NLL Blazers Further Apologize For Lap Dances, Create Free Carnival For Fans

NLL Boston Blazers President & GM Doug Reffue yesterday announced the team will hold a free “Carnival on the Concourse” prior to Saturday’s game at TD Garden. The move comes as the Blazers are under fire for the halftime show at last Saturday’s game, which featured a lap dance contest. The Blazers will hold the carnival from 5:00-7:00pm ET, and fans will have the chance to meet members of the organization and win free tickets to future games. The first 500 fans to arrive will get free tickets to Saturday’s game, while all fans under 14 years old will receive a commemorative gift (THE DAILY). Reffue also posted a message on the Blazers’ website, vowing to take "strong measures to make sure this will never happen again" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/19). A BOSTON GLOBE editorial notes side entertainment “is part of the spectacle of a live sporting event, and sexualized content isn’t unheard of; think of the barely-clad, gyrating Celtics dancers.” However, the lap dances “clearly crossed a line,” and while the news coverage around the incident “has raised the team’s profile, it might also do lasting damage to its image.” The editorial states the ticket giveaway is a "nice gesture, but the team also needs to clean up its act." If the Blazers "want to be the local equivalent of professional wrestling, that’s their right." But they "should give fair warning to people considering bringing their kids" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/19).