Colorado Mammoth Message Board

Steve, Has there been any attempt by the league to land a national TV deal with ESPN or any other network? I know Altitude covers the home games and some away games for us but I was reading that the MLL signed a huge deal with ESPN to air games. This is probably because nothing other than Lacrosse and Baseball go on in the summer sportswise. If you could let me know of any kind of developments i would appreciate it Thank you!

There have been several discussions over several years pursuing a national television deal for the NLL. The challenge always comes down to a very crowded market in terms of other sports playing in the winter when we play.

This is our best opportunity to sell tickets but television is difficult with hockey, basketball and multiple other sports and multiple levels all trying to gain the same exposure.

As indoor lacrosse is relatively new on a national level it is diffucult to guarantee the numbers that most other well known sports at the lowest level can guarantee nation wide. The NLL might be popular in some select markets but we must increase our popularity nation wide in order to develop those television relationships that will take us to the next level.

Outdoor lacrosse is more popular in the US and therefore garners more interest with most television execs that might have played or have a kid playing. Not to mention that playing in the summer time is much easier to pull off, no other sports to contend with for time and fewer people watching television makes it cheaper and easier to get on.

We have always said that a Tuesday afternoon game of the week wasn't the right fit for us and we didn't want to pay for the time like other lacrosse leagues might do.

We are however, working towards a brighter relationship starting next season. Things are looking good and should come to light very soon.

We are hoping for some very strong and positive announcements very soon.

SG

Thanks Again for the explanation, I figured that the reason we had not landed a good deal was due to the amount of sports going on during the winter time.

Thanks for the answer on this one SG, I'm certain that a long term labour deal doesn't hurt these negotiations at all either.

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--V