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PBLA Professional Box Lacrosse Association

The OSC Interview: Professional Box Lacrosse Association Commissioner Steve Donner

by Fran Stuchbury
December 28, 2022 - Professional Box Lacrosse Association (PBLA)


OurSports Central contributor Fran Stuchbury recently spoke to Professional Box Lacrosse Association Commissioner Steve Donner. The league starts its inaugural season this week with nine teams. Donner is the former President and CEO of the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League as well as founder and CEO of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League, Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse and Rochester Raging Rhinos of the United Soccer League. Donner also currently serves as President and Co-Owner of the Federal Prospect League's Elmira Mammoth.

Fran Stuchbury: What is your vision for the Professional Box Lacrosse Association? How long has it been in the works?

Steve Donner: We have been looking at something similar to this for five years. For the past 24 months we have been working on it nonstop; we slowed down a little bit during the COVID-19 period. Coming out of that we decided to go full speed ahead.

FS: How is the PBLA being funded?

SD: It's a single entity structure so we have five owners right now, both from an investment and administrative standpoint. Our thought is to set it up that way for the first five years, get the league stable. At the fourth or fifth year we may look at selling investment pieces in the league, but right now it's a single entity structure. (That) helps us to be nimble for the benefit of the league, and we do not have to go to a big city looking for an investor.

FS: Did fans enjoy having the opportunity to vote on finalists for all the team names? When was it decided to shorten the Syracuse Sparklemuffins name to Syracuse Spark?

SD: (Laughs) The whole process of naming the teams has been a lot of fun and done on purpose. The whole thought was to get the fans involved interactively with the league from day one. The Sparklemuffins name was submitted by a fan in the region. We all sort of chuckled. At the same time it started gaining momentum with a lot of name participation. We had a lot of talks within the league structure and coaches. As much as Sparklemuffins is a fun name, we felt, for the sport of lacrosse, the nature of the history of lacrosse in Syracuse.

We wanted to find a solution that would work for all our parties. We felt shortening the name to Spark really was a great solution, and maybe having a mascot that is s Sparklemuffin, which would sell kids merchandise, ended up being a great compromise. The logo is fantastic; we got great reviews on the logo. We really appreciated the fans in the name the team contest. We came up with a solution that benefits everyone.

FS: How did the ninth team, the Jim Thorpe All-Americans, come about? Will they always be a barnstorming team or possibly have a permanent home next season?

SD: We are going to play that one by ear. The whole process of a Jim Thorpe team was really a salute to diversity in lacrosse, a salute to one of the best athletes in America of all time. He was a Native American, and I think also (it was) an opportunity for us to recognize the cultural opportunities the indigenous culture has given to the game. It really is a feel good project for all aspects.

There was a lot of interest for expansion, so being a barnstorming team will allow us to play in areas that recognize culture, maybe a couple of indigenous games at a reservation or at Oklahoma City. At the same time it gives us the chance to play some games at potential expansion cities. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a permanent home someday; at the same time if our barnstorming is successful we may stick with it for a few years.

FS: I plan to be traveling to Charlotte to cover the first Charlotte Bootleggers home game against the Jim Thorpe All-Americans on January 7th, What are your thoughts Charlotte being one of the leagues markets?

SD: We are excited about Charlotte. We are excited about the job Bootleggers head coach John Janzty has done putting a team together in Charlotte. They will be an extremely entertaining and fun team to watch, very athletic. There are a number of Premier Lacrosse League players playing in the league and on that franchise. Charlotte's a great market; our hope is that its sort of a lynchpin that will allow us some further southern and mid-Atlantic expansion. It's in a good venue; Bojangles Coliseum is not too big. It's a good-sized market.

The Bootleggers have the opportunity to be one of the marquee franchises in the league for a number of reasons. At the same time we know it's not a pure box lacrosse region, so we're prepared to be patient with the fanbase in Charlotte. We're excited about the market, I know a lot of lacrosse fans are excited about the market as well. We're going have a great team to watch to build our fanbase around it.

FS: Describe the process of getting players to play for the PBLA. What are your thoughts on the talent level? Also how did you choose the coaches?

SD: Any good league will be measured by its level of coaches and product on the field with the players. So we had high hopes that we can put together our first-year competitive rosters and a product on the field that would excite lacrosse fans and entertainment seekers alike. We were excited when we first started the league. We got our website in place; when we did that we put an opportunity to play in the PBLA - register here for our player portal. Within weeks we had hundreds of players signing up to be considered. Eventually, before our first draft, (we had) 700 players sign on the portal. Then we had a supplemental draft and had over 1,200 players apply to be considered to be in the PBLA. That was a great start.

Secondly, we went out and tried to hire the best coaches we could find for our league. The coaches we have picked, we picked for a few reasons. One, they have been in the business and have been knocking on the door for a National Lacrosse League coaching job and just haven't had that opportunity yet. We want to find coaches that can help teach the players the nuances of box lacrosse and teaching them is a big factor. The guys that have played the game and are good at teaching it would be good recruiters. I am so proud of our coaches; they have recruited beyond our level of expectation. Through their research, drafting and connections we will have nine good, competitive teams. I think we will blow people away with the level of lacrosse talent we will have.

FS: What's the pay level for the players in the PBLA?

SD: Every player in the league will get a minimum of $500 a week to play in the PBLA. There are four positions of the team that will be allowed to be paid at higher levels. Three players will be be paid $750 each week, and a marquee player can make $1,000 a week.

The thought was a lot of American players, when you look at the structure of the NLL, rookies get a certain level of pay. We want to have the pay in our league be in a similar range that rookies would make in the NLL. If you're an American player, we want to make them have a harder choice. Do you want to play in the NLL and not get a lot of minutes or for similar money do you want to play in the PBLA and get a ton of playing opportunity to increase your skill level of box lacrosse? It wasn't intended to directly compete against the NLL, but it was to put a fair wage out there for the players to play the game and grow their skills of playing box lacrosse.

FS: Will the level of play be similar to the National Lacrosse League or will there be any differences fans will notice?

SD: I can't wait to see what people think. We got some rules modified a little bit for our league. I think our league will be more of a north and south game, players going up and down the field. I think players will have to play both ends of the field whereas in the NLL it's sort of a platoon system. There is an offense and defense system which has been effective but has also slowed the game down a little bit. You can also transition off the back door for substitution, so it snuffs out a lot of odd man rushes and things like that. We hope our game with the athletes on the field will show their athleticism.

So the rule changes we made: it's going be a very quick game. It's going be electrifying up and down the floor, a lot of transition. The players will decide and the fans will decide how entertaining it is, but I think it's going be a very entertaining product.

FS: Talk about the television deal with Lacrosse TV. Will there be any other outlets for fans who want to watch games?

SD: We are so excited about our relationship with Lacrosse TV. We wanted to have a media outlet for fans to watch the game with a Game of the Week. There will be other streaming opportunities on top of that or along side of that. We were really getting a lot done in a short period of time, so we hope that the Lacrosse TV deal is just a start of where fans can eventually watch streaming and TV options.

FS: There are also some podcasts such as "The PBLA" hosted by Bruce Wawrzyniak and "PBLA Today" with Kevin Sylvester on Lacrosse TV. I have listened to and watched both of them. They do a great job giving fans information on what's going on inside the PBLA.

SD: Thanks, that was also part of our whole thought process of the league: to be communicative, to be interactive. Kevin Sylvester and Bruce Wawrzyniak are both long-term, quality broadcasters in their own right and involved in and around lacrosse for many years. They help us tell our story with the weekly podcasts and the weekly show on Lacrosse TV Network. A lot of fans will see us grow from week to week and will follow all the action in our first year and hopefully (the shows) will play a big role in fans learning about our league that will help us grow our fan support.

FS: With a new lacrosse league, I'm sure fans are already excited about future expansion. How big would you like the PBLA to eventually be?

SD: Our vision is to grow the game of box lacrosse in the United States. Even in our first year we doubled the footprint of professional box lacrosse in the USA. We want to grow; we want to grow methodically and smartly. We know we have as many as six cities that want to join the PBLA next season. I think we would have a minimum of two new cities next year. There are some areas we are looking at, for example, the Midwest part of the country. If we go out to the Midwest we may have to bring a whole division of four teams in for travel purposes. I would expect a minimum growth of two teams for next year. We may see as many as four going into our second year.

FS: For fans who live in or near a PBLA market, why should they purchase tickets to check out a game?

SD: I honestly think that, saying this with a straight face, the PBLA and its product will be one of the most exciting versions of lacrosse fans will ever see indoor. It's going be very entertaining. I would say just take the chance, come out to your first game and you decide whether it's worth coming back. I think they will be pleasantly surprised that the PBLA version of lacrosse will be extremely fun and exciting to watch.

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Professional Box Lacrosse Association Stories from December 28, 2022


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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