National Lacrosse League

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. It has 14 teams, with 7 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The league’s headquarters are in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The NLL is one of the most watched indoor sports leagues in the world. It ranks third in average attendance, just behind the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Unlike other box lacrosse leagues that play in the summer, the NLL plays from December to June. Each year, the best teams compete for the National Lacrosse League Cup. Since 2004, the league has drawn between 8,900 and 10,700 fans per game on average.

Box lacrosse rules

See also: Box lacrosse

The NLL plays four 15-minute quarters with short breaks in between and a longer break at halftime. At the start of each quarter and after every goal, players have a face-off to see who gets the ball next. They push the heads of their sticks together with the ball in the middle.

If the game is tied at the end, teams play extra time until someone scores. Each team can take a short timeout in each half. Teams have 19 players on the roster: 2 goalies and 17 other players. The goal in NLL is a special size, and the league uses a shot clock to keep the game moving. If players fight, they get a long penalty but are not automatically removed from the game.

Season and playoffs

Each team in the NLL plays eighteen games during the regular season, with nine games at home and nine away. Games are usually on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and some weekends have teams playing twice.

The regular season starts in December and ends in April. Since 2018, the playoffs include eight teams. Starting with the 2024 season, the playoffs have the top 8 teams. The first round is a single game, and the Conference Finals and Championship rounds are the best of three games.

Players

Most players in the National Lacrosse League have regular jobs outside of lacrosse. For example, a former player from the Buffalo Bandits, John Tavares, works as a high school teacher in Mississauga, Ontario.

Out of the fourteen teams, seven are in the United States, but only a small part of the players are American. Most players, about 83%, are from Canada, and about 10% are Haudenosaunee from either Canada or the United States.

Teams

Current teams

Starting with the 2024 NLL season, the league stopped using its East and West Conferences from the 2023 NLL season. Now, all teams are in one group, and each team plays every other team at least once.

An asterisk (*) shows a team that moved to its current city and played in other places before.

Former teams

These are teams that are no longer part of the NLL.

History

Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League

The National Lacrosse League began in 1986 with the formation of the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League. This new league had four teams and started playing in 1987. The league’s first season saw the Baltimore Thunder win the championship.

Major Indoor Lacrosse League

In 1989, the league changed its name to the Major Indoor Lacrosse League. More teams joined, and the league grew. The Philadelphia Wings won the first championship that year. Over the next few years, new teams kept joining, and the league continued to grow.

National Lacrosse League

In 1997, the league changed its name again to the National Lacrosse League. New teams joined, and the league kept growing. The Toronto Rock won several championships in the early 2000s.

The league faced challenges, like teams moving or folding, but kept growing. By the 2020s, the league had many teams and continued to add new ones. The Buffalo Bandits have been very successful, winning multiple championships recently.

Championship history

See also: National Lacrosse League Cup

Expansion and relocation

Name changes/relocations

Some teams in the National Lacrosse League have changed their names or moved to new cities over the years. Here are a few examples:

• New Jersey Saints (1987–1988) → New York Saints (1989–2003) → Inactive
• New England Blazers (1989–1991) → Boston Blazers (1992–1997) → Inactive
• Baltimore Thunder (1987–1999) → Pittsburgh CrosseFire (2000) → Washington Power (2001–2002) → Colorado Mammoth (2003–current)
• Ontario Raiders (1998) → Toronto Rock (1999–current)
• Syracuse Smash (1998–2000) → Ottawa Rebel (2001–2003) → Inactive (2003–2005) → Edmonton Rush (2005–2015) → Saskatchewan Rush (2016–current)
• Albany Attack (1999–2003) → San Jose Stealth (2004–2009) → Washington Stealth (2010–2013) → Vancouver Stealth (2014–2018) → Vancouver Warriors (2018–current)
• Columbus Landsharks (2001–2003) → Arizona Sting (2004–2007) → Inactive
• Montreal Express (2002) → Inactive → Minnesota Swarm (2004–2015) → Georgia Swarm (2016–current)
• New Jersey Storm (2002–2003) → Anaheim Storm (2004–2005) → Inactive
• New York Titans (2007–2009) → Orlando Titans (2010) → Inactive
• Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) → New England Black Wolves (2015–2021) → Albany FireWolves (2022–2025) → Oshawa FireWolves (2026–current)
• Rochester Knighthawks (1995–2019) → Halifax Thunderbirds (2020–current)
• New York Riptide (2018–2024) → Ottawa Black Bears (2025–current)

Franchise timeline by team

NLL Unboxed program

In November 2023, the NLL started a program called "NLL Unboxed" to help grow the sport of lacrosse. This program works with schools and youth groups in areas that don’t have NLL teams yet. It aims to build excitement for lacrosse, especially because lacrosse will be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

As part of this program, the NLL began holding special games called "NLL Unboxed Series" in 2024. These games take place in communities that are part of the program. The first game was played in February 2024 in Laval, Quebec, where the Toronto Rock faced the New York Riptide at Place Bell. This was the first NLL game in the Montreal area since the Montreal Express played there in 2002.

National Lacrosse League Players' Association

The National Lacrosse League Players' Association (NLLPA) is a group that helps players in the NLL. It was started in 1991 by Dave Succamore, a former Detroit Turbos player, Peter Schmitz, a former Boston Blazers player and president, and four other players. They wanted to make sure players get paid for missing work, get more money for promotions, have better contracts, and get fair treatment if they are fined or suspended. Before this group, the league paid for injured players' medical bills.

Media coverage

In the early 2000s, CNN Sports Illustrated showed NLL games regularly. The NLL had its All-Star Games and Championship games on NBC in 2005 and ESPN2 in 2006.

In 2007, the NLL had a weekly "Game of the Week" on Versus. For the 2008 season, the "Game of the Week" on Versus was stopped because of a disagreement between the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association and the NLL owners. Also in 2007, the NLL made a deal with Sirius Satellite Radio to be their "Official Satellite Radio Partner".

For the 2011 season, the NLL returned to Versus, starting with the All-Star Game, followed by weekly games and playoff matches. In 2012, the games moved to CBS Sports Network.

In 2012, the NLL made an agreement with the YouTube channel The Lacrosse Network to broadcast most games live, with all games available later. For the 2016 season, the league moved to Fox Sports' Fox Sports Go platform. Starting with the 2016 division semifinals, the NLL began using its own NLLTV service run by NeuLion.

In the 2017 season, the NLL made a deal with Twitter to stream a weekly game, playoff games, and the Champion's Cup using the social network’s live streaming service. A separate deal was made with CBS Sports Digital to stream games on its subscription platform SportsLive.

For the 2018–19 season, the league announced that its games would be streamed only by B/R Live under an agreement with Turner Sports.

For the 2021–22 season, the NLL made a new deal with ESPN Inc. to stream all games on ESPN+ in the United States, with at least 10 games on an ESPN TV channel. In Canada, the league returned to TSN for the first time since 2016, showing games on Saturday nights for Canadian teams, playoff games, and streaming other games online on TSN+. All other games are produced by the league using their own staff and REMI hubs, with Dome Productions handling the hub for Canadian teams and other games shown by TSN.

Video games

Blast Lacrosse, a video game about the NLL, came out on May 23, 2001. It was made by Sandbox Studios and published by Acclaim Entertainment. This game was the first ever lacrosse video game and included all nine teams from the NLL's 15th season in 2001.

Later, on March 31, 2010, the NLL worked with Crosse Studio and Triple B Games to create NLL Lacrosse 2010. This game was presented by Reebok Lacrosse and released only on Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Indie Games on April 23, 2010. Before this, Crosse Studio and Triple B Games had made Inside Lacrosse's College Lacrosse 2010 in 2009.

Awards

The National Lacrosse League gives out several awards each season to honor great players, coaches, and writers. Some of these awards include the MVP Award for the most valuable player, the Rookie of the Year Award for new players, and the Les Bartley Award for the best coach. There are also awards for the best defensive player, goaltender, and more.