Rumor: Possible NLL franchise Coming to the Coliseum or Barclays?

[leeroggy]

I received a press release from the NLL (due to my lacrosse website) and it read like this (notice Yormark is going to be in attendance):


MEDIA ADVISORY
December 4, 2018

National Lacrosse League (NLL) To Make Major Announcement At Bleacher Report/NYC December 11th

WHO:

Nick Sakiewicz, Commissioner, National Lacrosse League
Gary Fuhrman, Principal, GF Capital
Brett Yormark, CEO, BSE Global
Lacrosse players and other dignitaries

*** RSVP REQUIRED IN ADVANCE ***

WHAT: National Lacrosse League major announcement
WHEN: Tuesday, December 11, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
WHERE: Bleacher Report - B/R LIVE NYC
1633 Broadway, 3rd Fl. (at 50th St.), Manhattan

DETAILS: The National Lacrosse League will be making a major announcement during a press event at the home of its media partner, Bleacher Report - B/R Live.
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is North America's premier professional indoor lacrosse league. Founded in 1986, the NLL ranks third in average attendance for pro indoor sports worldwide, behind only the NHL and NBA. The League is comprised of 12 franchises across the United States and Canada: Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, New England Black Wolves, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, Vancouver Warriors and Halifax ‘19. For more information, visit NLL.com and find the NLL on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

*** INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE · RSVP REQUIRED IN ADVANCE ***

CONTACT: NLL: Mike Pettit, 267-417-7951, [email protected]
Jerry Milani, 917-797-5663, [email protected]
Joe Favorito, 917-566-8345, [email protected]
BSE: Gina Antoniello, 516-666-8482, [email protected]

Click to read more...

 

[PK Cronin]

Didn't we hear that they were getting another tenant? Would make sense since I don't see another professional sports team going to the Coliseum.

 

[SI90]

There was an article months ago about NLL possibly going to coliseum.

 

[SI90]

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

I genuinely think that an NLL franchise will never be successful in the NY/LI area. Yes, the roots of the game are on LI but it is so focused on the outdoor game that I don't see the interest for box, IMO. The Saints and Titans both already failed in a lacrosse crazy market.

Also, the fact that there are so many other teams and events going on in the NY area hurts the team and interest.

 

[leeroggy]

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Looks like they did find the buyer then. TAXI owns the New York Lizards so it's possible they will own this one too since it spreads fixed costs between two franchises and the NLL could also employ some of the Lizards who want to play indoors. I assume Yormark is there as part of the building Logistics questions. The indoor game uses the same setup as the hockey games use so either stadium would have worked.

 

[leeroggy]

I genuinely think that an NLL franchise will never be successful in the NY/LI area. Yes, the roots of the game are on LI but it is so focused on the outdoor game that I don't see the interest for box, IMO. The Saints and Titans both already failed in a lacrosse crazy market.

Also, the fact that there are so many other teams and events going on in the NY area hurts the team and interest.

Lacrosse crazy is a bit strong. Playing crazy yes, but still early in the fans to watch craziness. ESPN viewership is well behind softball for example. Down here in Florida where I write about the sport we tend to get more attendance at high school games than much of NY does.

 

[The Lighthouse]

It would fit with Yormark's announcement of a new tenant coming. Back in the day we used to have the Saints too?

 

[Lame Lambert]

Hopefully they call them the dragons

 

[eoin92]

I’m. sure this will work out as well as the last lacrosse team that played there.

 

[MJF]

Hopefully they call them the dragons

Create a team around an existing mascot. Excellent.

 

[Lame Lambert]

Create a team around an existing mascot. Excellent.

Maybe they’ll use the same mascot for both teams!

 

[Bood12]

didn't even know indoor lacrosse was still around, and yes the Saints played at the Coliseum like 20 years ago, maybe they are going to bring back indoor roller hockey and the Long Island Jawz

 

[doublechili]

They should bring in an indoor soccer team and talk Steve Zungul out of retirement.

 

[SI90]

Maybe John Tavares will come and play for them?

Uncle John Tavares that is.

 

[leeroggy]

didn't even know indoor lacrosse was still around, and yes the Saints played at the Coliseum like 20 years ago, maybe they are going to bring back indoor roller hockey and the Long Island Jawz

The NLL is actually pretty successful financially league-wide. I believe the League average is over 9,000 fans attending per game. Far above the outdoor MLL.

 

[leeroggy]

Maybe John Tavares will come and play for them?

Uncle John Tavares that is.

Uncle John is rapidly approaching Hilton Honors in age.

 

[leeroggy]

I’m. sure this will work out as well as the last lacrosse team that played there.

The popularity of the sport has taken a pretty good leap up since then, much better chance of success this time around. NLL attendance has trended up nicely. Better shot at success this time around.

 

[leeroggy]

Here's the NLL stats for the doubters:

Attendance

NLL drew 762,367 spectators to its regular-season matches during the 2018 season. The average regular-season home attendance for each team is shown in the table below.[13]

Team	Home average
Saskatchewan	14,639
Buffalo	14,181
Colorado	14,077
Calgary	11,847
Toronto	9,700
Rochester	6,760
New England	5,557
Georgia	4,437
Vancouver	3,507
League average	9,411

[TBODY] [/TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

There are new franchises in Phily and San Diego for the upcoming season. The San Diego franchise is owned by Joe Tsai, the co-founder of Alibaba, who played lacrosse at Yale.

 

[Costigan77]

NY Saints games were awesome. I hope this happens. One of the all time logos too

 

[BrockLobster]

Id definitely go to a game if this happened.

 

[PK Cronin]

Maybe it's the XFL!

 

[eoin92]

The popularity of the sport has taken a pretty good leap up since then, much better chance of success this time around. NLL attendance has trended up nicely. Better shot at success this time around.

I thought they would’ve been more successful the first time around. I think I was the only one of my friends that didn’t play lacrosse when I was a kid. It seemed like it was hugely popular then.

 

[leeroggy]

I thought they would’ve been more successful the first time around. I think I was the only one of my friends that didn’t play lacrosse when I was a kid. It seemed like it was hugely popular then.

I don't know your age but I'm 60 now. In my time the only three hotspots were Long Island, Maryland around Baltimore and Upstate NY. And where I grew up in Merrick it was not popular. But I live in Boca Raton right now and it's crazy how many kids are playing in the state. I was in Kissimmee last weekend for the Orlando Club event and there were 150 teams in all age groups (almost all from Florida programs). Texas and California are RAPIDLY growing, as is Colorado, Georgia and North Carolina. Even the University of Utah is starting their NCAA D1 program this year.

As players and coaches from the Northeast located to the Sun Belt they are bringing the level of coaching up substantially and that also is translating to interest among the kids. The Florida State Championship Final Four in May in Boca drew nearly 3,000 in attendance.

 

[leeroggy]

It's Official:

NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE WELCOMES 13TH FRANCHISE

The National Lacrosse League (NLL), the largest men’s professional indoor lacrosse league in North America, has announced expansion into the New York market under the ownership of live events and sports media entertainment company GF Sports and its affiliates (“GF Sports”). The team, which will begin play in 2019, will be the League’s 13thfranchise and play its home games at the newly renovated NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

National Lacrosse League Welcomes 13th Franchise | National Lacrosse League