NLL to Pause on Expansion
June 20, 2002 - National Lacrosse League (NLL) News Release
(New York)--The National Lacrosse League's membership will not exceed thirteen clubs for the 2002-2003 season. The announcement was made today by Commissioner Jim Jennings and the League's Board of Governors. The Board has just concluded its summer meetings, held over the past three days at Madison Square Garden.
"We are still aggressively pursuing expansion," said Jennings. "There is a considerable amount of interest, especially from groups on the West Coast of the United States. We are very careful in choosing our new partners. I am confident that we will expand to some of these markets for the 2003-2004 season."
Jennings specifically addressed the city of Edmonton, a market that has shown a considerable interest over the past two years. "We did not receive a formal application from a potential ownership group to place a franchise in Edmonton for the 2002-2003 season," said Jennings. "We know how disappointed the fans in Edmonton are, but we ask them to be patient. We still expect to be there in the future."
The Board also offered an optimistic view on the future of the Montreal Express. "We have given the Montreal ownership group some additional time to sell the franchise," said Jennings. "The Board and I believe the team can be sold to local investors that will keep the team in Montreal. The Express will not be playing in another city next season."
The League has announced one relocation for the upcoming season. The Washington Power franchise has been sold to a new ownership group that will move the team to a new home city. The team's new market and ownership group are expected to be announced in two and half weeks.
The 2002-2003 season will begin on the weekend of December 27th, and will consist of teams playing a 16-game schedule. The regular season schedule is expected to end on April 13th. The schedule consists of sixteen weekends, and will cut down on the number of bye weekends from last year's nineteen weekend schedule.
National Lacrosse League Stories from June 20, 2002
- NLL to Pause on Expansion - NLL
- Storm Tickets to Go on Sale Friday - New Jersey Storm
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
