New York Atlas: Premier Lacrosse League picks NY as one of eight markets assigned teams
Paul Rabil of Atlas LC looks for an opening against Redwoods LC in the Premier Lacrosse League in 2019. Credit: Getty Images
The Premier Lacrosse League on Tuesday made its long awaited announcement, naming the eight permanent markets it will visit each summer and which teams have been assigned to which market. As expected, New York is one of the eight markets the league has chosen, and the team assigned to it is the Atlas.
The other markets chosen were Boston, which was assigned the Cannons — who played in Boston in Major League Lacrosse, before that league merged with PLL prior to the 2021 season — California (Redwoods), Carolina (Chaos), Maryland (Whipsnakes), Philadelphia (Waterdogs), Utah (Archers) and Denver, which was assigned the Chrome, but which has rebranded as the Denver Outlaws, recreating one of the most popular teams in the old MLL.
Introducing the new @PLLAtlas logos: pic.twitter.com/xIbR5nVsJ8
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) November 14, 2023
The five-year-old league will continue to operate on the tour-based model it has used throughout its existence, bringing all of its teams to a single site each weekend during the summer, and playing two weekend doubleheaders involving all the teams. The league will play a 10-game regular season in 2024, in which it visits the eight selected markets, plus two other unaffiliated sites. On the weekends when the league is at one its eight affiliated markets, the “home’’ team will play two games, instead of just one.
The league played on Long Island, at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium, in each of the last three summers, but that is no assurance it will come to Long Island in 2024. By naming the market New York, rather than Long Island, the league can visit any location in the state or the Tri-State Area.
“Now the New York Atlas, fans from Upstate to Long Island and New York City, even parts of Connecticut and New Jersey can lay claim to the game’s icons,’’ Paul Rabil, the league’s co-founder and president, said in the news release announcing the Atlas being assigned to New York.
The Atlas finished 2-8 in 2023.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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