Here’s how Paul Rabil — the sport’s first million-dollar athlete — raised the necessary capital to make the PLL a reality.
February 20, 2019 2 min read
Pro lacrosse player Paul Rabil was frustrated with the status quo, so he and his brother Mike — along with a group of sports and media investors — decided to create an entirely new professional league. Premier League Lacrosse (PLL), which kicks off its inaugural season this summer, closed its Series A round of funding just last week. The financing is led by investors J Tsai Sports, Brett Jefferson, and return investor, The Raine Group. The capital from the growth round will be used to fund future league operations, team and player-focused original programming and executive team expansion.
This revolutionary, tour-based professional lacrosse league features the best players in the sport and has secured a major media rights deal with NBC Sports. The network will air 19 games on television over the league’s 14-weekend schedule, with all other games accessible live through NBCSports.com and the NBC Gold app.
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How did Paul secure the funding needed to take this idea from concept to reality? By following these three steps, which work for any entrepreneur looking to raise capital.
1. Develop a concept.
“It may seem obvious, but every entrepreneur has to develop their business concept and stress test it — without any dollars in the bank. It’s called ‘finding market fit.'”
2. Develop your sources and uses.
“Your ‘S & U’ is your most valuable document when you go out to the marketplace to raise capital. Your ‘sources’ are who your capital is coming from. Your ‘uses’ are what you plan to do with all the source’s capital.”
3. Time to operate.
“When you’ve finished your financing, now it’s up to the entrepreneur to roll your sleeves up and go out and operate on that S & U.”
Related: The 5-Hour Rule Used by Bill Gates, Jack Ma and Elon Musk
Check out all of Paul’s tips in the video above.
