North American Lacrosse League Announcement

Here are highlights from a press conference to announce the creation of the North American Lacrosse League (NALL), a professional indoor lacrosse league set to launch in January of 2012. This press conference occurred at The Ainsworth in New York City on Tuesday, May 10th, 2011.



The following is commentary from the StrikerDanger crew in relation to the new league.

Who’s in charge?

The league commissioner is Phil Evans, former president of the NBA D-League. Seems like a pretty good fit. If anybody knows how to run a smaller version of an existing league, it’s the guy who ran the D-League.

Where will they play?

Evans wouldn’t say where the teams would be located, but rumored locations include:

Orlando, FL
Charlotte, NC
Hershey, PA
Lexington, KY
Richmond, VA
Wilkes-Barre, PA
New York, NY

The official locations will be announced in the next six weeks. By the way, they’re looking to sell an expansion team or two for $250,000, just in case you’re looking to buy a sports franchise.

Who’s playing?

Former Fairfield F/O middie Peter Vlahakis and former Syracuse defenseman Steve Panarelli are involved, at least as players. Stephen Berger isn’t in the video, but he’s slated to play as well. Who else is playing? Who knows. Maybe you. Maybe they’ll announce open try-outs once more league details emerge. Better get back in the gym.

Will they compete with the other pro leagues?

Yes and no. The league will begin in January 2012, meaning the schedule will directly conflict with the NLL. However, the championship game will take place no later than the last week of April, specifically so players won’t have to choose between the NALL and the MLL. According to The Wall Street Journal, NLL commissioner George Daniel said he welcomed the league but didn’t see it as a competitor since they’ll play in smaller markets and pay players less. He also said he thought the NALL could eventually become a feeder system for his teams, which basically means, “New indoor league, huh? That’s cute, good luck with that.”

How is it different from the NLL?

In addition to their regular season games, the NALL plans to schedule some games against non-league opponents. Evans specifically mentioned the possibility of playing against foreign teams, which is something Major League Soccer has done successfully for years.

The rules will essentially be the same as in the NLL, except for one little thing: in the NALL, there’s no fighting. The NALL wants to be family friendly, and a good example for young players learning the game. That’s a pretty huge difference from the NLL, a league that showed a highlight reel of the years’ best fights during their All-Star game.