IL Indoor

Nassau Coliseum development bidders interested in returning a National Lacrosse League team to the building

It looks like the National Lacrosse League may be returning to New York. IL Indoor has learned that three of the four groups bidding to redevelop the Nassau Coliseum have talked to the league about putting an NLL team in the building. Newsday reported last Thursday that Nassau County received bids from four developers with the intent to “transform the 40-year-old Nassau Coliseum into an arena capable of attracting top concert acts and sporting events while generating millions of dollars in new revenue for Nassau County.”

There hasn’t been an NLL team in the Nassau Coliseum on a full-time basis since the New York Saints were there from 1989-2003. The New York Titans did play half of their home games in the arena in their inaugural season of 2007.

According to Newsday, the bidders are Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner, the Madison Square Garden Company, Edward Blumenfeld and New York Sports LLC. The New York Islanders will leave the Coliseum for the Barclays Center when their lease ends in 2015, and the four developers are bidding to transform the fading arena and give it new life with new tenants. READ MORE »

New NLL is Faster and Better for Broadcasts

Lacrosse is often referred to as the fastest game on two feet and the professional National Lacrosse League (NLL) upholds that slogan. It always has but in 2012 the league got even faster with new rules that have significantly impacted the pace of play. Credit to the athletes, too, with guys seemingly in better shape every year.

In this ‘Business Time’ feature we take a look back through 144 game sheets to define just how much the game pace has increased by analyzing two years – 2011 when the league last played under the old rules, and our recent 2013 regular season. We find quite a difference. READ MORE »

2013 NLL Regular Season Attendance Numbers, Colorado and Buffalo atop again

The Colorado Mammoth are your new National Lacrosse League (NLL) regular season attendance champions, impressively averaging 15,761 fans through eight home games in 2013. The Mammoth last won the attendance crown in 2008, averaging 17,464 fans per home game five years ago.

Buffalo Bandits, who posted the NLL’s top attendance numbers from 2009 through 2012, were a close second this year as they averaged 15,620 fans and drew a record regular season crowd of 19,070 for their final home game of the year. READ MORE »

NLL committed but for how long?

National Lacrosse League (NLL) owner John Arlotta provided IL Indoor with a great quote last year on the reason he and others own NLL franchises.

“We want to try and make a difference in the sport, getting it accepted at a high level in terms of professional sports… We’re all so passionate that we sometimes put our own personal financial considerations secondary to the passion that we have – but you can’t do that forever.”

The question now is how much longer can he and the Swarm keep putting their own personal financial considerations secondary? READ MORE »

Team 22 Report: Sponsored Athletes A Force in 2013 NLL Season

Team 22 sponsored athletes continue to dominate the floors this 2013 NLL season, with a strong presence in the stat leaders thus far. In fact, players sponsored by Team 22 — the licensed manufacturer of Under Armour lacrosse equipment — represent a significant number of the league’s top point producers, including two of the league’s top three point totalers in Calgary’s Shawn Evans and Toronto’s Garrett Billings.

Here’s a look at where the Team 22 stable of players stood in the scoring ranks after the completion of Week 12 action. READ MORE »

Expanded 2014 National Lacrosse League (NLL) schedule leads to more questions

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) recently announced that it will expand to an 18-game regular season schedule in 2014, adding two games to its current 16-game regular season format. Questions then immediately arose for our ‘business time’ feature. How will the games be fit in – will the season run longer or will we just get more games packed between January and April? Will the playoff structure be altered to give the regular season more importance? And how will the extra games impact the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)?

We went to league sources to try and find answers. READ MORE »

No Expansion National Lacrosse League (NLL) Franchises Planned for 2014

The league’s self-imposed March deadline for accepting expansion applications has now passed. No expansion applications were filed for 2014 and, as such, the National Lacrosse League (NLL) does not anticipate expansion next season.

“Adding expansion franchises in a year with an expiring CBA is next to impossible as any new owner would want to understand the system before investing,” adds George Daniel, NLL commissioner since ‘09. READ MORE »

NALL: Baltimore Bombers close the hangar

The travails of starting a new league have claimed yet another victim–at least for now. The North American Lacrosse League’s Baltimore Bombers have announced that they are shutting down with just two games left in their season. Baltimore posted a message on their Facebook page from owner and Head Coach Hunter Francis, who was clearly disappointed that it didn’t work out in Baltimore but sounded a hopeful note for the future of the league and box lacrosse in the US in general. He said, “Today the future of box lacrosse in the US seems unclear. Yet I remain optimistic the roots we have planted will flourish and in good time we will be crowding into rinks to watch the college stars of yesterday become the undisputed stars of tomorrow.” READ MORE »

NLL All Access, plus your vote

Check out this production from The Lacrosse Network, which chronicles the 2013 National Lacrosse League (NLL) home opener for the Philadelphia Wings versus the Buffalo Bandits. Besides some great in-game action, the camera takes you into the Wings’ locker room before and after the game. READ MORE »

History: 30 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Markets in 27 years

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) has had a pretty crazy history with expansion and contraction. 30 markets have welcomed pro indoor lacrosse over its 27 year history. So before we project on where the league can go, let’s try to summarize where it has been.

*** 9 CURRENT MARKETS ***

Current operating franchises are the Philadelphia Wings (1986-Present), who were there from the very start, the Buffalo Bandits (1992), Rochester Knighthawks (1995), Toronto Rock (1999), Calgary Roughnecks (2002) and Colorado Mammoth (2003). READ MORE »