Lexus Global Lacrosse Games to Debut in December

The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) and Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL) have announced the Lexus Global Lacrosse Games in co-promotion with the National Lacrosse League (NLL) — a new competition featuring the best men’s and women’s lacrosse players in the world representing four nations.

The event, which has been sanctioned by World Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse, will be played under Olympic Sixes rules, the same format to be played at the LA28 Games. It will take place December 8—13, 2026, at The St. James sports complex outside Washington, D.C.

For the first time, the PLL and NLL have collaborated to ensure that the top men’s players from both leagues will be available to represent their countries in the Lexus Global Lacrosse Games. The tournament will be played under Olympic rules.

No further information has yet been disclosed about participating nations, team rosters, schedules and broadcast plans.

“What makes this exciting for me is that every top player in North America will be available to represent their country, and the Lexus Global Lacrosse Games is where that fierce, proud and historic national competition will culminate,” said Paul Rabil, co-founder and president of the Premier Lacrosse League. “Lacrosse hasn’t competed as an Olympic medal sport since 1908, so we’re not taking LA28 for granted. Our hope is that this event will do for lacrosse what the 4 Nations Face-Off and World Baseball Classic have done for their respective sports.”

Calendar Changes

For the next two years leading up to LA28, the Lexus Global Lacrosse Games will replace the Championship Series in the PLL and WLL competition calendar.

The Championship Series, launched by the PLL in 2023 (with the WLL joining in 2024), showcased professional players competing in the Olympic format for the first time. The Lexus Global Lacrosse Games will build on that milestone by creating a new platform for international competition.

Earlier this month, the PLL closed a $100 million Series E financing round led by Ares and Alibaba Group Chairperson Joe Tsai, which it said represented the largest capital raise in the history of professional lacrosse. The investment was designed to accelerate the league’s growth, ahead of the sport’s return to the Olympic stage in 2028.

“The Lexus Global Lacrosse Games set a new global stage to showcase lacrosse and build commercial value for governing bodies, players and partners as we count down to LA28,” said Mike Rabil, co-founder and CEO of the Premier Lacrosse League. “We’re grateful to our partners at Lexus for their continued support for Olympic lacrosse, and are proud to work alongside the NLL to bring this platform to life for the world’s best lacrosse players.”

“This collaboration is bigger than any one league or team — it’s our larger lacrosse community coming together to celebrate elite talent and impassioned competition, while growing our game,” said NLL Commissioner Brett Frood. “This synergy is exactly what will drive momentum toward LA28, and we’re proud to be part of it.”

“We’re thrilled to sanction the Lexus Global Lacrosse Games which will give many of our sports best athletes the opportunity to compete at the highest levels of sixes lacrosse,” said World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr. “We commend the PLL, WLL, and NLL for uniting in this effort to grow the game internationally, and we see this as a pivotal step on the road to LA28.”

Lacrosse at LA28

Lacrosse will return to the Olympic stage in Los Angeles in 2028, 120 years since it was last an official medal event at the 1908 Olympic Summer Games in London.

Since 1908, the sport has appeared at the Olympic Games on three occasions (1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1932 in Los Angeles, and 1948 in London), but only as a demonstration sport.

At LA28, 12 teams (six men’s and six women’s teams) will compete using the Olympic Sixes format developed by World Lacrosse. This involves six-on-six play (each team having five runners and one goalkeeper), four eight-minute quarters and a 30-second shot clock.