Major League Lacrosse, or MLL, is a professional men's field lacrosse league that is made up of seven teams in the United States and one team in Canada.
[edit] History
The MLL was founded by Jake Steinfeld, Dave Morrow and Tim Robertson in 1998, and began regular season play in June 2001. Steinfeld is well known for creating the Body By Jake line of exercise equipment and videos. Morrow is a former All-American lacrosse player and the president of Warrior Sports.
The league was originally divided into the American Division — Boston, Bridgeport (moved to Philadelphia in 2004) and Long Island — and the National Division — Baltimore (moved to Washington after the 2006 season and to Annapolis after the 2008 season), New Jersey, and Rochester — from 2001 until 2005. The MLL played a 14-game regular season its first two years; in 2003, the schedule was cut to 12 games. The league's playoff format has the top teams in each division advancing to the New Balance MLL Championship Weekend, with two wild card playoff spots going to the teams with the best remaining records regardless of division.
MLL announced on March 9, 2005, that the league would expand to Los Angeles for the 2006 season, and that the team would play its home games at The Home Depot Center. AEG, Inc. was confirmed as the franchise's owner/operator. On July 2, 2005, MLL officials revealed that Denver, Colorado would also be home to an expansion franchise, with a team playing at Invesco Field at Mile High. The league subsequently added teams in the Chicago, Illinois and San Francisco, California markets, creating a western conference for these teams. MLL Western Conference play began with the 2006 season.
In an effort to test markets as potential expansion/relocation candidates, the Philadelphia Barrage franchise played all of its 2008 "home" matches in other cities; Cary, North Carolina, Hillsboro, Oregon, Irving, Texas, St. Louis and Virginia Beach.[1][2][3] In addition the Barrage's "home game" against Boston was played in Boston.
At the end of the 2008 season four teams (Los Angeles, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and San Francisco) folded due to financial problems thus forcing the MLL to form one conference. At the start of the 2009 season, the Toronto Nationals were added to the MLL after they bought the rights to the Rochester Rattlers. The Toronto team thus gained the staff of the Rochester team as well as the players, but the Rochester name and the team colors were left in Rochester for the possibility of a future team. On November 23, 2010, Inside Lacrosse.com reported that the Chicago Machine franchise would be moving to Rochester, New York. The team played the entire 2009 season as a traveling team testing expansion markets for the league. The new Rochester franchise will play at Sahlen's Stadium, the same stadium the Rochester Rattlers used at the end of their tenure in Rochester before relocating to Toronto, Ontario.
On December 9, 2010, Commissioner David Gross announced that in February 2011, there would be two expansion teams created for the 2012 MLL Season. Also there would be two more expansion teams for 2013. The long term goal is to have 16 teams by 2019. There were nineteen sites identified as potential markets including Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
On January 21, 2011, League Commissioner David Gross announced that Charlotte, North Carolina and Columbus, Ohio had been approved to host expansion teams to begin play in the 2012 MLL season, a season in which the commissioner also said the league would be adding two more games to the schedule, where eight teams will play fourteen games.
[edit] Format and rules
The season runs from May to August. MLL rules that differ from traditional lacrosse rules include a two-point goal line 16 yards (15 m) from each goal, a 60-second shot clock, and the elimination of the restraining box. From the inception of the league in 2001 to 2008 there was a limit of three long-stick defensemen per team. Beginning in 2009, the league conformed to high school and college lacrosse rules and allow four long–stickman per team on the field at any one time.[4] The shot clock was originally 45 seconds before it was changed to 60 seconds for 2005.
| Major League Lacrosse Progression |
| Year |
Teams |
Games Played |
| 2001 |
6 teams |
14 games |
| 2002 |
| 2003 |
12 games |
| 2004 |
| 2005 |
| 2006 |
10 teams |
| 2007 |
| 2008 |
| 2009 |
6 teams |
| 2010 |
| 2011 |
| 2012 |
8 teams |
14 games |
[edit] Television coverage
Fox Sports Net televised games in 2001 and 2002. ESPN2 has televised games since the 2003 season. On March 14, 2007 the two agreed to a television contract that will run until the 2016 season. Universal Sports broadcast playoff games not on ESPN in 2009 and also carried a Game of the Week in 2010. For the 2011 season, ESPN will televise two regular season games, the MLL All-Star Game, both semi-final games and the MLL championship game. All games are also carried on ESPN3. For the 2012 season ESPN2 will televise 3 regular season games, ALL-STAR Game, one Semi-final game and the MLL Championship game. All 42 regular season games will be live on ESPN3. Also on CBS Sports Network they will televise 13 regular season games and the another Semi-Final game, and 18 episodes of Inside the MLL.
[edit] Current Teams
[edit] Defunct Teams
[edit] MLL Championship Games
| Year |
Champion |
Score |
Runner-up |
Venue |
Location |
Game MVP |
| 2001 |
Long Island Lizards |
15-11 |
Baltimore Bayhawks |
Kennedy Stadium |
Bridgeport, CT |
Paul Gait (Long Island) |
| 2002 |
Baltimore Bayhawks |
21-13 |
Long Island Lizards |
Columbus Crew Stadium |
Columbus, OH |
Mark Millon (Baltimore) |
| 2003 |
Long Island Lizards |
15-14 (OT) |
Baltimore Bayhawks |
Villanova Stadium |
Villanova, PA |
Kevin Lowe (Long Island) |
| 2004 |
Philadelphia Barrage |
13-11 |
Boston Cannons |
Nickerson Field |
Boston, MA |
Greg Cattrano (Philadelphia) |
| 2005 |
Baltimore Bayhawks |
15-9 |
Long Island Lizards |
Nickerson Field |
Boston, MA |
Gary Gait (Baltimore) |
| 2006 |
Philadelphia Barrage |
23-12 |
Denver Outlaws |
The Home Depot Center |
Carson, CA |
Roy Colsey (Philadelphia) |
| 2007 |
Philadelphia Barrage |
16-13 |
Los Angeles Riptide |
PAETEC Park |
Rochester, NY |
Matt Striebel (Philadelphia) |
| 2008 |
Rochester Rattlers |
16-6 |
Denver Outlaws |
Harvard Stadium |
Boston, MA |
Joe Walters (Rochester) |
| 2009 |
Toronto Nationals |
10-9 |
Denver Outlaws |
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium |
Annapolis, MD |
Merrick Thomson (Toronto) |
| 2010 |
Chesapeake Bayhawks |
13-9 |
Long Island Lizards |
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium |
Annapolis, MD |
Kyle Hartzell (Chesapeake) |
| 2011 |
Boston Cannons |
10-9 |
Hamilton Nationals |
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium |
Annapolis, MD |
Jordan Burke |
[edit] League officials
| Name |
Years |
Title |
| Gabby Roe |
1999–2002 |
Executive Director |
| Matthew Pace |
2002–03 |
Executive Director |
| David Gross |
2003–04 |
Chief Operating Officer |
| 2004–present |
Commissioner |
[edit] Notable Players
Some notable players are Paul Rabil, Mikey Powell, Casey Powell, Matt Danowski, John Grant Jr, Kyle Harrison, Ned Crotty, Gary Gait, Ryan Powell, and Matt Poskay.
[edit] Main League offices
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Major League Lacrosse
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| MLL Articles |
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Lacrosse Leagues
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Senior B
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American Senior
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2012 MLL season
United States (7 teams)
Canada (1 team)
