The Red Bulletin August 2020 (US)

When the
World Health
Organization
declared the coronavirus
outbreak a global pandemic
on March 11, professional
lacrosse player Paul Rabil had
the same bewildered “Oh,
shit” reaction as everyone
else. He’d just boarded a
plane from New York to Los
Angeles with his brother,
Mike. The two had worked
tirelessly to build a new pro
lacrosse model. Last summer,
their Premier Lacrosse
League had launched
without a hitch and topped
expectations, with thousands
of fans, team betting and a
culture of equity for players.
And now a virus threatened
to kill what they’d created, as
sports leagues like the NBA
began to announce indefinite
cancellations of play.
Instead of going to that
extreme, the Rabils put out
a press release saying they’d
monitor the situation. Then
they conceded that they’d
have to push back the start of
their season. Both were used
to envisioning worst-case
scenarios, because “as the
leader and co-founder of an
organization that a lot of
people are dependent on, you
have to create solutions based
on a potential worst-case
outcome,” says Paul. The
Rabils opened their laptops
and began assembling a
12-scenario plan.
The big question they
asked themselves was this:
“What if this shit ends up
going to a place we didn’t
expect and we have to cancel
the 2020 season—what would
our last measure be before
that?” Paul says. Before their
flight had landed, they had
10 THE RED BULLETIN