Professional lacrosse: the PLL, the WLL and the NLL, with every final since 2022.

Status on 23 October 2026

Premier Lacrosse League (men's field)

The PLL played its first season in 2019, according to co-founder Paul Rabil in a 2021 Boston.com article, which also says the league merged with Major League Lacrosse in December 2020 and added the Boston Cannons as an eighth team for 2021. The 2026 season had eight teams: Boston Cannons, California Redwoods, Carolina Chaos, Denver Outlaws, Maryland Whipsnakes, New York Atlas, Philadelphia Waterdogs and Utah Archers, with the regular season from 8 May to 16 August and the playoffs from 29 August to 20 September 2026 (Wikipedia, a secondary source).

2026 final. ESPN's press room set the championship for Sunday 20 September 2026 at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey: the Philadelphia Waterdogs, first seed in the Eastern Conference, against the Denver Outlaws, third seed in the West. Wikipedia gives the result as Waterdogs 14, Outlaws 4, the Waterdogs' second PLL title, and an ESPN recap seen as a search summary gives the same score. We did not find a PLL page confirming it. Wikipedia also names CJ Kirst as both Finals MVP and regular-season MVP.

• 2025: the Atlas's first league title.
• 2024: the Archers' second title in a row (Sports Illustrated).
• 2023: the Archers' first title, against the Waterdogs (Sports Illustrated); Wikipedia names goalkeeper Brett Dobson, with 18 saves, as Championship MVP.
• 2022: the Waterdogs' first title; Michael Sowers was Championship MVP (PLL). A score of 10-9 circulated, but we found no source for it, and a LaxJournal report was summarised as placing the game in Washington, D.C.; the PLL's own recap gives 11-9 at Subaru Park, and we follow the PLL.

Women's Lacrosse League

The WLL is run alongside the PLL. The PLL says it launched in November 2024 with four teams, and USA Lacrosse says it played a short sixes season in 2025 and an 11-week, ten-a-side field season in 2026.

2026 inaugural championship. The Maryland Charm beat the California Palms 16-13 at Subaru Park, Chester, Pennsylvania; Sydni Black was MVP (USA Lacrosse, report dated 16 August 2026). The exact day is reported differently: a University of Maryland release dated 16 August was summarised as saying Saturday 15 August, a Monmouth University release as saying Sunday, and a January 2026 Philadelphia Inquirer item had the championship planned for 14 to 16 September. We give mid-August 2026 and leave the day open.

The winter Championship Series (sixes)

The PLL and WLL play a sixes event in the winter. The 2026 edition ran from 27 February to 8 March 2026 in the Washington, D.C. area (PLL announcement).

• PLL, 2026: Carolina Chaos 24, California Redwoods 16, on 8 March 2026 at The St. James, Springfield, Virginia; the Redwoods had been the unbeaten top seed (USA Lacrosse).
• WLL, 2026: New York Charging 18, California Palms 11, on 8 March 2026 in Springfield. This rests on a search summary of a Syracuse athletics story whose page held only a headline, so it is unconfirmed.
• 2025: a Boston Globe story, seen as a search summary, says the Boston Cannons won the PLL Championship Series for a second year running, and a search-result summary of Wikipedia says the Boston Guard won the first WLL title at the 2025 Championship Series. Both are unconfirmed.

National Lacrosse League (men's box)

The NLL says it was founded on 13 March 1986 as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League, played its first season in 1987 with four teams, became the Major Indoor Lacrosse League in 1988 and took its present name in 1997. It marks its 40th anniversary in the 2026-27 season. The trophy it plays for is the NLL Cup.

2026 Finals. The NLL announced on 10 May 2026 a best-of-three series between the Toronto Rock and the Halifax Thunderbirds. Toronto won Game 1 at TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, the Rock's home, on 15 May 2026: 13-11 according to TSN and the Canadian Press, while a University of Denver release was summarised as 14-12. Toronto then won Game 2, 12-7, at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax on 17 May 2026 to take the series 2-0 (Halifax Thunderbirds). The NLL had billed it as a chance at Toronto's first title since 2011 and as Halifax's first Finals since the team moved from Rochester. Wikipedia counts it as Toronto's seventh title and names rookie Sam English as Finals MVP; neither is confirmed on an NLL page.

Wikipedia and a Saskatchewan press report describe Buffalo's 2025 title as the first run of three straight since the Rochester Knighthawks (2012 to 2014).

2026-27 (upcoming). The Toronto Rock's release of 22 September 2026 says the league has 12 teams in a single combined standings table and an 18-game regular season, and that the Rock open at home to San Diego on Saturday 28 November 2026 at TD Coliseum, Hamilton. A search summary of a Buffalo Bandits release says they open against the Georgia Swarm the same day. No champion can be named before the season is played.

Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse (suspended)

Athletes Unlimited ran a women's league that crowned individual champions: Taylor Cummings in 2021, Taylor Moreno in 2022 and 2023, and Sam Apuzzo in 2024 (Athletes Unlimited). On 18 December 2024 it suspended the league indefinitely, with immediate effect, citing the international competition calendar and the limited summer availability of top players. USA Lacrosse headlined it as Athletes Unlimited ceasing lacrosse operations. We found no AU lacrosse season in 2025 or 2026, though that rests only on these two pages.

Earlier professional leagues, back to the 19th century, are on professional leagues in history. Broadcasters for the PLL, WLL and NLL, as the leagues state them, are on watching lacrosse.