From the explosion of noise after an early goal to tie the game to the constant booing of the opponents when in possession, the crowd at Zions Bank Stadium during the Premier Lacrosse League’s semifinals made sweet music to the ears of the league, which has been building for years to have that type of home-field advantage for teams.
What may have meant just as much was after the hometown Utah Archers lost in the semifinals to the rival Denver Outlaws, while some of the crowd left, a strong majority of them stuck around for the other semifinal between Philadelphia and Boston.
With the change of assigning teams to home markets made in 2024, the league went to each of its eight markets this season — Salt Lake City for the Archers, Denver for the Outlaws, Charlotte for the Chaos and San Diego for the Redwoods in the Western Conference along with Boston for the Cannons, Baltimore for the Whipsnakes, Philadelphia for the Waterdogs and Long Island for the Atlas. After the playoffs started in Minneapolis and went to Salt Lake, the championship game will be Saturday in New Jersey at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
PLL Championship Game
Denver vs. Philadelphia, Sunday at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey
“We want to build fandoms in local markets, like here in Utah, as well as all our other teams,” Tom Brady, the PLL’s Chief Media and Marketing Officer, told me as we sat field side during the second semifinal. “We knew, however, that it’s not an overnight thing, right? We also knew, since we were a tour-based model, that there is a little bit of that hybrid that’s happening. We’re laying that foundation, and the ultimate long-term goal is for us to be in market with our teams. And this is that bridge to get there.”
