ESPN Signs 10-Year Deal With MLL

by **Sonny** on Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:23 pm

ESPN Signs 10-Year Deal With MLL

Boston, MA (March 14, 2007) -[LINK] Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, and ESPN, The Worldwide Leader In Sports, have agreed on a multi-year extension, according to MLL Commissioner David Gross. ESPN2 has been the national television home of Major League Lacrosse since 2003.

"This collaboration gives us the ultimate opportunity to be successful and it is a historical moment not just for Major League Lacrosse but for the sport of lacrosse," said MLL Founder Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body By Jake L.L.C. "Teaming with ESPN, The Worldwide Leader In Sports, as well as talented executives like John Skipper, George Bodenheimer and Sean Bratches means the MLL will be able to grow the sport both nationally and internationally because ESPN is on the cutting edge of all sports media technology."

The 10-year commitment runs through the 2016 campaign, which is the longest commitment given by any television outlet to a lacrosse entity. The goal of ESPN and MLL is to bring you lacrosse as it has never been seen before. All 11 games will be shown in high definition (HD) with six of the games being televised live or in primetime. Goalie cams, telestrators and placing microphones on four players per game will combine with HD to give fans the feel of actually being on the field and in the action.

"Fan interest in lacrosse continues to build and our commitment to the sport has grown considerably," said John Skipper, ESPN Executive Vice President, Content. "With this MLL agreement, we plan to enhance our coverage by showcasing extensive live action, a great companion to our expanding college lacrosse schedule."

"This is one of the most significant events in our seven year history," said Gross. "There is no better media company to collaborate with than ESPN, and we look forward to growing Major League Lacrosse into a global multimedia product together."

ESPN and Major League Lacrosse first started working together in 2003 when the two parties agreed on a two-year commitment. MLL went international in 2004 when ESPN International began airing the MLL "Game of the Week". In addition, ESPN broadcast the MLL's 2004 Wild West Tour and the 2004 New Balance Championship game was the first live national telecast of a Major League Lacrosse game. In November of 2004 ESPN and MLL agreed on another two-year contract.

The 2007 television schedule will begin on May 25 when the Boston Cannons travel to Long Island to play the Lizards. Other highlights include the 2007 All Star game on July 8 and the New Balance Championship game on August 26.

2007 Major League Lacrosse television schedule on ESPN2

Game Date Teams Game Time Air Date Air Time (ET)

Friday, May 25 Boston @ Long Island 7:00 p.m. 5/25/07 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 9 Los Angeles @ Denver 9:00 p.m. 6/12/07 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 16 Rochester @ Denver 9:00 p.m. 6/22/07 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, July 8 All Star Game 12:30 p.m. 7/8/07 12:30 p.m.

Thursday, July 12 Philadelphia @ New Jersey 7:00 p.m. 7/12/07 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, July 14 Washington @ San Francisco 4:00 p.m. 7/17/07 3:00 p.m.

Thursday, July 19 Rochester @ Boston 7:00 p.m. 7/19/07 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, July 26+ New Jersey @ Philadelphia 7:30 p.m. 7/26/07 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 4 Philadelphia @ Washington 4:00 p.m. 8/7/07 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 11 Chicago @ Los Angeles 9:00 p.m. 8/14/07 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, August 26 New Balance Championship 1:00 p.m. 8/26/07 1:00 p.m.

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by **Phantanimal** on Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:23 pm

Is the MLL even going to last that long?? It'll be interesting to see what happens with the NLL expansion to outdoor lax.

by **onpoint** on Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:57 am

We'll see if NLL Outdoor even makes it off the ground. How many times have you heard "an announcement will be coming next month" since November or so? Not sure that this is as big of a possibility as it seems. The MLL is in relatively good shape, especially with Westward expansion. I think that expansion in 2008 says pretty good things for the league. My (completely uninformed) guess is that Seattle and Dallas would be the frontrunners, but Portland is a very strong possibility as well. I think Atlanta would be perfect too, but only if you could play in the Georgia Dome!

by **Rob Graff** on Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:38 am

Heard a rumor from a pretty informed source that there are problems with the Philly franchise, and it may be moving - anyone else hear this?

by **Sonny** on Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:41 am

onpoint wrote:We'll see if NLL Outdoor even makes it off the ground. How many times have you heard "an announcement will be coming next month" since November or so? Not sure that this is as big of a possibility as it seems. The MLL is in relatively good shape, especially with Westward expansion. I think that expansion in 2008 says pretty good things for the league. My (completely uninformed) guess is that Seattle and Dallas would be the frontrunners, but Portland is a very strong possibility as well. I think Atlanta would be perfect too, but only if you could play in the Georgia Dome!

There is no suitable facility in Atlanta for an outdoor MLL team unless playing in front of 70,000 empty seats at the GA Dome is OK. Eventually, this facility might work for an Atlanta pro outdoor lacrosse team:
http://www.atlantasilverbacks.com/pro/stadium.php

If they run the outdoor NLL in the Fall (competiting with college and pro football for attention and weekend dates), it will fail miserably in the South.

by **Beta** on Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:01 pm

That Silverback Stadium is NICE.

Sonny is 100% right about a fall league failing because of football in the south on weekends. Friday nights are a bad idea too because of high school football here.

by **JerzWB** on Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:30 am

onpoint wrote:We'll see if NLL Outdoor even makes it off the ground. How many times have you heard "an announcement will be coming next month" since November or so?

Does anyone have any idea if players could play for both leagues? Would they (MLL and NLL) compete for the best field players like the AFL and NFL did for years?

by **Texas Logger** on Thu May 17, 2007 1:55 pm

Phantanimal wrote:Is the MLL even going to last that long?? It'll be interesting to see what happens with the NLL expansion to outdoor lax.

You know, I interviewed with former MLL PR Director Mike Lieberman, and he really seems to think that the league is gonna fail in the long run. I couldn't get anything more specific out of him.

Of course he is running a minor league baseball team now...