Pro lacrosse comes to Florida

[Magnus]

So I'm a Toronto Rock fan. I checked the website today, and found out that they will be playing the opening game of their 2009 season in Florida, against the New York Titans. There is a website about the game.

http://www.floridalacrossecup.com/

Thoughts?

I know that outdoor lacrosse is popular in the States. Will this help the indoor game? Or will it end up being a one-off?

[O_Town_Clown]

I've lived in Florida my whole life and have never learned about, played in, or watched a game of lacrosse at any level. I'm pretty sure the center of popularity for the sport is the Mid-Atlantic Region.

In Florida the most popular sport by far is College Football, followed by the NFL, MLB/NBA, and NHL/MLS. I'm sure golf and tennis fit in there somewhere as well, but lacrosse isn't really on the radar. I'm sure it's played at a few high schools, but on the whole it isn't popular.

Edit: To answer your question. I don't think this will have any effect on the game's popularity in Florida. In fact I doubt that anyone in the state not reading this thread will even know about it. Most people in the state didn't even know that we had professional Soccer teams at one point and Soccer is far more popular here than Lacrosse.

[Jer15]

I'm a big time rock fan myself.

I like what the NLL does in spreading out where they play pre-season (and now I guess this regular season) games, as a way to test out the markets.

If this doesn't sell big, no big deal, now we (NLL owners, NLL head office, and NLL fans) know not to expand to Florida.

Seems like a pretty risk-free idea.

[Still MIGHTY]

Lacrosse isn't too big in Florida. I know there are a few really good private schools, one in St. Augustine. But I think that's as far as it goes. It's not that mainstream.

I want the Anaheim Storm back though. When they brought the Storm here, lacrosse was just getting started out here. Now Lacrosse is probably the 4th most popular high school sport in SoCal next to football and basketball and baseball. Kids want to play it and are interested. The main opponent to the sport is the football coaches ( ). The LA Riptide are pretty successful now. Lax is even bigger in San Diego. If they put an MLL team in SD, and tried with the NLL back here in Anaheim, I'm almost positive it'd be a success.

[RyanMcD29]

I thought girls lax was really starting to become popular down there in Florida at the high school level

Here it's all about HS Lacrosse and College Lacrosse. I live on the lacrosse hotbed of the nation and play for a school in arguably the toughest conference in the nation (as is the girls team), but I must say the MLL and NLL hasn't really caught on here like the field game at the HS game and to an extent Hofstra and Stony Brook (and other college) lacrosse

BTW all you template haters, every school on Long Island got new uniforms last year, and they're all the same exact template. That's like the worst case RBK Edge scenario come true. Thank you Dynamic Team Sports

[Geoff]

Lacrosse is actually growing quickly in Florida. The FHSAA has recently recognized Lax as a Varsity sport. A lot of team in Central/South Florida have been playing for years and at least 4 schools in Tallahassee have it. FSU has a good club team that competes in Div. 1 of the MCLA and Florida Southern is going Varsity in Div. 2.

Interest is growing in Florida and it is growing fast.

[Viper]

This NLL Insider article about the game notes that the game is being organized by prospective owners of a would-be NLL expansion team for Miami.

If Miami does get a team, it just has to be called the Matadors. They don't have to reuse the original Matadors' logo, though.

[Jer15]

This NLL Insider article about the game notes that the game is being organized by prospective owners of a would-be NLL expansion team for Miami.

If Miami does get a team, it just has to be called the Matadors. They don't have to reuse the original Matadors' logo, though.

I think that further supports the fact that NLL is VERY smart when it comes to expantion, as least they have been since they allowed Calgary to join the league.

Having that group that is interested testing the waters first is genious!

[Geoff]

A better expansion site in Florida, IMO is Orlando or Tampa. Central Florida is where the Florida Lacrosse culture is at its strongest. If they go into either market, they'll have a great building. When they open the new Orlando arena, that would be the best arena in the NLL.