We’ve all heard the talk, and now it might become reality; Major League Lacrosse will be in Atlanta. We talked to the man leading the charge, Liam Banks.
“I believe that in either 2014 or 2015 we will have an MLL team in Atlanta.” says Banks. “The game that LB3 Lacrosse put on between Rochester and Boston this past June was a huge success. The fans loved the game, the players loved the facility and I think the league recognized the excitement that the game brought to the Atlanta Community. I am very confident that ATL with have an MLL franchise.”
Atlanta has long been targeted as a future home for a Major League Lacrosse team. Just this past week, league commissioner David Gross was in Atlanta, presumably to do with this expansion opportunity.
And this would be an expansion team, as Banks tells us this will be expansion and not a team relocation. In the past it had been speculated that the Rochester Rattlers could end up moving, but Banks is committed to this being an entire new team.
Banks wants another team with him in the south to create a rivalry between southern markets. Currently the furthest team to the south is the Charlotte Hounds.
“I do think that you will see more teams in the south. I believe in the MLL and the growth of Lacrosse all over the country. I think it makes sense to have another team in the South. I also know that the League office and the Commish are very smart about how to expand correctly. I think in the first 10 years of the league everybody learned a lot and I feel confident that fiscally responsible growth with take place in future years. ”
Banks and his team have been working on this possibility for a long time, and they think that success in this region is almost inevitable. “We have been working on this for a year. We have no definite time line on when we will finish the process but as I said earlier we will not move forward until our group is 100 percent confident that we have all pieces in place to be successful.
“I definitely think the fans proved we had a strong fan base. We had 5500 fans at the event during a huge storm. Even with thunder, lightning, rain 5500 came out. It is very exciting and there is a huge buzz about an MLL team here in ATL.”
It was also stated that it will be known in the next two to four weeks if this team will exist in 2014 or 2015.
One concern that has been stated is Atlanta’s seemingly inability to draw in professional sports. They have gone through two hockey teams, their baseball team didn’t draw in the playoffs in the 1990s, and most of all not many pro players come out of the Atlanta area.
“Part of our plan will be to have more pro athletes come to live in ATL.” said Banks. “Atlanta is a great city and many people from the North love living here. Our main goal in bringing an MLL team to Atlanta is to help grow the game. The MLL is special because kids have access to players. The more players we get to come to ATL and work full time growing the game the better the franchise will be. With that said Atlanta has the largest Airport in the world and has a ton of reasonably priced flights in and out. We will have to work hard to balance local talent and guys who fly in. We are committed to forming a team that will be both cost effective and successful on the field.
“I dont know if Atlanta was ready for the hockey team and dont know what their business plan looked like so it is hard to comment on the Thrashers. I know that running an NHL hockey team is much more expensive then an MLL organization. I live here and go to Braves games and there are always fans in the seats. People in ATL love the Braves, love the Falcons, love the Hawks and will love an MLL Team. Atlanta is not NYC so it is tough to fill a baseball stadium every night. The Braves are also trying to fill 30-50K seats and play 86 home games a year. MLL ATL will have 7 home games, schedule tournaments run by LB3 Lacrosse around games and really appeal to the 21-35 year old in Buckhead. We are excited about our plan and I think Atlanta is a great sports town. I know Bobby Cox and Freddi Gonzalez would love to see an MLL team in ATL. They both know what lacrosse is through the www.lakepointsports.com project and have been great supporters of LB3 Lacrosse. ”
Banks says that there are currently no leads on team names for the future franchise, but encourages fans to bring ideas. “No leads on names. I have some ideas and would love to hear from the fans. If any lacrosse fans want to send suggestions please tweet your suggestion to @mllatl #MLLATLNAME”
