BOSTON, Mass. (August 21, 2005) – Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, has secured its three remaining expansion cities to join Los Angeles for the start of the 2006 season, according to MLL Founder Jake Steinfeld. Major League Lacrosse will expand to include teams in Chicago, Denver, and San Francisco in addition to Los Angeles, which joined the league on March 9, 2005.
The additions bring the MLL to a ten team "national league" consisting of two divisions. The expansion teams will comprise the Western Division while the six original teams will be members of the Eastern Division.
The announcement was made first by Jake live on ESPN2 during the New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Game at Boston University's Nickerson Field Sunday August 21.
"This is exactly where we said we would be," said Steinfeld, CEO of Body By Jake Global. "Our goal was to put four teams in the west for the 2006 season and we achieved that. Making the announcement on ESPN2 at our New Balance Championship Game, surrounded by our great sponsors and the world's best lacrosse players, in front of our great fans, was the perfect backdrop. The MLL has always been major league, now we're national!"
For the 2006 season, the teams will play a 12-game schedule, which will include games against each of the nine opponents. The playoff format will change slightly as the top two teams in each division will advance to New Balance MLL Championship Weekend. After that the two teams with the best records regardless of division will be the two wildcard entries.
"We are thrilled to be expanding Major League Lacrosse to a 10-team national league," said David Gross, MLL Commissioner. "The MLL is exactly on target with its expansion plans and couldn't be happier with the progress the league has made over the last 18 months. The 2006 season will be a major milestone in the history of Major League Lacrosse."
An expansion draft will take place on November 1, 2005 and will allow the new teams an opportunity to add players to their respective rosters. Specific information regarding team player protected lists and expansion draft procedures will be announced in October, 2005.
Announcements concerning team ownership groups, team names and colors, and venue information will be made during the next several weeks.
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:49 pm