Lacrosse is "finding a rebirth as a bargain pro sport,
full of hard-hitting, high-scoring action," according to
Mark Heinzl of the WALL STREET JOURNAL, who reports that the
National Lacrosse League's (NLL) Toronto Rock is "drawing
more" than 13,000 fans per game and attendance for Wings
games in Philadelphia is "rising." Meanwhile, the eight-
team league is "planning to add" teams in Columbus and
Detroit for next season, with prospective team owners
"interested in bringing" franchises to Denver, Seattle,
Portland, Vancouver and Calgary. NLL Commissioner John
Livsey said that he "stresses the need for alternatives to
rising ticket costs for big-name sports," and Heinzl notes
that the average ticket price for an NLL game is $15, "about
a third the cost" for NHL, NBA or NFL games. The league
recently doubled its franchise fee to $500,000 and the sport
is "slowly beginning to get TV exposure." Livsey, on the
league's business model: "This sport works best when its
value greatly exceeds its cost. ... [The key is to] stay in
the $15-$17 range for the average ticket cost and wow them
with entertainment and sport" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/22).
