MLL shakeup Rochester moves to Toronto

[Dilbert]

http://www.majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/pr...article_id=1275

The New Jersey Pride, Los Angeles Riptide, San Francisco Dragons and the Philadelphia Barrage have folded. Last season the Barrage played all their Home games at various sites in the US. Rochester will be moving to Toronto and play at BMO Field. A press conference is today at the Air Canada Centre anouncing their name and logo at 3:30pm

[BrySmalls]

http://www.majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/pr...article_id=1275

The New Jersey Pride, Los Angeles Riptide, San Francisco Dragons and the Philadelphia Barrage have folded. Last season the Barrage played all their Home games at various sites in the US. Rochester will be moving to Toronto and play at BMO Field. A press conference is today at the Air Canada Centre anouncing their name and logo at 3:30pm

No words of a dispersal draft or did I miss it in the article?

[chestnutz]

It's a shame seeing a team from my hometown move, but can't say it has that big of an impact on me. The town loves the Knighthawks for the most part, not the Rattlers. And I hate lacrosse.

[DelayedPenalty]

Can Toronto support two lacrosse franchises? or did I miss something happening to the Rock? (and I don't mean this one )

[raysox]

I like the idea of a team in Toronto, but I don't like the teams folding. I understand, but it's sad. I really liked the Riptide logo.

Has this been covered?

the new All-star game logo.

[Buffalo]

Not surprised!

This "league" has been a joke since its start.

Attendance figures are awful, the 2-point goal is an abomination and the uniforms are UGGGGLY!!!

Put teams in smaller stadiums---like HS football sized venues---and in cities where fans care. They should forget about Chicago, unless they move the team to the North Shore suburban communities.

Maybe keep Rochester, add Buffalo and Syracuse, Baltimore/DC suburbs and Philly.

I don't know why this didn't work other than ticket prices (they should be ~$5 each, for reals!) and a total, I mean TOTAL lack of publicity and press coverage.

The MLL is a joke and needs to get its act together.... removing their sole franchise from Upstate is a bad idea.

[Slickster]

[bulldogbarks55]

http://www.majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/pr...article_id=1275

The New Jersey Pride, Los Angeles Riptide, San Francisco Dragons and the Philadelphia Barrage have folded. Last season the Barrage played all their Home games at various sites in the US. Rochester will be moving to Toronto and play at BMO Field. A press conference is today at the Air Canada Centre anouncing their name and logo at 3:30pm

Ease up there, Delayed Penalty. The Rock is INDOOR lacrosse. The defending league champion Rattlers are OUTDOOR lacrosse, the team is just moving and renaming itself. No dispersal draft is needed. A friend of mine owns the Rochester radio station that broadcast the Rattlers' games. They still owe my friend for the games of last year. You know, it's ironic that this team was named after a snake. This was another team owned by Steve Donner who almost bankrupted the hockey Amerks and the soccer Rhinos. Thankfully both of those teams now have stable new ownership.

[Viola73]

http://www.majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/pr...article_id=1275

The New Jersey Pride, Los Angeles Riptide, San Francisco Dragons and the Philadelphia Barrage have folded. Last season the Barrage played all their Home games at various sites in the US. Rochester will be moving to Toronto and play at BMO Field. A press conference is today at the Air Canada Centre anouncing their name and logo at 3:30pm

No words of a dispersal draft or did I miss it in the article?

This is a weird one and it doesn't look good for the league. From what I've heard from friends in T.O. is that the Rattlers are moving to T.O. but the article says that the Toronto club is an EXPANSION club which is kind of ironic since they exspanded to Canada but 4 teams folded.

What gets me is that this was sooooooo under the radar that we are jus t hearing about it today. I would have thought that one of us (CCSL junkies) would have heard of this sooner. I know there were rumors but that was just a few months ago and nothing was set in stone. Then there is the logo. NOTHING! Not one sketch not one hint of this. This seems like a rush job for a league that will only play from May to August.

My thoughts is that this league will fold either midseason or at th eend of the season.

[bulldogbarks55]

http://www.majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/pr...article_id=1275

The New Jersey Pride, Los Angeles Riptide, San Francisco Dragons and the Philadelphia Barrage have folded. Last season the Barrage played all their Home games at various sites in the US. Rochester will be moving to Toronto and play at BMO Field. A press conference is today at the Air Canada Centre anouncing their name and logo at 3:30pm

No words of a dispersal draft or did I miss it in the article?

This is a weird one and it doesn't look good for the league. From what I've heard from friends in T.O. is that the Rattlers are moving to T.O. but the article says that the Toronto club is an EXPANSION club which is kind of ironic since they exspanded to Canada but 4 teams folded.

What gets me is that this was sooooooo under the radar that we are jus t hearing about it today. I would have thought that one of us (CCSL junkies) would have heard of this sooner. I know there were rumors but that was just a few months ago and nothing was set in stone. Then there is the logo. NOTHING! Not one sketch not one hint of this. This seems like a rush job for a league that will only play from May to August.

My thoughts is that this league will fold either midseason or at th eend of the season.

Hey Vi,

I've known about the move for two weeks. My radio buddy, who's out some serious coin, tipped me off. From what we know, it's akin to when the Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens. The roster will be Rochester's players with a new nickname and colors. Just re-branding the team.

[RyanMcD29]

As a guy who perfers field lacrosse, I really can care less about the MLL. It's way too gimmicky and doesn't really represent the real thing. That's mainly why I view the NCAA level as the highest one for field lacrosse and not the MLL. Not to mention 5 bucks for a Hofstra game compared to around 15-20 for a Lizards game makes it a much better deal

[Dilbert]

Its the Toronto Nationals

http://www.laxunited.com/

[raysox]

Nice nod to the Iroquois, but that logo is pretty weak.

[darkhaha]

Not surprised!

This "league" has been a joke since its start.

Attendance figures are awful, the 2-point goal is an abomination and the uniforms are UGGGGLY!!!

Put teams in smaller stadiums---like HS football sized venues---and in cities where fans care. They should forget about Chicago, unless they move the team to the North Shore suburban communities.

Maybe keep Rochester, add Buffalo and Syracuse, Baltimore/DC suburbs and Philly.

I don't know why this didn't work other than ticket prices (they should be ~$5 each, for reals!) and a total, I mean TOTAL lack of publicity and press coverage.

The MLL is a joke and needs to get its act together.... removing their sole franchise from Upstate is a bad idea.

Don't you think Denver should be included, as the Outlaws have led the league in attendance every year since theire inception?

And I kind of like most of the uniforms... much better than what they had in the earlier years.

[Buffalo]

Not surprised!

This "league" has been a joke since its start.

Attendance figures are awful, the 2-point goal is an abomination and the uniforms are UGGGGLY!!!

Put teams in smaller stadiums---like HS football sized venues---and in cities where fans care. They should forget about Chicago, unless they move the team to the North Shore suburban communities.

Maybe keep Rochester, add Buffalo and Syracuse, Baltimore/DC suburbs and Philly.

I don't know why this didn't work other than ticket prices (they should be ~$5 each, for reals!) and a total, I mean TOTAL lack of publicity and press coverage.

The MLL is a joke and needs to get its act together.... removing their sole franchise from Upstate is a bad idea.

Don't you think Denver should be included, as the Outlaws have led the league in attendance every year since theire inception?

And I kind of like most of the uniforms... much better than what they had in the earlier years.

Yes Denver has been basically the only market that supports their field lacrosse team.

What I don't understand is why the league is trying to be "lax-evangelists", i.e. putting franchises in cities that have no history of lacrosse (LA, SF, Chicago, etc)...

There are really only a few markets that have lax in their blood and would be big enough to potentially support an MLL franchise:

Baltimore - failed, moved to DC

Long Island - survived

Boston - survived?

Bridgeport, CT (Fairfield County) - Failed, moved to Philly

Philadelphia - failed

New Jersey - failed

Rochester - failed, moved to Toronto

The MLL seriously needs to lower ticket prices and place priority on getting into appropriate-sized and located venues, like suburban high school football stadiums!!!!

I think it could work in Buffalo, Syracuse, Detroit, Raleigh-Durham and even Chicago (Niles H.S. football field off I-94 comes to mind)

[Burmy]

Don't you think Denver should be included, as the Outlaws have led the league in attendance every year since theire inception?

Only if they move to Dick's Sporting Goods Park (there the stadium will actually look full!)

And if they put teams in such places as Salt Lake, Boise, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, then it'll work (going to LA and San Fran was a BAD idea!)

[KCScout76]

Heres the logo on their website

[gueman]

Not surprised!

This "league" has been a joke since its start.

Attendance figures are awful, the 2-point goal is an abomination and the uniforms are UGGGGLY!!!

Put teams in smaller stadiums---like HS football sized venues---and in cities where fans care. They should forget about Chicago, unless they move the team to the North Shore suburban communities.

Maybe keep Rochester, add Buffalo and Syracuse, Baltimore/DC suburbs and Philly.

I don't know why this didn't work other than ticket prices (they should be ~$5 each, for reals!) and a total, I mean TOTAL lack of publicity and press coverage.

The MLL is a joke and needs to get its act together.... removing their sole franchise from Upstate is a bad idea.

Don't you think Denver should be included, as the Outlaws have led the league in attendance every year since theire inception?

And I kind of like most of the uniforms... much better than what they had in the earlier years.

Yes Denver has been basically the only market that supports their field lacrosse team.

What I don't understand is why the league is trying to be "lax-evangelists", i.e. putting franchises in cities that have no history of lacrosse (LA, SF, Chicago, etc)...

There are really only a few markets that have lax in their blood and would be big enough to potentially support an MLL franchise:

Baltimore - failed, moved to DC

Long Island - survived

Boston - survived?

Bridgeport, CT (Fairfield County) - Failed, moved to Philly

Philadelphia - failed

New Jersey - failed

Rochester - failed, moved to DC

The MLL seriously needs to lower ticket prices and place priority on getting into appropriate-sized and located venues, like suburban high school football stadiums!!!!

I think it could work in Buffalo, Syracuse, Detroit, Raleigh-Durham and even Chicago (Niles H.S. football field off I-94 comes to mind)

All of those areas in bold HAVE lacrosse in their blood, and the teams still failed. Even in those locations lacrosse is still a niche sport, a big niche, but still has a hard time making any press. Just because it can be a pro sport doesn't mean it should be. And with disposable income being less and less. These fringe sports will have a hard nut to crack.

I think in order for it to work in any way they need to focus on the micro markets. Ones with little to offer in the way of pro sports entertainment. Then make it a community pride thing, and event. Take a cue from the successful mid level minor league baseball teams, market the event more than the sport or team.

Once you have an anchor in the community you can build from there. But to bring in a niche sport into a top 10 market will have a very tough nut to crack. And well it very rarely happens, if it ever has.

[Mac the Knife]

I think it could work in Buffalo, Syracuse, Detroit, Raleigh-Durham and even Chicago (Niles H.S. football field off I-94 comes to mind)

Think again about the Raleigh area. It wouldn't fly down here.

[Viola73]

Nice nod to the Iroquois, but that logo is pretty weak.

I too like the Iroquois nod but the two things that make me shudder is the 'lacrosse' below the nationals doesn't line up with the rest of the words and the 'nationals' looks too much like the Washington Nationals. Overall I think it's a nice logo and the leaf detail in very good.

I wonder if this was a logo that may have been considered for Toronto FC?