2019-2020 NLL Season

[Jer15]

On 2/21/2020 at 5:58 PM, pluggerplugger1 said:

The Toronto-Halifax game is their free game of the week too, about to begin.

That game was a lot of fun. I was saying to @_J_ in a PM the other day that my fandom has really changed over the past few years. The Rock are my favorite team still but I just like watching the league in general now especially when you get a fun game like that. 

[GDAWG]

When the NLL announces a Dallas franchise and if it's going to play in Fort Worth, I wonder who the owner(s) will be.  The NLL has owners in the WNBA, NHL, NBA and NFL.  Will this owner be someone who owns another pro sports franchise?  Or will it be a group of businessmen with questionable finances?  If it's a Major League sports owner, I would not be surprised at all if it's the Hunt Family, who own FC Dallas and the Kansas City Chiefs.  I don't see Mark Cuban or Tom Gaglardi owning a lacrosse team.  

[Jer15]

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Or will it be a group of businessmen with questionable finances? 

I highly doubt it.

 

Nick Sakiewicz has made it pretty clear he wants any potential ownership to be associated with other major league sports. This way they have experience running a team as well as have money and likely access to, if not owning, an arena. 

 

Let's wait and see what they announce. We all know Dallas seems to be a coveted market by the NLL but they don't seem to be able to find an ownership fit (at least, it hasn't been easy for them). 

[pluggerplugger1]

3 hours ago, Jer15 said:

That game was a lot of fun. I was saying to @_J_ in a PM the other day that my fandom has really changed over the past few years. The Rock are my favorite team still but I just like watching the league in general now especially when you get a fun game like that. 

Yeah, I'm really glad that the league flexed that one to the free game of the week. And I'm similar with my NLL fandom -- although the reasoning is because the Arlottas up and moved our team lol. I'll watch basically any game with a decent matchup. With Rochester and New York being the only really poor teams so far this year, it's made for a ton of great games.

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, Jer15 said:

I highly doubt it.

 

Nick Sakiewicz has made it pretty clear he wants any potential ownership to be associated with other major league sports. This way they have experience running a team as well as have money and likely access to, if not owning, an arena. 

 

Let's wait and see what they announce. We all know Dallas seems to be a coveted market by the NLL but they don't seem to be able to find an ownership fit (at least, it hasn't been easy for them). 

 

Based on the fact that the team is likely to play in Fort Worth, I think Mark Cuban and Tom Gaglardi can be ruled out.  I am guessing it's going to be Hunt Sports Group, who own FC Dallas of MLS and the Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs.  

[Jer15]

15 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Based on the fact that the team is likely to play in Fort Worth

Sorry....I missed that this was a fact.

Where did you see that? I'd like to read that and catch up on what I missed

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, Jer15 said:

Sorry....I missed that this was a fact.

Where did you see that? I'd like to read that and catch up on what I missed

 

It was posted that the NLL copyrighted the name "Fort Worth Panthers."  This leads me to think Dickies Arena, which seats 12,000 and not Mark Cuban or Tom Gaglardi but someone else (like the Hunt Family or one of the Texas Rangers minority owners) as the main owner.  

 

https://lacrossebucket.com/2020/02/10/where-will-the-nll-expand-next/

 

Quote

On Feb. 2nd, 2020, the NLL filed a trademark for the name Fort Worth Panthers. And while trademarks can certainly end up not meaning anything, if you just read the tea leaves on this one there is some definitely some smoke here. 

Dallas, Texas was reportedly in the works back when the league was initially looking to expand early in Sakewicz’s tenure as commissioner. However, Dallas fell through and things got quiet. But over the last six months or so Dallas has started to emerge as a target expansion location once again. Multiple sources have told Lacrosse Bucket over the past few months that Dallas could be a potential location in this next wave of NLL expansion. 

If the league does indeed bring a team to Fort Worth that would help balance the league out more. The West Division has five teams, currently, and with the addition of another western team, the current division could possibly be split into two new divisions. Much like what happed this year when New York and Rochester came in and the league split the eastern teams into a North and East division instead of having one massive East division.

So while Dallas, or technically Fort Worth, appears to be a location of great interest for the NLL right now and could very well be the next location for an expansion team, based on what I’m hearing, we’ll have to sit back and see what truly does transpire here. 

 

[Jer15]

Thanks for sharing that

[GDAWG]

Since the NLL wants most (if not all) of their teams to be owned by Major league sports owners, I still think that if the rumored DFW NLL team is in Fort Worth, it will either be the Hunt Family or the Texas Rangers that own that team.  

[Jer15]

So commissioner Nick Sakiewicz made a couple interesting comments in an interview posted earlier today on the NLL Facebook Page:

1 - No expansion for next year.

2 - Expect an announcement on the next team in the next 30 to 60 days. Will be a US market.

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, Jer15 said:

So commissioner Nick Sakiewicz made a couple interesting comments in an interview posted earlier today on the NLL Facebook Page:

1 - No expansion for next year.

2 - Expect an announcement on the next team in the next 30 to 60 days. Will be a US market.

 

So probably Dallas/Fort Worth or Las Vegas.  

[JayMac]

I heard this during the broadcast of the Wings/Swarm game. The announcers said that the plan for the near future is to expand by 3 to get up to 16. I think it will be Dallas/Ft. Worth next. 

[GDAWG]

An NLL team for Dallas/Fort Worth can succeed if marketed properly.  One of the reasons the Dallas Rattlers of MLL failed was because nobody knew it existed and therefore, nobody went to the games.  Dickies Arena can seat 12,000 people and if they can get 10,000 per game for Lacrosse, it will be a smashing success.  

[pluggerplugger1]

18 hours ago, Jer15 said:

So commissioner Nick Sakiewicz made a couple interesting comments in an interview posted earlier today on the NLL Facebook Page:

1 - No expansion for next year.

2 - Expect an announcement on the next team in the next 30 to 60 days. Will be a US market.

 

He mentioned there's 7 markets vying for spots #15 and #16 too. Exciting stuff!

[GDAWG]

I still think that the potential owner of the Dallas/Fort Worth NLL Team (if it does end in Fort Worth) will either be someone who is a part of the Texas Rangers ownership group, or Hunt Sports Group, who own the Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs and MLS FC Dallas.  It fits with the league wanting major league sports owners.  This is only though if the team ends up at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.  If it's at the American Airlines Center, it will either be Mark Cuban or Tom Gaglardi, but a lacrosse team would not fit Cuban's portfolio.   

[AnPheitseog]

16 would be wonderful.

 

Two conferences of two divisions of four teams.

 

 

[pluggerplugger1]

20 hours ago, _J_ said:

16 would be wonderful.

 

Two conferences of two divisions of four teams.

 

 

 

I'd love this. Could keep it at 18 games too if they have division opponents play each other home & home, and everyone else once.

I just hope all of the existing teams can survive to see the next expansion waves. Attendance hasn't looked good at all in New York, and it seems like San Diego has taken a step back from their first season.

[GDAWG]

 

[Jer15]

MLS just announced a suspension too. 

 

I suspect the NLL is going to follow. 

[JayMac]

I am sad that I probably won't see another Wings game this season but I completely understand and support the suspension of games.