EXCLUSIVE: Premier Lacrosse League co-founder Paul Rabil, an achieved former participant who now serves as PLL commissioner, will host and government produce a brand new weekly present for ESPN referred to as Rabil’s Locations.
Produced by Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions and Phrases + Photos, the five-episode authentic sequence will debut on June 4 pm ESPN+. Rabil will interview company with notable ties to the game of lacrosse, together with Tremendous Bowl-winning NFL coach Invoice Belichick, WWE star Mick Foley and Pat Spencer, who performs for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
Rabil’s newly launched Two Factors Productions can also be backing the sequence.
Past personalities, the present may also discover the size and roots of the game, from its Native American origins to the five-decade historical past of HBCU lacrosse at Morgan State College in Baltimore. And talking of Maryland, a complete episode can be dedicated to uncovering how the state turned a hotbed of lacrosse. (Rabil is a graduate of John Hopkins.)
Two Factors is engaged on a slate of episodic, function and literary initiatives. In 2024, Rabil printed the guide The Manner of the Champion. The guide, printed by Penguin Random Home imprint Portfolio, mixed components of memoir with themes of enterprise administration and private resilience.
Like different programming throughout ESPN, the docuseries is designed to enhance stay sports activities protection. In 2022, Disney signed a 4-year media rights take care of the PLL, whose season runs from June to September. Omaha launched its multi-sport “Locations” franchise in 2019 with Peyton’s Locations, a football-themed present centered round Manning. Subsequent installments have targeted on tennis, hockey, soccer and faculty basketball.
“Lacrosse isn’t simply outlined by the motion on the sphere. It’s concerning the individuals who’ve performed it, the locations we name dwelling, and the tradition that’s saved it alive for hundreds of years,” Rabil mentioned in a press release. He referred to as the sequence “our episodic journey by means of the soul of the game, from sacred beginnings to its rise in faculty cities and professional stadiums, aimed to deliver followers new and previous alongside for the trip.”
Manning, who’s government producer of Rabil’s Locations, referred to as Rabil “the right individual to inform the tales that make lacrosse the game that it’s at the moment.”
New episodes will premiere on Wednesdays on ESPN+ and also will be accessible to stream on Hulu and Disney+ for Disney Bundle Trio subscribers.
Lexus has signed on as a presenting sponsor of the sequence.
CAA and 3Arts rep Rabil.
Listed here are episode descriptions (supplied by ESPN) in addition to premiere dates:
Episode 1: “Turf Wars” (June 4)
Legendary soccer coach Invoice Belichick explains his lifelong affection for lacrosse. Paul is joined by former faculty lacrosse star turned Tremendous Bowl-champion vast receiver, Chris Hogan, to know why there’s a lot crossover between the sports activities, and PLL teammates Ricky Miezan and Nakeie Montgomery focus on their resolution to forgo professional soccer in favor of lacrosse.
Episode 2: “Slick Sticks” (June 11)
Impressed by the signature strikes that revolutionized lacrosse, Paul units out to create a brand new signature shot. After Gary Gait explains the start of his iconic “Air Gait” transfer, Paul turns to Charlotte North, one of many recreation’s most inventive scorers, and former faculty lacrosse star turned NBA participant, Pat Spencer, for inspiration for his new staple transfer.
Episode 3: “Crab Truffles and Lacrosse” (June 18)
That’s what Maryland does! Paul returns to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins, to learn the way Maryland turned a lacrosse hotbed. He’s joined by his former Hopkins teammate Kyle Harrison and visits Kyle’s father, Miles, who teaches Paul concerning the state’s essential HBCU lacrosse historical past at Morgan State. Lastly, Paul visits 3-time Tewaaraton winner Taylor Cummings at Bryn Mawr, the place Maryland girls’s lax stars are born and jousts over the true state sport.
Episode 4: “Crease and Desist” (June 25)
Paul pursues a return to the PLL as a goalie however rapidly learns why lacrosse goalies are a distinct breed. Former WWE star (and lax goalie) Mick Foley, Corridor of Famer Scott Bacigalupo and PLL star Blaze Riorden give Paul a crash course on the bodily, psychological, and technical calls for of the hardest place in sports activities.
Episode 5: “The Creator’s Recreation” (July 2)
Paul seeks out a deeper understanding of the Native American origins of lacrosse and its conventional wood stick. Greats Jeremy Thompson of Onondaga Nation and Zedd Williams of Seneca Nation train Paul essential indigenous traditions of the sport; present Syracuse standout and rising star of the Haudenosaunee Nationals, Trey Deere, meets Paul at Alfie Jacques’ legendary woodworking store earlier than Paul tries his hand at making a wood stick of his personal.
