The Atlas Lacrosse Club was one of the founder teams in the new Premier Lacrosse League (PLL).
The Atlas team is not a franchise with separate owners. Instead, the club belongs to the Premier Lacrosse League which is owned by a group of investors.
This article explains the ownership structure of Atlas and takes a detailed look at the two main founders of this club and the league.
Who Owns The Atlas Lacrosse Team In The PLL?
The Atlas Lacrosse Club is owned by Premier Lacrosse League, inc.
It is one of eight professional teams in common ownership by PLL, a private company with significant investment from shareholders including:
- Paul Rabil (founder)
- Mike Rabil (founder)
- Joe Tsai
- Raine Group
- Kraft Group
- Blum Capital
- Bolt Ventures
- CAA Sports
- Chernin Group
- Chris Hogan
- David O’Connor
- Fortress Investment Group
- Harris Blitzer Entertainment Group
- Sol Kumin
This long list of co-owners above doesn’t even include all the minority shareholders!
All players in the league also have some equity in the holding company. The level of their ownership stakes hasn’t been made public.
This article looks in depth at the first two names on the list: the Rabil brothers. They are the original co-founders of the PLL and are minority owners of the Atlas Lacrosse Club.
We have bios of the full list in our roundup of who owns the Premier Lacrosse League.
Paul Rabil, Founder And Minority Owner
Paul Rabil retired as a professional lacrosse player in September 2021. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest lacrosse players in history.
We’re not going to look in detail here at his storied playing career at John Hopkins and in the Major Lacrosse League (MLL). Instead, we’ll focus on his business journey to founding the Premier Lacrosse League.
When Paul graduated from Hopkins in 2008, he was the number one draft pick in the MLL. His rookie salary with the Boston Cannons was about six thousand dollars.
Sponsorship and endorsements
The MLL never provided players with a full-time salary. Paul initially worked in real estate but he set his sights on building a business around his personal brand.
As his profile grew within the sport, he got his first major sponsorship contract from Under Armour.
Paul’s ventures included training camps around the country. But he also built a media presence around instructional videos and interviews delivered through social media channels like Facebook and YouTube.
This attracted more sponsors from big brands like Red Bull and Chevrolet. The endorsements led to Bloomberg labeling him as lacrosse’s first million-dollar man. That was back in 2013.
Investment connections
Are you wondering how Paul Rabil managed to attract big investors in 2019? Well, he was already building connections years earlier.
The Bloomberg article of 2013 dropped some big names when talking about who Rabil was friendly with. The list included Sol Kumin who also played at John Hopkins. Years later, Kumin would invest in the new PLL.
Paul also got into business investing with his older brother Mike. They founded Rabil Ventures to invest in other business start-ups.
This only increased the charismatic young man’s connections in the world of major investments and funding.
Mike Rabil, Co-Founder And Minority Owner
Mike Rabil is Paul’s older brother. Although Mike played lacrosse in high school, he focused on football at Dartmouth where he was a defensive tackle.
When he left college, he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Mike worked for a real estate company (Jones Lang Lasalle) but also opened his first gym in 2009. Paul helped him out with sweeping the floors and going out to get sales.
Mike built that first gym into a chain across Maryland. He also started and grew an investment and lending company that he eventually sold in 2013.
Mike and Paul had always consulted and helped each other in their business projects. But they first got serious about working together when they co-founded Rabil Ventures, which I mentioned in the previous section.
Like Paul, Mike was building his own network of connections in the investment world.
The Rabil Brothers Try To Buy the MLL
Before the Rabil brothers set out to create the PLL, they tried to buy the MLL. This was back in 2017.
Paul Rabil was doing well for himself with his opportunities and earnings outside of lacrosse. But he was well aware that most other players didn’t have the same opportunities.
Paul was increasingly frustrated with the Major Lacrosse League (MLL) and the indoor National Lacrosse League (NLL).
He felt that the MLL in particular should be restructured to increase the benefits to the players. He was convinced that it should switch to the kind of touring model that we see now with the PLL.
Paul was vocal with his criticisms, but unlike many, he decided to take action.
Paul and Mike reached out to their investor connections in 2017. They put together an investment group that was prepared to buy the MLL outright.
They had extensive talks in Boston with the MLL directors throughout that year, but the discussions went nowhere. They finally gave up in January 2018 and switched focus to founding a new league.
Playing For And Owning The Atlas Lacrosse Club
Many new sports leagues have come and gone over the years. But how many had an owner of the league also playing for one of the clubs that he owns?
As a co-owner of the league, Paul Rabil also intended to play in it. But which one would he choose?
When the league formed the new clubs, they often sought to group players who had already played together at professional or collegiate levels.
Atlas became the home for a lot of players who attended John Hopkins. As a famous former Blue Jay, Paul Rabil also joined Atlas.
You might think it would be a major advantage for Atlas to have the league owner on their playing roster. Well, Paul didn’t add to his many championship titles in his seasons with Atlas!
