Jeffrey Wright Taps His College Lacrosse Roots In Promo For PLL Championship Game On ABC

The Premier Lacrosse League, which recently got investments from Glen Powell and Rob Mac, is teaming with another Hollywood A-lister to promote Sunday’s ABC telecast of its championship game.

Jeffrey Wright appears in a 2-minute short that evokes the sport’s deep roots in hyping the contest between the Denver Outlaws and the Philadelphia Waterdogs. Cradling a vintage wooden lacrosse stick, the Oscar-nominated actor observes, “Nobody ever tells you this when you’re young, but the things you love first – they never leave you.” (Watch the full promo above.)

Extolling a passion for the sport is not a stretch for Wright, who played lacrosse at Amherst College in the mid-1980s. While the film doesn’t specifically allude to the actor’s time on the field, he mentioned it in an Instagram post last spring, illustrating it with vintage photos, including one of Wright during a college game.

Alluding to PLL co-founder and commissioner Paul Rabil, a former star at Johns Hopkins, Wright wrote, “He’s got me thinking lax lately – like some days, all day. He put a stick back in my hand not long ago, after many years not playing at all. My love for the game and how much it’s meant to me came rushing back.”

The PLL spot will run both on linear TV and on digital platforms.

The climax of the 2026 season is coming as the young league continues to gain momentum. Powell and Mac were two of several participants in a $100 million funding round that closed in June. ESPN, also an investor in the PLL, said TV ratings for the summer season were up 27% over 2025 levels, with a record audience of 612,000 tuning into a game in August.

Lacrosse has also been added as an official sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics in L.A., which should also increase visibility.

Founded in 2018, the PLL’s most recent funding round valued the league at more than $500 million, according to press reports.