exactly what would happen to someone in the center of swarm of scorpions. Highlighted by the team moniker on the chest, a repeating scorpion inspired graphic adds a battle armor of texture to Chaos LC’s jersey. Additional design details include a scorpion logo on the left arm and helmet.”
Chrome
“Inspired by the regal armor of knights and demonstrating strength and flair, Chrome LC jerseys blend references of knighthood with an 80’s inspired flair. Featuring a chainmail graphic pattern, the black home jersey showcases a knight’s helmet on the chest and Chrome moniker on the lower back. The white away jersey features the Chrome’s moniker on the chest laid over a video game inspired grid graphic pattern and the knight’s helmet on the lower back. Finishing touches include wings that adorn both the home and away helmets.”
Redwoods
“Representing the unforgiving wilderness of the forest, Redwoods LC jerseys are ingrained with a graphic tree pattern that forms three vertical stripes and are complemented by a brown bear in the team crest. Completing the head-to-toe look, the green home helmet features the graphic tree pattern to match the jersey. The white away jerseys draw inspiration from the trunks of the majestic giants, coming to life as three maroon vertical stripes and the away helmet is highlighted by the team crest.”
Whipsnakes
“To signify the lightning fast and venomous strike of a snake, Whipsnakes LC jerseys are anchored by a team crest that closely resembles the shape of a coiled snake that creates an outline of a lacrosse head. Both home and away jerseys incorporate a tonal snakeskin graphic pattern and are decked out with the Whipsnakes’ moniker on the lower back. The final strike for the Whipsnakes is the ‘Whips’ nickname emblazoned onto their snakeskin pattern helmets.”
Getting a new sports league into the public consciousness will be tougher than lining up a TV deal and getting Adidas on board to produce uniforms. We’ve seen recently that even a start-up football league couldn’t last more than eight weeks.
The PLL is banking a lot on Rabil being the biggest star in the sport, plus the emerging popularity of lacrosse. According to the Sports & Fitness Association, particular in lacrosse has grown 35 percent since 2012, which is a good sign for the sport overall.
The question now is whether those younger lacrosse fans will tune in, buy jerseys and — most importantly — buy tickets to watch the games.
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