Rush’s success a model for rest of NLL
The Saskatchewan Rush, toiling in the little city that could, have offered up a nifty blueprint for National Lacrosse League expansion.
NLL commissioner Nick Sakiewicz said he’s focused on expanding the league into NHL or NBA markets, with NHL or NBA arenas and NHL or NBA owners. But the league’s foray into Saskatoon, launched two years ago, shows there’s another way.
“The NHL model — Denver, Calgary and Buffalo — is wildly successful, both on the floor and off it, financially and business-wise,” said Sakiewicz. “Saskatoon, without question, is the independent model we point to. High networth people who want to invest in sports, this is a model that can work.”
Rush owner Bruce Urban moved his team from Edmonton to Saskatoon prior to the 2016 campaign, and the fan base responded quickly — a dynamic bolstered, no doubt, by the team’s immediate on-field success. Saskatchewan averaged 14,921 fans per game during the 2017 regular season, second only to Buffalo (15,148), and ahead of runners-up Colorado (14,458) and Calgary (11,622).
Those were the only four of nine NLL cities to average more than 10,000 fans per game.
“It’s a lot of things coming together: A market that wanted a major-league team, and the NLL is major league,” Sakiewicz said, adding that Saskatoon fans embraced the team quickly, and team ownership and management returned those overtures.
“It’s always about the fan/club relationship,” he added. “If it’s a loving relationship, then you have magic. And these guys create magic here.”
Sakiewicz is keenly interested in expanding the league, and he said he’s “engaged with over 35 cities across North America.” There will be no expansion in 2018, because he feels incoming teams need a year, at minimum, to set up before beginning play.
But for 2019, Sakiewicz expects anywhere from two to four new teams.
“We’re very focused on the NHL/ NBA model, because those guys own arenas and it’s a natural fit,” he said. “But there’s a lot of markets we’re looking at where it’s not necessarily an NHL team. Halifax is a good example. We think Halifax is going to be a tremendous market. We’ve met with the mayor there, and we’re trying to identify ownership to take advantage of it. Halifax feels like a market that could be like (Saskatoon), with an independent owner.
“We continue to look for the right group, and I emphasize ‘right group.’ We’re not bringing teams into this league like we did in the past; we’re not bringing owners into this league like we did in the past. They’ve got to qualify for some pretty high standards.”
The NLL has noticeable problem areas, including Georgia and Vancouver, which respectively averaged a league-low 3,950 and 3,206 fans per game this past season. Georgia, which shifted cities prior to 2016 after a stay in Minnesota, finished a two-game sweep of Saskatchewan this past weekend to claim its first-ever NLL crown.
“The market’s strong, they have a great arena, perfectly sized for our sport, with a fantastic atmosphere,” Sakiewicz said. “But we’ve got a lot of work to do there, as well as in Vancouver.”
But in the meantime, he expects to make some “big announcements” over the next while about the 2019 season.
“We said from the very beginning that we were going to look for a 12- to 18-month run-up for teams to establish a season-ticket base, get their operations going, and launch themselves in a right and proper way,” he said.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to launch a team, and we have to do it right.”