The nature of the beast in the National Lacrosse League is rumors of teams moving. The latest rumor was the Edmonton Rush possibly moving to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but it appears the Rush are downplaying this rumor.
“Let the record show that he’s lost a lot of money and he’s spent a lot of time … he may even have grey hairs that have come from this experience because he’s put a lot of himself into it. He really passionately wants this team to do well and win here and I firmly believe Bruce wants this thing to keep going. He just wants a winner.” said Dave Jamieson, the Rush president, in the Edmonton Journal. He continued to say, “Candidly, we need more season tickets and we’re going to work hard to get there,”’
“We have goals in mind, short term and longer term. Selling tickets, as I’m learning, I knew from my experience in football, is a very difficult task. You’re not selling someone an essential like water, heat, housing, clothing. You’re selling them a sports entertainment option. In this market, lacrosse is not on the level of hockey but that doesn’t mean we can’t carve out a good strong niche for ourselves and I think we made some great strides.”
The Rush made a media release yesterday evening addressing the rumors of a move to Saskatoon, admitting that they had indeed talked to the city but have not for 30 days. They say the talks were very preliminary and they are working towards hosting the 2014 season in Edmonton.
“I’ve kind of heard those rumblings here and there,” Rush captain Jimmy Quinlan had said about the move after the Rush’s season ended. It appears that the Rush will be in Edmonton for at least 2014, but in a league where expansion and relocation is often the case, it’s worth watching.
