2021 Outdoor Lacrosse Thread

[JayMac]

 I think this was inevitable...

 

https://premierlacrosseleague.com/articles/the-premier-lacrosse-league-and-major-league-lacrosse-announce-merger/

[MJWalker45]

So they buried all but one identity, though they are saved for future use. I would have preferred to see the PLL teams find a permanent spot, but they're dead set on continuing as a touring league which may still be the better financial decision for the next few years. 

[GDAWG]

There was once a Major League Lacrosse team called the Dallas Rattlers who played at the Star in Frisco.  Nobody knew the team existed and nobody cared, and they folded.  The same fate might happen to Panther City LC in the indoor NLL if there's no promotion of the team to tell them "DFW has a pro lacrosse team."  The issue with Panther City LC (besides the name) is the ownership group, who owns the WNBA's Dallas Wings.  One of the issues the Wings have is that they don't tend to keep their star players around for more than 5 years.  The Mavericks (Dirk Nowitski), Cowboys (a bunch of players), Rangers (Michael Young) and Stars (so far Jamie Benn) and FC Dallas (so far Matt Hedges).  They had two star players in Liz Cambage and Skyler Diggins Smith, both of whom were initially happy to be in Dallas, but became disgruntled and left (Cambage went to Las Vegas and Diggins-Smith went to Phoenix).  They have two up and coming talent in Arike Ogunbowale and last year's top pick Satou Sabally.  Whether or not they both play the rest of their careers for one team like Sue Bird in Seattle or Diana Taurasi in Phoenix remains to be seen.  

 

As for the Dallas Rattlers, there was not a single ad on the radio or TV to promote the team.  There wasn't a single story on the local news about them either (both the Wings and FC Dallas are mentioned in the local news every so often like when FC Dallas was eliminated from the MLS Playoffs and when the Wings hired their new coach), so nobody knew they existed and when they folded the reaction was mostly "DFW had a lacrosse team? and they played at the Star in Frisco?"  The Wings do a decent job of marketing and telling the DFW sports fans that they exist, so that won't be a problem with Panther City Lacrosse Club.  

[4_tattoos]

Funniest part of all this is Paul Rabil actually made an attempt to purchase MLL years ago. That didn't happen, so he created the PLL. Now here we are. Checkmate!

[raysox]

I've tweeted a lot this, but I'll put some thoughts together here. People IN lacrosse seem to think this is a great move. Now there isn't two leagues splitting the best players time during the summer. Since jump street, PLL has been more organized, better visibility, and had better sponsors. 

That being said, I feel for the fans of teams that now lose a home schedule, and even worse if they aren't the Cannons and don't have that direct team to root for in the transition. The PLL was planning to go to Denver, Maryland, North Carolina, Long Island, and Boston this year. Then went to Philly twice last year. Me being from Florida, never had a team to root for because I had no connection to any of the city-based teams. It's growing the game at the risk of alienating some diehards, but the alternative is the MLL folding. Most of the teams were playing at college and high school venues anyway.

As for the PLL keeping the trademarks of MLL teams - I hope the Outlaws become team 9. I think the two teams that may not transfer are the Hounds and Lizards, due to the existing dog and reptile teams. But like, Barrage vs Chaos? That fits.

[JayMac]

My wishful thinking 5-year plan is that they expand to include at least 4 of the MLL franchises. If they have twelve clubs, then maybe they can split them up into 2 sites each weekend.

[GDAWG]

I don't think this will be the only merger of leagues outside of the big 5 (NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS and NHL).

[MJWalker45]

13 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

I don't think this will be the only merger of leagues outside of the big 5 (NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS and NHL).

I could see a couple Arena football leagues merge but that's about it. A few leagues are spread all over so I could see them play division/conference only schedules (IFL/NAL)

[GDAWG]

1 minute ago, MJWalker45 said:

I could see a couple Arena football leagues merge but that's about it. A few leagues are spread all over so I could see them play division/conference only schedules (IFL/NAL)

 

I don't see it because all of the indoor football leagues see themselves as the NFL of the Indoor leagues.  Too many egos there for a merger.

[MJWalker45]

1 minute ago, GDAWG said:

 

I don't see it because all of the indoor football leagues see themselves as the NFL of the Indoor leagues.  Too many egos there for a merger.

If enough leagues go bust they'll figure it out. 

[nickp91]

PLL's deal with NBC will bring in a decent amount of money over the next few years

[GDAWG]

52 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

If enough leagues go bust they'll figure it out. 

 

Only if COVID restrictions prevents them from playing in 2021 because I don't think any of the indoor football leagues can survive as is if none of them play in 2021.  

 

I think that if there is a merger, it will be a triple merger between IFL, NAL and CIF.  The CIF has a bunch of teams in Texas, and would give the Frisco Fighters of the IFL some nice in-state geographic rivals.  Plus there's a CIF team in Sioux City, Iowa which would give the Barnstormers an instate rival.  Adding the NAL would also resolve the travel issues the league is going to have by adding a California team (Ontario Bandits) even though the rest of the league is East of the Mississippi (it's going to be a decision that backfires on the NAL, by expanding to California).  By adding the NAL as part of the merger, you get teams in the Southeast and the Ontario Bandits of the NAL would get to play the three IFL teams in Arizona, Albuquerque, the two IFL teams of Oakland and San Diego in their own state (if both of those teams return in 2022, which both have said that they will) and Spokane cutting down on travel costs.  

 

Having said that, unless COVID restrictions wipe out the 2021 seasons, this will not happen.  

 

As for the PLL, if COVID restrictions continue when they are expected to start up again for 2021, they will probably do a bubble again.  

[4_tattoos]

3 hours ago, raysox said:

As for the PLL keeping the trademarks of MLL teams - I hope the Outlaws become team 9. I think the two teams that may not transfer are the Hounds and Lizards, due to the existing dog and reptile teams. But like, Barrage vs Chaos? That fits.

Of the current/final MLL teams the best names were Outlaws and Cannons IMO. I also hope the Outlaws name is brought back for any future expansion. 

 

Gonna suck to see the Chesapeake Bayhawks go, but I prefer the merger over MLL flat out going out of business the hard way. 

 

Does the merger also mean the PLL will own MLL's video archive? That has to be valuable on some level right? If for no other reason than to show highlights of PLL veteran players that precede 2019.

 

If the PLL decision makers are as smart as I think they are, they need to go to Denver every 4th of July as long as the touring model is in place. The Denver Outlaws annually put a lot of butts in the seats each 4th of July at the Broncos Stadium which would be followed up by a fireworks show that night. IIRC it's drawn around 30K before. If the 4th falls on a weekend, have the full tour in Denver that week. If the 4th falls mid week, they should consider holding 1 or 2 games that day followed up by the fireworks show. 

 

Hmmm... now that I think about it, maybe they should have kept the Outlaws name for team number 8. A PLL event on the 4th of July in Denver would probably be an easier sell if the Outlaws were involved in one of the games.

[GDAWG]

So what happens to the individual owners of the PLL?

[raysox]

16 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

Of the current/final MLL teams the best names were Outlaws and Cannons IMO. I also hope the Outlaws name is brought back for any future expansion. 

 OFFICIAL POWER RANKINGS OF MLL NAMES THAT TRANSLATE TO PLL

 

1. Cannons
2. Outlaws

3. Barrage

 

4. Bayhawks (Geographical is questionable, but could be big for the transition)

 

5. Hammerheads

 

6. Lizards (Whipsnakes may cover the reptiles names)

7. Hounds (Waterdogs cover this)

[Matthew24]

So with the MLL dead and the dead body being adsorbed into the PLL like Cell from DBZ. Only the Cannons got the offer to join the league or will other teams join in before the 2021 season? 

While I never been a big fan of the MLL, I hate that basically this would be treated as a relaunch for the Cannons (unless I miss something?). I like continuity dang it. Also, if the Denver Outlaws or New York Lizards  or the other teams failed or be kicked out to the curb due to the merger, would the National Lacrosse League buy the trademark of said teams?

Doubt it since the NLL Mammoths would kick the Outlaws to the curb. This feels like a misguided mess to be honest. Hopefully the Outlaws and maybe another MLL team or two could join to boost the league to 10 teams. Though given what going on, I doubt it.

[raysox]

Cannons will be the 8th team, but have an expansion draft to determine their roster since the PLL teams surely are better top to bottom. PLL has the trademarks to MLL names, so we will likely see names like Outlaws & Barrage before some random mashup of words like other teams. 

 

Heres some more info from the man himself.

 

 

[4_tattoos]

On 12/17/2020 at 9:45 AM, raysox said:

7. Hounds (Waterdogs cover this)

Hounds is the better name. Not to mention the PLL club's logo is not an actual water dog (looks more like the Disney character Pete tbh). If they decided to simply change the Waterdogs name to the Hounds Lacrosse Club, I don't think anybody would raise a fuss about it.

[raysox]

You're right, Hounds is better. But Waterdogs were named by the Pardon My Take podcast from Barstool, and they have a 4000 follower lead on second place on twitter. So I think there would be a fuss unfortunately.

[AnPheitseog]

Just now, raysox said:

You're right, Hounds is better. But Waterdogs were named by the Pardon My Take podcast from Barstool, and they have a 4000 follower lead on second place on twitter. So I think there would be a fuss unfortunately.

That's enough of a reason to kill off Waterdogs.