North American Lacrosse League officially announces Jacksonville franchise

[Tacachale]

Jacksonville, FL â€"
Professional lacrosse will have a home in Jacksonville come January 2012.

The newly created North American Lacrosse League held a press conference with Mayor Alvin Brown at the Veterans War Memorial Thursday announcing the league's intent to bring a franchise to Jacksonville.

"Simply put," said NALL commissioner Phil Evans, "we're going to provide fans in our market with major league talent in the fastest growing sport in the country at what are basically minor league hockey team ticket prices."

Mayor Brown also spoke on the city's behalf, saying he was confident that the success of Jacksonville University's lacrosse program is a telling sign that a professional franchise would also be successful.

"The franchise will bring to Jacksonville a non-traditional activity in this market, which is so important."

League officials have not decided on a team name yet, but they do know the team will play at the Veterans War Memorial.

By Matt Augustine at wokv.com

http://www.wokv.com/news/news/local/north-american-lacrosse-league-officially-announce/nDFGm/

This is pretty cool. The NALL will evidently be an indoor lacrosse (box lacrosse) league that plays in the winter. It looks like it's setting itself up to be a kind of developmental league to the National Lacrosse League, which is the "major league" for box lacrosse. Jax is the third of five teams to be announced.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Indoor lacrosse can be fun to watch.  I used to go to Washington Wave and Baltimore Thunder games in the 80s.

[tufsu1]

The Baltimore Thunder and Philadelphia Wings for me....and how about the Baltimore Blast indoor soccer team wacca?

[AFCassidy]

Very curious to see how this works.  The Jacksonville Giants struggled to pack even a couple thousand fans per game into the Veterans Memorial Arena for basketball. 

Indoor Lacrosse?  Hmmm.... they might be aiming a bit high in their choice of venue for Jacksonville.  Wonder what kind of a break they're getting on use of facilities, if any, to justify this? 

[tufsu1]

Indoor lacrosse did very well up north in the 80's and 90's....I'm sure they can get a few thousand fans for each game....believe me, it is far better than watching the Giants score 200 points (yay defense)!

[Tacachale]

But wait, there's more.


Jacksonville lands pro lacrosse franchise

Jacksonville got another professional sports team Thursday when the North American Lacrosse League awarded the city its third of five inaugural franchises.

The indoor league will play at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, with games starting in mid-January.

In making the announcement, NALL commissioner Phil Evans said Jacksonville will join Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Charlotte, N.C., in the newly formed league. Hershey, Pa., and Cincinnati are expected to be announced as the final two cities that will play 12 regular-season games and a pair of "friendly" exhibitions.

"In deciding where to locate our teams, we focused primarily on three factors: one, quality of the ownership group; two, quality of the market in terms of their support for professional sports entertainment; three, quality of the venue in which the team will play," Evans said. "There will be lax in Jax."

The new owners are Brett Vickers, president of Equity Sports, and St. Augustine's Chris Milo.

"This was such a natural fit to bring this franchise here," Vickers said. "This market, this city is going to embrace this game. This is going to be the No. 1 franchise in the North American Lacrosse League right out of the box."

The league has mandated rosters be filled with American players. Vickers said the first coach will come from the First Coast area. Vickers said the mascot and schedule will be determined later.

Mayor Alvin Brown welcomed the team and promised bigger things to come.

"We've seen so many things come here: concerts, arena football, NCAA basketball, ABA basketball, all under one roof. Now we're going to have lacrosse," he said. "We are a sports city. I believe in order to take Jacksonville to the next level, this is one way to do it. I'm excited about the future of sports in our city."

Fans can make a $20 deposit for season tickets at www.JacksonvilleNALL.com.

From Don Coble, jacksonville.com

[fieldafm]

The JU lacrosse event at Everbank Field featuring JU, Duke, Notre Dame and Georgetown that was featured on ESPN drew over 8,000 people.  The city also has fledging high school and club lacrosse programs.  Couple that with the fact that Jax embraces unique sports (national champion rugby team, women's semi-pro football, roller derby, etc)... I don't think there is a better city in the South to launch an indoor lacrosse team.  They could easily draw an average of 2,000-2,500 people to the arena per game(the Giants were right around 3,000 per game)... I'm sure they are getting some favorable terms with the Arena.

I'll be there.

[iMarvin]

This is great news for Jacksonville! The arena is really starting to have a lot of events there. The ABA, AFL, NALL, and concerts throughout the year. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a scheduling conflict in 2012.

[blizz01]

Brown welcomed the new franchise and also provided those gathered with a glimpse into Jacksonville’s sports future.
“We are a sports city and I believe this is one way to bring Jacksonville to the next level,” said Brown.
“Lacrosse is here. Who would’ve thought several years ago that we could have a professional lacrosse team here? One thing you keep hearing me say, time and time again, one day we are going to have an NBA team. That’s how you get to the next level, having a vision and looking to the future,” Brown said.
The mayor may have found a connection for that. Evans is the former president of the NBA’s Developmental League, a position he held from 2002-07.

Seems to me that this mayor is on a mission.

[duvaldude08]

What is refreshing to know is that despite all the bad publicity the Jaguars have been getting lately,  there are people out there that view us as a sports city.

[AFCassidy]

What is refreshing to know is that despite all the bad publicity the Jaguars have been getting lately,  there are people out there that view us as a sports city.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but this NALL is a start-up league playing third tier Lacrosse.   It's not even on the same planet as the Jaguars. 

The Jags are a professional, top-level sports franchise playing America's most popular sport at the highest possible level. 

Major League Lacrosse is essentially the top level of pro-lacrosse in the USA.  It is the NFL of what's already a second tier American sport -- Lacrosse.   

Then you have the NLL, the National Lacrosse League, which plays indoors to smaller crowds.  Sort of like the Arena Football League of the Lacrosse world, although the gap between the NLL and MLL is smaller than the gap between the NFL and AFL. 

And then you have the new NALL, which is essentially the developmental league for the NLL. 

[iMarvin]

It looks like Charlotte will be getting a NALL team AND a MLL team. Doesn't make sense to me, but if they have enough fans to support 2 teams, then good for them.

What is refreshing to know is that despite all the bad publicity the Jaguars have been getting lately,  there are people out there that view us as a sports city.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but this NALL is a start-up league playing third tier Lacrosse.   It's not even on the same planet as the Jaguars. 

The Jags are a professional, top-level sports franchise playing America's most popular sport at the highest possible level. 

Major League Lacrosse is essentially the top level of pro-lacrosse in the USA.  It is the NFL of what's already a second tier American sport -- Lacrosse.   

Then you have the NLL, the National Lacrosse League, which plays indoors to smaller crowds.  Sort of like the Arena Football League of the Lacrosse world, although the gap between the NLL and MLL is smaller than the gap between the NFL and AFL. 

And then you have the new NALL, which is essentially the developmental league for the NLL. 

Hey, we have to start somewhere. We can't just automatically get the top of the top. We have to prove that we can at least support a lacrosse team.

[Tacachale]

What is refreshing to know is that despite all the bad publicity the Jaguars have been getting lately,  there are people out there that view us as a sports city.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but this NALL is a start-up league playing third tier Lacrosse.   It's not even on the same planet as the Jaguars. 

The Jags are a professional, top-level sports franchise playing America's most popular sport at the highest possible level. 

Major League Lacrosse is essentially the top level of pro-lacrosse in the USA.  It is the NFL of what's already a second tier American sport -- Lacrosse.   

Then you have the NLL, the National Lacrosse League, which plays indoors to smaller crowds.  Sort of like the Arena Football League of the Lacrosse world, although the gap between the NLL and MLL is smaller than the gap between the NFL and AFL. 

And then you have the new NALL, which is essentially the developmental league for the NLL.

Well, not quite. The NLL is the top level of indoor lacrosse, MLL is the top level of field lacrosse. The NLL has actually been outselling MLL substantially.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2010/08/Issue-227/The-Back-Of-The-Book/MLL-Attendance-Down-5-Denver-Continues-Strong-Home-Gate.aspx?hl=MLL%20attendance&sc=0
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2011/04/29/Research-and-Ratings/NLL-attendance.aspx?hl=NLL%20attendance&sc=0

This startup league is setting itself up as sort of a second-tier to the NLL, bringing the sport to less traditional lacrosse areas like Jacksonville and Charlotte. It's minor league to be sure, but it's still pretty cool that we're in the game to begin with, as there's no precedent for it. Obviously nothing involving lacrosse can be compared to the Jaguars. But any good mid-sized sports city such as Charlotte and Indianapolis will also support minor league and college/amateur sports, on top of the big boys.

[ProjectMaximus]

What is refreshing to know is that despite all the bad publicity the Jaguars have been getting lately,  there are people out there that view us as a sports city.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but this NALL is a start-up league playing third tier Lacrosse.   It's not even on the same planet as the Jaguars. 

The Jags are a professional, top-level sports franchise playing America's most popular sport at the highest possible level. 

Major League Lacrosse is essentially the top level of pro-lacrosse in the USA.  It is the NFL of what's already a second tier American sport -- Lacrosse.   

Then you have the NLL, the National Lacrosse League, which plays indoors to smaller crowds.  Sort of like the Arena Football League of the Lacrosse world, although the gap between the NLL and MLL is smaller than the gap between the NFL and AFL. 

And then you have the new NALL, which is essentially the developmental league for the NLL.

You're absolutely right AFC. This NALL announcement is exactly what you described. That said, it's still a great opportunity for the city. Offers a professional (or semi-pro) element to go with the only mens NCAA lacrosse team in Florida (JU) and who knows where the growth of the sport is gonna take things?? We're part of a lot of new and exciting stuff (rugby and the new AFL come to mind) and it's good to be in the mix. Minor league teams come and go (barracudas, lizard kings, etc) and that's to be expected, but I'd rather have these things here temporarily than not at all. Even if the NALL lasts one season in Jax, it's still nice that we as a city gave it a shot and that we as fans had the chance to go experience it if we wanted to.

As for aiming high with the venue, I'm sure they are getting a nice deal and obviously the arena wants them there. Would it be better for the place to be empty?

[ProjectMaximus]

This is great news for Jacksonville! The arena is really starting to have a lot of events there. The ABA, AFL, NALL, and concerts throughout the year. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a scheduling conflict in 2012.

I'm not sure if the Giants can stay in the arena. Is it still financially feasible? Or the JU Dolphins for that matter.