Celebrating its 20th season, the National Lacrosse League is touting its new partnership with Reebok, the largest sponsorship agreement in its history, while increasing its exposure via the B2 Networks, which will offer every regular season and playoff game on broadband television.
An Internet broadcast network, lacrossetv.com, launches Jan. 1. A national network or cable deal will be finalized in the next few weeks, NLL commissioner Jim Jennings said Wednesday.
As Jennings strives to broaden the sport from hotbeds in the U.S. and Canada to a household name in both nations, attendance is at an all-time high, averaging 10,236 league-wide and topping 17,000 in Colorado and Toronto.
The NLL All-Star Game and Champion’s Cup final were televised live on NBC last season and held their own in the Saturday afternoon time slot.
The latter drew 19,432 fans to Toronto’s Air Canada Centre as the Toronto Rock prevailed 19-13 over the Arizona Sting.
An ownership model in which NLL owners already own an arena or an NBA or NHL team has succeeded in cities such as Denver, under Nuggets-Avalanche-Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke. Minnesota, which made its debut last season in the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Wild, averaged 10,315 in attendance, fourth-best in the NLL.
The Sting reached the finals in its second season, but averaged only 6,568. The stability of the third-year San Jose Stealth appears precarious with an average attendance of 5,435, but Jennings is confident in the team’s future. He says its relatively high ticket prices and the absence of giveaways rank it near the top in gross dollars; the NHL’s San Jose Sharks have recently assumed 100 percent of the ownership.
Beyond the NLL’s growth and stability, Toronto remains the team to beat on the floor. The defending champion Rock, winner of five titles in seven seasons, returns reigning NLL MVP Colin Doyle and four second-team all-pro selections.
In the West Division, Calgary and Arizona are favored.
