MLL and ESPN Extend TV Contract
November 3, 2004 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release
Boston, MA (November 3, 2004) - Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premiere professional outdoor lacrosse league, and ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, have agreed to a multi-year extension that will keep MLL "Game of the Week" telecasts on ESPN2 for the 2005 and 2006 seasons, MLL Commissioner David Gross announced today. ESPN2 has been the national television home of Major League Lacrosse for the past two years.
"We are thrilled to continue with ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports," said MLL Founder Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body By Jake Global L.L.C. "The global television exposure ESPN provides for the sport of lacrosse is doing wonders for the growth of the game, not just throughout this great country of ours, but across the entire globe."
"Major League Lacrosse represents a competitive, exciting, fast-paced game featuring extremely talented athletes," said David Berson, ESPN vice president, program planning and promotion. "ESPN2 will continue to be the prime destination for the sport's passionate fan base."
As part of the contract, ESPN2 will televise 12 Major League Lacrosse games in both the 2005 and 2006 seasons. For the coming season, the MLL "Game of the Week" will air on Tuesday afternoons from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET beginning June 7. ESPN2 will also re-air the MLL "Game of the Week" during its late-night schedule.
"The entire league is excited to continue our relationship with the ESPN family," said Gross. "This agreement ensures that Major League Lacrosse fans can continue to enjoy the best lacrosse in the world, and what better place to be than the worldwide leader in sports."
ESPN and Major League Lacrosse broke ground in 2003, agreeing to a two-year national television contract that delivered the MLL's high scoring, fast moving, hard-hitting action to ESPN2's more than 88 million households. ESPN International gave Major League Lacrosse an international flavor in 2004, airing the MLL "Game of the Week" contests on ESPN Latin America, ESPN Pacific Rim (Asia), and ESPN Atlantic (Africa and the Middle East).
ESPN2 has televised a host of MLL special events over the last two seasons. ESPN2 aired the MLL's Wild West Tour games from Seattle and Denver in 2004, the first two Major League Lacrosse regular season games played outside of MLL markets. Additionally, ESPN2 televised the 2003 MLL All-Star Game, the 2004 Bud Light MLL Skills Competition, and the 2003 and 2004 New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Games. The 2004 title game, in which the Philadelphia Barrage defeated the Boston Cannons, 13-11, was the first live national telecast of a Major League Lacrosse game.
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