Philadelphia, April 8, 2020– The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the longest running and most successful professional lacrosse league in the world, today announced that the League will cancel the remainder of the regular season. League officials are looking at any number of scenarios to return to play when all stakeholders and health officials deem that possible. There is no timeline on when decisions will be made. The league suspended regular season play on March 12th due to COVID-19.
“With three weekends left in the regular season and the uncertainty about resumption during that time, we decided it is in the best interests of our players, coaches, staff, partners and fans to remove any uncertainty. Our goal is to find the best, and safest, solution for resumption of play, but what that looks like, and when that occurs, cannot be determined today,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “Our primary focus is the long term health of all involved in the sport of lacrosse from a personal and a business standpoint, and we are consulting with our board, medical and municipal authorities, as well as leadership in other organizations across sports and entertainment, to determine when we will be able to effectively move forward. Whenever that is, we have plans in place that continue to evolve, and we will be ready to restart the process correctly and effectively.”
“We continue to be in regular contact with the NLL and support their recent decision to halt the regular season, while continuing to figure out what a next step looks like,” said Peter Schmitz, PLPA President. “Our primary focus remains the health and safety of our members and their input will be the deciding factor. We recognize the challenges that are presented with the unpredictability of the circumstances in which we find ourselves and will consider all options as presented by Nick and the NLL Leadership. We remain positive and optimistic for a return to the floor in the appropriate timeframe. ”
Those options will be outlined in more detail as the situation becomes clearer across North America in the coming weeks.
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About the National Lacrosse League
Founded in 1986, the National Lacrosse League (NLL) is the longest running and most successful professional lacrosse league, ranking third in average attendance for pro indoor sports behind only the NHL and NBA. The League is comprised of 13 franchises across the United States and Canada: Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, New England Black Wolves, New York Riptide, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, and Vancouver Warriors.
According to recent research, the NLL fan is younger (average age 46) than almost every North American professional sports league. Almost sixty percent of its fans come from a non-lacrosse fan base, while the general lacrosse fan has become more engaged than at any point in the history of the league. Most importantly, NLL fans are extremely passionate and engaged, with 58% of NLL fans identifying their favorite NLL team as their favorite sports team. Focusing on a digital first strategy, every NLL game is distributed on Turner’s B/R Live streaming service available on desktop, iOS, Android, and connected devices. The NLL Game of The Week broadcast is also available on Facebook and Twitter, and averages over 160,000 unique viewers per game this season.
For more information, visit NLL.com and find the NLL on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Media Contact:
National Lacrosse League: Katie Lavin, [email protected]
