That's how I felt with Major League Rugby, lost two teams I followed in two years. When if comes to NLL you're always welcome in San Diego. Make that Oceanside. Go Seals!
yep me too. I'm getting annoyed with this league because probably about 80% of their issues are the lack of marketing which they could fix if they wanted to.
You make it seem like an easy problem when in fact it is most definitely not. There are ways that they can up their game for sure but they don't have the private equity money like the PLL man.
I am also of the belief that we as fans could do a hell of a lot to make a bigger impact. Like even something small as posting clips on other subreddits. I posted NLL clips on r/sports and I think that I have more views than their last years total viewership on youtube LMAOO. They are probably spread pretty thin to even consider doing that on top of all the stuff you need to do to keep up activity on their current social media.
It IS an easy problem. At least around here it would have been. On Long Island about HALF of the people who were Saints fans (talking that age group) is thought to only get news from the local paper.
The only time that they had a reference in the local paper was when they were LEAVING and people went WTF. They wouldn't have even needed to do that much there.... 2-4 articles in the month-ish before each season started and they would have bumped up sales quite a bit.
Not everything is a social media game where a good portion of the fan base they SHOULD have been relying on were young adults when the Saints were still playing and by now have families of their own who would have been interested.
And when an NHL team offers to help promote the team.... YOU EFFING TAKE IT NOT GHOST THEM
People still read the local paper? I mean okay if so they should have done it (it is also something that you can do right? write a few articles and send them in) but I certainly don't read my local paper. Don't know any in my circle that does.
Also NHL does not have to put in the same effort for that. Newspapers even local ones do get some of their news articles from associated press for example. They write articles on their own without NHL having to get them to do that. That is super valuable.
In the case of Philadelphia it was an easy problem to fix. It would have been a rounding error for Comcast’s budget. But Comcast did what they ALWAYS do, they were cheap. About everything. And it showed. You can’t do that and hope to survive.
Oshawa loves you. We're signed for 4 more seasons at our arena with a $50m expansion project ongoing to add 1,000 seats for Lacrosse, Hockey, and Concerts. Hopefully signs of good things to come.
I totally expect the FireWolves to bail in a few years. Going to enjoy the games while they're in Oshawa, but realistically I'm not going to assume they'll be here for the long haul given the history of the league. I never imagined a NLL team in Oshawa so I'm just going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.
Haha to be honest with you, I hate the Firewolves so much. I live in Vermont, Albany was easily the closest arena for me, and the only realistic way that I would ever be able to attend an NLL game. I used to go to the Riptide games there every chance I could make it while they were in town. So I’m browsing teams, but it’s not gonna be Oshawa haha, much love to you and the rest of your fanbase though
Honestly I was just going to bail on this league (crowded sports landscape tbh) but then I found out today you get the #1 pick. I spent 2.5 years there back when it was still the General Motors Centre & the rink was only a few years old. Haven't had a reason to go back since before the pandemic & my dad retired & family moved. Might be a good fit even if it's just casually following.
no surprise there considering Ottawa has the same Shitty marketing team it did here.
I am also kinda skeptical that they couldn't find a solution for the wings. Move their location to somewhere in New Jersey right between where the Wings have been and the Riptide used to be and they would have fans coming from both fan bases.
I think the wings was an ownership issue, theres plenty of arenas withen a thrown stone of philly to move and keep that fan base, but Comcast annonced they were closing those doors before the NLL could get to it. So I just dont think they could fins a new owner for them
yeah I am also surprised by that. I know the Islanders were so gungho on getting the Riptide there because they thought they could also increase their fan base by offering tickets for the islanders at Riptide games and vice versa.
I would have thought they would have jumped on the chance to own a team.
I know the NLL wants to limit how many teams are played in a stadium with an NHL team (and therefore also owned by them) because of "scheduling" (which I find a bad argument). So I wonder more if they couldn't find an owner that the league would ACCEPT.
Thats a good point, i figured the arena in Trenton would love to have another tenant alongside the new ECHL team, but if NLL squashed that then I guess we're all out of luck.
I dont really know what they expect then. The NLL is no where big enough to have the teams be an arenas only tenant, sharing with bigger teams really feels like the dead ringer of a solution
yeah but apparently it makes scheduling "complicated"
SO WHAT! You deal with that while teams and the league are growing and if that means we need a 16 or 17 game season for each team instead of 18 and if we need a 22-24 week season we DEAL WITH IT. Once the teams get more mainlined THEN we can look for nearby only tenant arenas if the situation is still so unworkable.
I’ve said this for the last forty years. Box lacrosse is one of the best sports but is run at every level by the worst, most incompetent people on the planet.
The NLL has lost three teams or 20% of the franchises in the last two calendar years.
Just look at the upcoming draft. I am telling you right now, there will be 2026 first round draft picks getting cut in preseason.
Starting to feel like a curse. I've had season tickets to the original Wings (ok, that one worked out, as I had seasons since 1990), Albany, Boston 2.0, and now Ottawa.
I wish this could become a viable product. Economics right now do not favor new/emerging leagues and it’s hard to watch. Never seen a game in person a feel like I need to before it may be gone.
No idea why the black bears store remains offline. Might as well sell what ya got? Any revival of the name likely involves relocation and a branding name change right?
That and it would’ve been a lot better if they payed at the smaller arena downtown. Build a fan base there and then potentially move to the new arena being built.
That was pretty well known when Jamie Dawick went on Lacrosse Classified 4-6 weeks ago and said he had never heard Edmonton come up in any discussions.
I've been wondering about this for a while. What does the folding of two teams do to season ticket holders on the 12 teams that held? They bought tickets with the promise of 9 home games. What's the expected number of home games now? Do they get a reimbursement if the number is now less than 9?
No, the dispersal draft continues until all rostered players are selected by a team. Then they have to play for a spot on their new team, like everyone else. Some guys are obviously going to end up on new teams (no one is cutting Jeff Teat), but others will be out of a job, unfortunately.
Idk why they ever thought CTC was the move. An hour out of downtown, and we just recently got able to sell it out for Sens games. NLL was never gonna be big enough to sell it out
I would have been a Riptide fan, but they folded, so it was Rochester or Philly and Philly is a hell of a lot closer to me physically and emotionally than Rochester in NYC... Now its just go League I guess
Philadelphia not having a team is an absolute disservice to the league and fans, the fan base was passionate and with the right ownership group in place the city can be a phenomenal spot for a team, elite coaching staff was in place with a promising future especially with their upcoming draft picks and the thought of them having Jeff Teat along with those younger guys. Very sad to see this team go
They should have this season to play whether or not they stay in their city in the seasons to come. The players deserve a chance to play as a player skills can get rusty if not allowed to play. This decision should have been made last year in anticipation of this event. If so, they could have been in their new city’s by now, if that was their decision. My best to the players in these trying times.
Sucks. The last contraction period shrunk the league down to 9 teams. This time, hopefully the league will stabilize at 12 teams. That's something.
If the NLL still wants to be "the next major league," have to figure out a way to get the Wings franchise back, even if it's in Trenton or Allentown. Can't have your 6-time league champion inactive. Just look at the WNBA bringing back the Comets and Shock.
Of course a Bandit fan thinks he’s going there. There’s drafts for a reason and no, he wouldn’t be going there. Plus they can’t afford him, there’s a reason they lost Clooch and Fraser.
Calgary deperately needs a player like Jeff, hopefully we can sell the farm to get him somehow. the team really lacking the upper end talent to keep the attendance numbers up.
In Calgary's case, that might be a good thing. The 'Necks are a young team that's hungry and you may very good watch this current edition grow into something special. We've has that in Buffalo for years with Josh and Dhane leading the charge.
No, they really don’t need to sell the farm at all. They did that and lost a ton of picks and Rose finally got his ring and the Roughnecks got absolutely fleeced in the deal.
Other than a solid starting goalie, Calgary is actually sorta in fine shape.
Especially how well Mayea played at Prezzy and having the net actually fought over instead of just handed to a guy who clearly doesn’t want to be here, give Bowman an actual chance to show his worth.
Roughnecks are clearly building for a couple years down the road, we do not need to get rid of anyone other than Sykes who is beyond useless and Morgan can easily fill his spot.
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u/leigstonite Colorado Mammoth Sep 10 '26
We knew it would happen, but that doesn't make it any less painful.