Bayhawks moving to Washington, DC (confirmed)

[Sonny]

Looks like the Baltimore Bayhawks are on the move south....

The domain name:
http://washingtonbayhawks.com/
was recently reserved by a rep at MLL and a press release has come out announcing a pre-season press conference at Nathan’s of Georgetown on November 14.

Anyone hearing anything else on their end??

[Sonny]

LaxPower is reporting the move is happening....

MLL Approves Move of the Bayhawks to Washington, DC

Boston, MA (November 6, 2006) – Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced today that the Baltimore Bayhawks will immediately be relocating from Baltimore to Washington, DC, according to MLL Commissioner David Gross.

"The ownership group requested that the league allow the club to move to the Washington, DC market," said Gross. "The Baltimore market has been a very important one to Major League Lacrosse and we hope to one day return."

The Washington Bayhawks will be formally introduced at a press conference on November 14 at Nathan's of Georgetown. Several Bayhawks players will be on hand including 2006 MLL Rookie of the Year Matt Ward, Jude Collins, Kyle Dixon and Christian Cook.

[Sonny]

Opinion piece from Matt Palmer of the Baltimore Examiner....

By Matt Palmer, The Examiner
Nov 9, 2006 5:00 AM (16 hrs ago)

BALTIMORE - When the news leaked this week that the Baltimore Bayhawks were packing up and moving south to Washington, all I could do was shake my head.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a lacrosse guy. But I know enough to realize this isn’t just the death knell for professional outdoor lacrosse in Baltimore, but for Major League Lacrosse, as well.

If lacrosse can’t survive in one of the sport’s deepest hotbeds, where can it?

The Bayhawks had already made known their intentions to move from Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium and get a larger share of concession and parking money. This week, a source told the Examiner that everyone knew the move was coming. Other than those who tracked MLL registering Washington domain names in the dark of night, most lacrosse fans in the area were blind-sided.

Sure, attendance dropped at Bayhawks home games by nearly 2,000 fans from 2005 to 2006. But isn’t this all a bit knee-jerk? One year of bad attendance for a losing team last year and it’s bag-packing time? Rather than trying to make it work for another year or two in Baltimore at a natural venue like Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field, the team has decided to move to a bigger market with more cash, in hopes of keeping the franchise afloat.

It’s not going to work. I grew up in the Washington area, and I know the fans there. They pat niche products like professional lacrosse on the head and say, “Aren’t you nice?” before turning their attention to the Redskins. Lacrosse is part of the fabric of this town. In Washington, it is played in small, privileged pockets.

LINK:
http://www.examiner.com/a-388510~Matt_P ... rosse.html

[Zeuslax]

Very shocking....

[onpoint]

While I agree to the extent that the MLL isn't exactly going to flourish in DC, there is no question that the league is best served by getting OUT of the major hotbeds and moving south and west. The fact that the Outlaws did so well attendance-wise in Denver is a strong indicator that the market for the sport is obviously not in the over-saturated lacrosse pockets (pun) we already have.

I would hope the league considers expanding (which it is in 2008 to Dallas, Seattle or somewhere of the like) and then possibly moving some of the original teams out of their hometowns where they aren't doing so well. Atlanta, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Phoenix and maybe even Warrior's hometown of Detroit would be great places for MLL teams, especially given the relative enthusiasm and newness of lacrosse in those places. Do you Californians think a franchise would do well in San Diego? My thought is that it would probably do better than in LA.

[StrykerFSU]

I grew up 20 minutes outside of DC in Fairfax, Va where lacrosse is very much alive and well. It all depends on where they decide to play. We used to drive to College Park just to watch the Terps or even to Annapolis to watch Navy so if they choose a location that easily accesible, the fans will come. There are no major college teams playing the Northern Va area so might feeling is that the fans there are starved for great lacrosse. Stay out of the District where traffic and parking will be an issue and schedule games on the weekends or evening when everyone is available to attend and they could find success.

I don't know if Mr. Palmer realizes this but the MLL plays during the summer, not during Redskins season. The Washington Bayhawks (can we change the name?) will be competing for fans' dollars with the Nationals and the United and something tells me there aren't too many lacrosse fans at either of those.

Perhaps lacrosse didn't succeed in B'more because the fans there are more traditional, enjoying the college game more.

[Madlax16]

I think its a great idea to get another pro lax team back in the dc area. I lived 10 metro stops from dc in northern VA, and i went to every single washington power home game. And yeah it would be great to get a higher level lax team there....though having georgetown, UMd, and a few others in driving distance is nice. To bad im stuck here in nebraska now, i dont think the pros will ever expand to lincoln, but ive got my fingers crossed.