Philadelphia Waterdogs make the cut in new Premier Lacrosse League
Welcome home, Philadelphia Waterdogs.
The Waterdogs, once an expansion team in the emerging Premier Lacrosse League and the 2022 league champion, is now one of the eight teams announced as charter squads in the reformatted league.
Here’s everything to know about the Waterdogs, the charter designation and where the lacrosse team will play next season.
Philadelphia Waterdogs to call Delaware Valley home
Previously, the Premier Lacrosse League had a round robin-styled schedule, with teams not having an official home field.
Although it hasn’t been officially announced yet, by all appearances, the Philadelphia Waterdogs will continue to play its matches at Subaru Park in Chester.
The Waterdogs took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to announce their membership and hype up fans for the coming season with the message: “give us all you got, philly — we’re ready for it.”
Aside from the Philadelphia Waterdogs, here are the seven other charter teams:
● The Boston Cannons
● The California Redwoods
● The Carolina Chaos
● The Denver Outlaws
● The Maryland Whipsnakes
● The New York Atlas
● The Utah Archers
What else to know about the Premier Lacrosse League
The Premier Lacrosse League launched in 2018, and over the past past five years, it did not have teams operating in a traditional “home and away” schedule and instead deployed a touring model across the country.
The PLL embarked on an 18-month process to figure out team locations. Leaders evaluated existing fan data, broadcast viewership, ticket sales and youth participation rates.
On the first day fan voting was offered, more than 50,000 people participated online. Because the league doesn’t own venues, availability and fit for lacrosse was an outsized part of the equation, co-founder and president of the PLL Paul Rabil said.
When the league merged with Major League Lacrosse in 2020, the PLL tripled its data set by acquiring access to former pro teams that played in specific markets.
“What got us here won’t get us there,” Rabil told USA TODAY Sports. “And there, for us, is going after the hundred million casual sports fans. Here was successfully introducing the Premier Lacrosse League to lacrosse fans, not only domestically, but around the world. Those fans, they’re your core. They know who the players are.
“If you don’t know who our players are, you root for your home town. And that’s what we’re excited to tap into now.”