Earlier this week Ty Pilson from the Calgary Sun and IL Indoor discussed the NLL expansion, saying now is the time to do it, albeit carefully. I am here to say that yes, he is right, but in some ways more than others.The National Lacrosse League has, as Pilson puts it, defunct teams all over the map. If all the teams the league has had were to be here today there would be as many teams as the NFL. But there is a reason that is not the case; box lacrosse is not a very exposed sport in the United States.
In Canada, boxla is the national sport, though most will tell you it is hockey, but overall box lacrosse has been sustained in Canada for several years and that won’t go away anytime soon.
This is why the Washington Stealth moved to Langley. There are now four Canadian teams to the five in the States. Hockey is most popular in Canada, but in a league of thirty teams only seven of them are Canadian. Canada can’t sustain an entire league with teams in the states, there needs to be an American fanbase there as well.
Winnipeg, as Pilson suggests, would be a good fit for an NLL franchise, and he also mentions Saskatoon. Both would be great and give a chance to expose box lacrosse talent from other provinces. But American franchises should be given a chance as well for attendance reasons along with talent.
The two top attendance teams in the league– Buffalo and Colorado– are American franchises. The most historic franchise in the league, Philadelphia, is American. American franchises are needed to succeed long term. Boston has been brought up along with New Jersey, Pittsburgh and a lot of the midwest. The key term is always “with the right owners.”
There is one hole in that argument; every time a new team comes into the league I am sure they think it is the “right owners”, unless they just want the expansion fee as Pilson indicates in his column at IL Indoor. Putting that aside, the league doesn’t WANT teams to fail whatever their motive of expansion is. They want teams to stick long term for obvious reasons so of course they think they have the right owners. I will not debate that issue because without the knowledge of what happens behind the scenes it is not fair to say anything about league motives with expansion, especially since we haven’t seen a true expansion team in some years.
Here are a few quotes from the column by Pilson, who is a former Tom Berelli NLL writer of the year winner and one of the better writers in our sport.
If the league is still into looking at smaller venues as viable, a la Langley, Saskatoon has a wonderful arena and the game would do well in Saskatchewan, I think.
Only three players out of Saskatoon, the capital of Saskatchewan, played in senior box lacrosse last season according to Inside Lacrosse. That is a concern a bit as far as players go, but long term I believe the point is to catch on with loyal but smaller Canadian fan bases. The Winnipeg Jets of the NHL succeed with this as do most Canadian Football League teams.
As for the States, there is a logical argument to see a team back in New York or New Jersey. Again, with the right owners.
Again, the “right owners.” If anything the NLL is looking to expand to Long Island and Nassau County and commissioner George Daniel has said so. New Jersey has been attempted twice, with who I am sure the league thought were the right owners. To revisit it, the New Jersey Storm were owned by former NBA player Jayson Williams which could have been great publicity for the league. That didn’t go so well as documented by FunWhileItLasted.com.
There’s also been talk in the past of Pittsburgh. If the Pens were involved, it could work. Imagine Sidney Crosby’s head on the jumbotron cross-promoting and encouraging folks to come see the new NLL there.
Pittsburgh has had two NLL franchises; the Bulls and the Crossfire. The Bulls lasted for three seasons in the 90s and then the Crossfire in 2000 who moved to Washington and then Colorado. When the Crossfire moved to Pittsburgh after 11 seasons in Baltimore the Pittsburgh Post Gazette talked to then NLL VP of Public Relations Bruce Wawryniak, and he said of the team, “Pro indoor lacrosse has changed so much since the Bulls were here that the changes which have taken place are what will make the Crossefire successful from day one. The Bulls were not a very competitive team and, frankly, they were owned and operated by two guys who were burdened with owning and operating every team in the league and they couldn’t give it the time and attention that the people working for the Crossefire will give it, from the owner right on down to the equipment manager. And furthermore, the Bulls weren’t a winner and, like I said, the Crossefire is already a winner.” The Crossefire moved after one season to Washington DC.
In the past two years several attempts to start up American box lacrosse leagues have failed. I will not go into whose fault that is, or why it happened because that is a completely different story. However, it is relevant because that is two more years of Americans not playing and two more years of American fans not being exposed to the sport.
Reality is, some people in Philadelphia or Minnesota might not know the best junior box player, but they know the best college lacrosse players. Those type of players, which are as close to a household name as you can get, are needed. Those names are needed on American teams where fans will recognize their rosters. Will there ever be a successful American feeder league? Before we can think about what was stated above, we need American players who can play box lacrosse. There are several who have not gotten the chances because of the level the Canadians play at. Right now Canada is the leading box lacrosse nation because of their system. The States need to develop the players to be able to play in the NLL before they can play professionally. This is one of the ways to expose box lacrosse to American fans, or at least players they will see in the future.
Wherever the league grows, due diligence has to be paramount. No more failed franchises, please. It looks bad on the league and is heartbreaking for the small, but loyal fanbases of the clubs that fold.
That last sentence could not be more true but let’s keep in mind what was stated earlier; it’s not like the league wants teams to fold. The NLL, in comparison to some major sports leagues, is still in its infancy stages. It is not even 30 years old. Have you seen how long it took baseball? That was a different eta, yes, but without mistakes, then trying isn’t happening. Without trying, where are we at? The league has nine, hopefully stable, teams. Let’s see how Langley does in 2013, let’s see if Long Island becomes a possibility, and let’s see if lacrosse can grow in the states. The NLL has existed for nearly 30 years. Compared to most pro sports leagues, especially those without much national exposure, that is something that is more than impressive and should not be forgotten.
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