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67-619: The tour competed for the top collegiate and professional players with the more established MLL . LXM Pro and MLL announced a partnership in 2014, with the LXM Pro Tour moving their events to the MLL off-season and in new markets. However, LXM Pro didn't hold any tour stops after the announcement. LXM Pro was founded in late 2009 by former college All-Americans and professional players Scott Hochstadt, Craig Hochstadt, Xander Ritz, Max Ritz, and Kyle Harrison. Founding partner, Rich Fiore of Las Vegas, joined

134-623: A "founding member" and major sponsor of MLL. New Balance founder and CEO, Jim Davis got very involved in the operation of the league, including providing financial support. Davis still owns the Dallas Rattlers . In 2005, Andrew Goldstein became the first American male team-sport professional athlete to be openly gay during his playing career. Goldstein played goalie for the Long Island Lizards from 2005 to 2007, although he only appeared in two games in 2006. MLL added four teams for

201-544: A 14-game regular season its first two years, then the schedule was cut to 12 games. After the first year, the league's playoff format had the top teams in each division advancing to the semifinals, with two wild card playoff spots going to the teams with the next-best records regardless of division. The first MLL Championship Game saw the Long Island Lizards beat the Baltimore Bayhawks 15–11 in September 2001. The game

268-651: A 3–2 record, and were the only team to defeat the Denver Outlaws in the regular season. Heading into the postseason, the Cannons were scheduled to play the Outlaws in the semifinal. However, after a player from the Chesapeake Bayhawks experience symptoms of COVID-19 and eventually tested positive, the two other postseason competitors, Chesapeake and Connecticut , withdrew from the tournament. The Cannons' semifinal game with

335-445: A 60-second shot clock , the elimination of the restraining box, and allowing dive shots. The shot clock was originally 45 seconds before it was changed to 60 seconds for the 2005 season. From the inception of the league to 2008, there was a limit of three long-stick defensemen per team in order to promote scoring. Beginning in 2009, the league conformed to high school and college lacrosse rules and now allows four long–sticks per team on

402-506: A Launch Party in Los Angeles and the 3rd Annual LXM Pro Final Four Party . The schedule for the 2013 LXM Pro Tour held 9 pro games and club team tournaments over the span of June through December. LXM partnered with Adrenaline Lacrosse to turn LXM event stops in tournaments for club teams, training sessions players, and other fan friendly events like autograph sessions with players. Also, former Syracuse star Tim Desko announced he would join

469-525: A PLL crest and logo reveal on January 12, 2021. One week later, the league announced that Sean Quirk would continue coaching the team. The Cannons played their first game of the 2021 season on June 4 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts , falling to the Redwoods Lacrosse Club , 12–11. They would finish the season 7th in the league, falling in the first round of the playoffs. After

536-399: A collegiate player draft. The collegiate player draft occurred prior to the league season. Only players who competed at the collegiate level and whose NCAA eligibility has expired in the previous season were eligible for the draft. The exact date, location, and number of rounds varied each year. In addition, each off-season, MLL heald a supplemental player draft. The draft was held to expand

603-633: A different team in a different country. The Chicago Machine played the entire 2010 season as a traveling team testing expansion markets for the league, before deciding that the franchise would be moving to Rochester and adopting the Rattlers name in 2011. In 2010, the Bayhawks and Lizards met for the fifth time in the championship game. The Bayhawks prevailed 13–9, almost the same score as when they beat Long Island 15–9 five years earlier. The newly renamed Chesapeake Bayhawks went on to win two more championships in

670-502: A month after winning the Steinfeld Cup, citing he wanted to spend more time with his family. Entering the 2021 season, Daye remains the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season games coached (72), regular-season games won (43), and playoff games coached (6). The Cannons in 2013 and 2014 finished 5–9 and 6–8. This included a 1–5 start in 2013 leading to Steve Duffy's firing on June 10. John Tucker took his place and played .500 for

737-656: A neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts , which is less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from Nickerson Field and also within that distance from the Cannons' main office in Boston. The team qualified for the MLL playoffs 2001–2006, 2009-2011 and 2015. The Cannons won the 2004 and 2005 MLL American Division championships. The Cannons won the Steinfeld Cup for the first time in 2011, defeating the Hamilton Nationals 10–9. Boston went 9–3 in

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804-514: A new equipment deal with STX, a sponsor of one of the LXM Pro teams. The deal moved LXM to the MLL off-season and allowed players to participate in both MLL and LXM. However, LXM Pro didn't hold any tour stops after the announcement. During the early years of MLL, the league did not have any teams in the southeast. In January 2011, Commissioner David Gross announced that Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as Columbus, Ohio, were granted expansion teams for

871-595: A renovated stadium, the Launch and Machine effectively folded. The announcement dropped the league down to six teams, the fewest teams since 2011, and meant all remaining owners owned only one team. Jim Davis , owner of New Balance , had owned the Hounds, Launch, and Machine, but he now owns only the Dallas Rattlers. Returning from a two-year retirement, 44-year-old John Grant Jr. broke the record for career points scored during

938-425: A team's protected list to a pre-season active roster of 40 players. If a player wasn't selected, they returned to the player pool. From 2006, overall league attendance varied between 3,800 and 6,500 per game, peaking in 2011 and steadily decreasing to an all-time low in 2018. There had always been a great deal of disparity in attendance figures for different teams in the league. Playing at Invesco Field at Mile High ,

1005-450: Is 60 minutes long, divided into four 15-minute quarters with 15-minute intermission at halftime, plus multiple 10-minute golden goal periods for regulation games ending in ties unless one team scores, which wins the game. Teams are required to dress twenty players, with ten players on the field at a time. MLL rules are based on NCAA rules with various changes. The most significant are a two-point goal line 16 yards (15 m) from each goal,

1072-413: Is a former All-American lacrosse player at Princeton and the president of Warrior Sports . Tim Robertson is the son of televangelist Pat Robertson and the former CEO of The Family Channel . Steinfeld was a former lacrosse player at Cortland State (NY), read an article about Dave Morrow. After reading the article, Steinfeld couldn't believe that with the excitement the sport of lacrosse has, there

1139-567: Is a professional men's field lacrosse team in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) . Formerly based in Boston, Massachusetts , they played in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) from their inaugural 2001 season to 2020. The team's home field was Veterans Memorial Stadium in nearby Quincy . In the MLL, the team won two Steinfeld Cup championship games in 2011 and 2020, the latter being the MLL's final championship. The Cannons joined

1206-632: The 2006 season, bringing the league's number of teams up to ten. The expansion markets were Los Angeles , Denver , Chicago , and San Francisco , extending the league across the country and into top media markets. MLL combined the original six teams into the Eastern Conference and put the new teams into the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Riptide were owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group and played its home games at

1273-666: The COVID-19 pandemic forced a shortened, quarantined season. The final champions were the Boston Cannons, who defeated the Denver Outlaws at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland , following a COVID-19-shortened 2020 season . On December 16, 2020, the league announced that it would be merging with the Premier Lacrosse League . At the time of the announcement, the 2020 MLL champion Boston Cannons were announced as

1340-456: The COVID-19 pandemic , the league announced they would play a week-long quarantined season in Annapolis at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with no fans. Every team would play each other once (five total games) before a four-team playoff as normal. On December 16, 2020, it was announced that the MLL had agreed to merge all operations with the Premier Lacrosse League . Under this agreement,

1407-658: The Denver Outlaws were the only team west of the Mississippi River , being part of the league's ambitious westward expansion in 2006. Being owned by the Pat Bowlen family and the Denver Broncos , the Outlaws were successful from the start, missing the postseason only once in 14 seasons, while claiming three championships in ten appearances. The Connecticut Hammerheads were the league's youngest franchise, and were set to play at Rafferty Stadium near Bridgeport in 2020 before

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1474-774: The Home Depot Center . Denver Broncos ' owner Pat Bowlen brought the Denver Outlaws to an NFL stadium, Mile High . The other new franchises were the Chicago Machine and the San Francisco Dragons . Despite winning championships in 2006 and 2007 , Philadelphia didn't attract more than 2,500 fans to their games. So in 2008, the Barrage tested out new markets by playing all of its "home" matches in five other cities: Cary, North Carolina ; Hillsboro, Oregon ; Irving, Texas ; St. Louis ; and Virginia Beach . In addition,

1541-471: The LXM Pro Tour . The tour would feature two teams playing games across the country at special events involving the LXM Pro game and youth activities. The tour competed for players with the MLL as the more established league would not let players under contract play in other professional lacrosse events. On February 13, 2014, MLL announced a partnership with the LXM Pro Tour, a week after the league announced

1608-503: The Premier Lacrosse League , baiting over 140 MLL players to migrate over. However, the Cannons maintained more of their roster than other teams like the Dallas Rattlers or Rabil's New York Lizards . Two months prior to the start of the 2019 season, the league cut the team roster from nine to six when the Ohio Machine and Florida Launch folded and Charlotte Hounds suspended operations for two seasons. Taking this to their advantage,

1675-534: The 2008 Steinfeld Cup but like the Barrage, struggled at the gate. At the start of the 2009 season, a new ownership group in Toronto bought the rights to the Rochester franchise. The Toronto Nationals inherited the staff and players of the team, but the Rattlers' name and team colors were left in Rochester for the possibility of a future team. That same group of players went on to win another championship in 2009 playing for

1742-663: The 2012 season. The Ohio Machine and Charlotte Hounds opened play in April 2012, with both teams missing the playoffs in their inaugural season. With the expansion, the league grew to eight teams and expanded its schedule to fourteen games. In November 2013, the Hamilton Nationals folded and an expansion franchise was awarded to the Florida Launch for the 2014 season. The Launch inherited the Nationals roster. The Atlanta Blaze became

1809-502: The 2019 season. Also in 2019, MLL saw its first goal by a Japanese player, Kohta Kurashima, who is also the first Japanese born player in MLL history. The Rattlers ceased operations after the 2019 season. and the staff and roster were shifted to an expansion team called the Connecticut Hammerheads. The Atlanta Blaze also ceased operations after the 2019 season and were replaced by a resurrected Philadelphia Barrage . Due to

1876-562: The 2023 season the PLL assigned home cities to each of the eight teams. The Cannons were rebranded from Cannons Lacrosse Club to become the Boston Cannons. (C) indicates captain *Indicates player is on Holdout list **Indicates player is on PUP list ^Indicates player is on sabbatical Most Valuable Player Rookie of the Year Coach of the Year Defensive Player of

1943-481: The Barrage's "home game" against the Cannons was played in Boston. At the end of the 2008 season, four teams – Los Angeles, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and San Francisco – folded due to financial problems. Several of these teams suffered from poor attendance, San Francisco drew 2,808 per game and only 1,920 in New Jersey. This contraction forced the remaining six teams to form one conference. The Rochester Rattlers won

2010-401: The Boston Cannons officially became the eighth team in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). It was announced that the team would be dropping "Boston" from their name and become "Cannons Lacrosse Club" to fit league nomenclature, the roster would be set via an expansion draft, and the team would begin play in the PLL in the 2021 season. Small tweaks to the former Boston Cannons branding resulted in

2077-648: The COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. All 18 games (including postseason) were available on the ESPN family of networks, including ESPN+. ESPN2 broadcast two games on Sunday, July 19. A few days later, the partnership was expanded to TSN for Canadian viewers and ESPN Player to allow fans to watch from over 130 countries. The championship game was broadcast on ESPN's flagship station on Sunday, July 26. Boston Cannons Cannons Lacrosse Club 2020–2023 (PLL) The Boston Cannons , formerly known as Cannons Lacrosse Club,

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2144-578: The Cannons as the team's offensive coordinator in 2017. Tucker was fired mid-season by the Blaze after a 3–7 start. Despite a Week 1 win in 2017 , the Cannons season turned around. At 3–6, the Cannons traded away captain Will Manny and Joe LoCascio to the New York Lizards for Dave Lawson and Chris LaPierre on June 27. On July 14, the Cannons announced that neither Lawson nor LaPierre would suit up for

2211-506: The Cannons played their home games at Cawley Memorial Stadium in Lowell, Massachusetts . In their inaugural 2001 season, the Cannons finished with a record of 3–11 but still qualified for the playoffs finishing in second place in the division. In 2004, they moved to Nickerson Field at Boston University where they played through the 2006 season. In 2007, they moved to Harvard Stadium in Allston ,

2278-460: The Cannons posted a 9–7 record in 2019, good enough for the third of four postseason seeds and gave Boston its first playoff berth since 2015. Boston faced the Denver Outlaws in the semifinal, who were also hosting Championship Weekend. The Cannons got off to a hot start and led by as many as six goals, but ultimately fell, 17–15, ending their season. 2019 was the Cannons' first season in Quincy . During

2345-581: The Denver Outlaws had led the league in attendance all but one year of their existence. A significant portion of Denver's attendance was from one game each year. The Outlaws established a tradition of having a game on the Fourth of July that always attracted the biggest single-game attendance in the league. 31,644 people attended the game and watched fireworks afterward in 2015. The Fourth of July game regularly attracted over 25,000 people. Outside of this special event game, Denver drew about 6,000 per game. The league

2412-487: The LXM Pro Tour in, though he had been drafted by Charlotte Hounds of the MLL just weeks prior. Comedic movie star Peter Dante , who played lacrosse in as a child in Connecticut and at Hofstra University , is heavily involved with LXM Pro as a coach and its youth lacrosse programs on game days. Dante's passion for the sport, and LXM specifically, has helped bring awareness to the sport of lacrosse. On February 13, 2014,

2479-470: The Lizards winning two. The Boston Cannons , the last of the six charter franchises to remain in their original market with their original name, won their first championship in 2011. The Philadelphia Barrage returned to the league in 2020 after an 11-season hiatus. After moving from Bridgeport to Philadelphia, the Barrage won three championships in four years from 2004 to 2007. For much of the league's history,

2546-422: The MLL accidentally exposed the confidential personal information of over 1,000 players, nearly everyone who has ever played in the league or tried out for a team. The information was stored in one excel spreadsheet that was publicly linked on the league's website for a day. It is unknown if any player experienced identity theft as a result of the incident. Headquarters: Fox Sports Network broadcast games for

2613-475: The MLL and Adrenaline (the parent company of the LXM Pro Tour) announced they had formed a partnership. This partnership includes Adrenaline becoming the (non-exclusive) sock provider, (exclusive) sideline hat, and (exclusive) shooting shirt supplier of the league. More importantly, this partnership allowed MLL players to play in the LXM Pro Tour and vice versa. Because of this, the LXM Pro Tour events were moved to

2680-424: The MLL off season (September through March). Major League Lacrosse was founded in 1999 as a more "nontraditional" style of field lacrosse. Main differences in MLL are the use of a shot clock and a two-point-goal line. LXM Pro is more "traditional" in their approach to game play. Field lines match the lines of standard lacrosse field. LXM features no two point goal or "hard" shot clock, similar to NCAA lacrosse. Like

2747-531: The MLL, LXM Pro Tour did allow dive shots. The dive shot (without an attacking player being pushed from behind) was disallowed in 1999 in NCAA lacrosse to help protect goalies. Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse ( MLL ) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001 . Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This

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2814-589: The National Division included teams in Baltimore , New Jersey , and Rochester . All teams were owned by the league, which assigned three franchise players to each team before the initial draft. The first MLL game took place on June 7, 2001, with the Baltimore Bayhawks defeating the Long Island Lizards 16–13 at Homewood field in Baltimore, Maryland. Chris Turner scored the first goal in MLL history. The MLL played

2881-412: The Outlaws was pushed back a day and would be played as the championship. Boston defeated Denver for the second time in two days, the latter in 13-10 fashion for the franchise's second title, first in nine years. Newcomer attackman Bryce Wasserman, who played for the Dallas Rattlers the season before, was named league MVP for 2020. On December 16, 2020, in a statement from Major League Lacrosse (MLL),

2948-543: The PLL in 2020 following the MLL–PLL merger and were rebranded as the Cannons Lacrosse Club before later being rebranded as Boston Cannons once again when the PLL assigned home cities after the 2023 season . The Boston Cannons were one of the original six teams of Major League Lacrosse (MLL), and the only team from the pole inaugural 2001 season to stay in the same market, without folding or moving elsewhere. They were

3015-974: The Year Offensive Player of the Year Goalie of the Year David Huntley Man of the Year Most Improved Player Eamon McEneaney Attackman of the Year Welles Crowther Humanitarian Award Jimmy Regan Teammate Award The Cannons often reach out to the local community, hosting a variety of lacrosse camps and events for local youth. In addition, the Cannons support MetroLacrosse, by arranging scholarships for MetroLacrosse players and donating tickets for each home game to MetroLacrosse players and families. MetroLacrosse also maintains

3082-426: The expansion team Atlanta Blaze . On October 8, 2015, Sean Quirk was announced as the sixth head coach in franchise history. In an odd 2016 year in which seven of the league's nine teams, including the Cannons, finished with identical 8-6 records, Quirk's team was not rewarded with one of the four playoff spots after tie-breaking procedures. On December 20, 2016, it was announced that John Tucker would be returning to

3149-487: The field at any one time. 20 players dress for each regular-season game. The MLL Championship Game was played at a neutral site decided by the league. Teams qualified for the playoffs by finishing with one of the top four records during the regular season. Those four teams played in a semifinal to determine who plays in the Championship Game. Italics indicates a defunct team Every year, Major League Lacrosse held

3216-619: The first two seasons, then ESPN2 televised a weekly MLL game from 2003 through 2011. In 2012, ESPN2 televised three regular season games, the All-Star Game, one semifinal, and the MLL Championship game. MLL games have not been regularly shown on ESPN2 since 2012 due to low ratings. Games continue to be streamed on ESPN3. CBS Sports Network has televised all-star games and the playoffs since 2013. MLL did not receive any money from these networks for these deals. In 2017, Lax Sports Network

3283-450: The founders of the league in April 2017. Trematerra alleged that Gross provided inaccurate information about the profitability of the league in 2014, when Trematerra was considering buying an expansion franchise. The suit also claimed that because the league, some of its major sponsors, and Lax Sports Network were all controlled by the same people and entities, sponsorship and broadcast rights were sold for below market value. In August 2017,

3350-484: The leagues will operate as one under the "PLL" brand and model. In order to accommodate the influx of players the PLL will be expanding the league to include its eighth touring team, known as Cannons Lacrosse Club, paying homage to the 2020 MLL champions, the Boston Cannons . The roster of this new team was determined by the 2021 expansion draft. A Major League Lacrosse Field is 110 yards long and 60 yards wide. The game

3417-513: The next three years, in 2012 and 2013. Their five Steinfeld Cup trophies are the most in MLL history. The league's attendance peaked at 6,417 per game in the 2011 season. The individual franchises had a wide range of local support. Denver lead the league in attendance, drawing 12,331 fans per game in 2011, while the relocated Hamilton Nationals had 1,214 people per game, one-tenth of Denver's attendance. In late 2009, Kyle Harrison , Scott Hochstadt, Craig Hochstadt, Xander Ritz, and Max Ritz formed

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3484-475: The ninth MLL team in 2016. The Rattlers relocated [again] from Rochester, New York, in 2018 to Dallas, Texas, and began play as the Dallas Rattlers in 2018. On April 1, 2019, just two months before the start of the season, the league announced that the Charlotte Hounds, Florida Launch, and Ohio Machine would not be playing in 2019. While the Hounds announced they would be back in 2021 under new ownership in

3551-445: The offseason they announced a move to and $ 1.5 million renovation of Veterans Memorial Stadium . The Cannons announced two sellouts in their first season in the updated venue. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 season was shortened to five regular season games in seven days, all to be played in front of no fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland . The Cannons finished fourth place out of six teams with

3618-536: The only MLL team identity to continue into the 2021 PLL season following the MLL-PLL merger and in doing so adopted the Cannons Lacrosse identity. The team would once again become the Boston Cannons when the PLL assigned home cities after the 2023 season . MLL was founded by Jake Steinfeld, Dave Morrow, and Tim Robertson. The Cannons founder and president is Matt Dwyer. From their inaugural season of 2001 through 2003,

3685-459: The only team continuing play in the 2021 season as members of the PLL. Their roster would be set via expansion draft and, following PLL style, dropping "Boston" from their name, becoming the Cannons Lacrosse Club. Major League Lacrosse was founded in 1999 by Jake Steinfeld , Dave Morrow and Tim Robertson. Steinfeld is the creator of the Body By Jake line of exercise equipment and videos. Morrow

3752-614: The regular season, their best record since going 10–2 in 2005. After losing to Chesapeake 13–9 in the 2010 semifinal, the Cannons avenged the Bayhawks by defeating them 14–13 in the 2011 semifinal with a goal from Max Quinzani. Boston became the fifth charter franchise to win a championship. By 2011, the Cannons were one of four charter franchises still in the league that started with six teams in 2001. The other three remaining charter franchises ( Lizards , Bayhawks , and Rattlers had all previously won at least one Steinfeld Cup (the defunct Barrage had won three). Head coach Bill Daye stepped down

3819-402: The rest of the season. After the Cannons missed the playoffs for the fourth time in franchise history in 2014, Tucker led the team back to the postseason in 2015 as the 8–6 fourth seed. They played the New York Lizards and lost 16–15 in overtime. The Lizards went on to win the Steinfeld Cup. John Tucker left the Cannons after the 2015 season to become the first head coach and general manager of

3886-552: The second full year of events. All-American twin midfielders Shamel and Rhamel Bratton, from the University of Virginia , announced they had made the decision to opt for LXM over the MLL. In 2012 Division III superstar Sam Bradman made an unexpected decision to play on the LXM Pro Tour after having been drafted by the Long Island Lizards of the MLL. 8 games were played plus three promotional events were held by LXM, including

3953-535: The start of the 2019 season , the league announced that 12 games would be broadcast on Stadium and the network would air a weekly studio show. Also in 2019, MLL re-partnered with the ESPN network. Weekly coverage was shown on ESPN+ and several games, including the league championship, were broadcast nationally on ESPN2. MLL saw their biggest television-reach in league history. The semi-finals and finals combined for 297 million total household viewers. Major League Lacrosse would expand its relationship with ESPN for

4020-839: The team as lead investor and died in his sleep only days after LXM Pro's inaugural event. In 2010 LXM Pro hosted four events, LXM 512 in Austin, LXM Pro Launch Party at the NCAA Final Four, LXM 610 in Philadelphia, and LXM 904 in Jacksonville. In 2011 LXM Pro staged another four events, returning to Orange County, California for LXM 949, LXM 410 in Towson, Maryland , LXM 610 back in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , and LXM 702 in Las Vegas, Nevada to cap off

4087-400: The team that season. Dave Lawson informed team officials that he would be retiring from the league while Chris LaPierre decided not to report to the team. The Cannons finished the season on a six-game losing streak. At 3-11, the Cannons posted the worst record in the league and tied their franchise-worst record from 2001, their inaugural season. Following the 2018 season, Paul Rabil launched

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4154-469: Was followed by a four-team playoff for the championship trophy, the Steinfeld Trophy , named after founder Jake Steinfeld . League attendance peaked at 6,417 in 2011 and the 2019 average was 4,587. The Chesapeake Bayhawks and New York Lizards (originally the Baltimore Bayhawks and Long Island Lizards) were MLL members throughout its existence and competed in the first three championship games, with

4221-424: Was given exclusive rights to all 63 regular season games. Twitter streamed the semifinal games and CBS Sports Network broadcast the final. On April 1, 2019, the league announced they had reacquired broadcast rights from Lax Sports Network. It was unclear where each team would broadcast its games, though the Cannons announced on March 28 that NBC Sports Boston would air all 16 of their games. One day prior to

4288-540: Was held on June 1, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, for players whose college eligibility had expired in 2001. Ryan Mollett of Princeton was selected first overall by the Rochester Rattlers. In addition, each team was assigned three franchise players to each team before the initial draft. MLL began play in 2001 with six teams in the northeastern U.S. split into two divisions. The American Division included teams in Boston , Bridgeport , Connecticut, and on Long Island ;

4355-454: Was not a professional outdoor league. Steinfeld said, "For years, America's top collegiate lacrosse players have not had the opportunity to play in a professional outdoor league at the conclusion of their collegiate careers. Those days are over with the creation of Major League Lacrosse." The league held two separate drafts to stock the six teams for the 2001 season. The first draft took place in 2000 for post-collegiate players. A second draft

4422-467: Was owned by Major League Lacrosse, LLC, which was controlled by the founders and the six franchises. The founders – Steinfeld, Morrow, Robertson, and Davis – control five of 14 ownership shares (36%); the nine franchises each had one ownership share (7%). Davis owned two of the nine franchises and has a stake in two others. Atlanta Blaze owner Peter Trematerra sued Major League Lacrosse, LLC, Commissioner Gross, Jim Davis and several businesses controlled by

4489-603: Was played at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Paul Gait was named the game's MVP. Four out of the first five championship games were between the Long Island Lizards and the Baltimore Bayhawks . The Lizards won titles in 2001 and 2003 , while the Bayhawks won in 2002 and 2005 . The recently relocated Philadelphia Barrage beat the Boston Cannons 13–11 in 2004's final. In 2003, New Balance became

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