MLL Commissioner Dave Gross said after 13 seasons, the league is "not thriving yet, we're surviving," according to Bill Kiser of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Gross said, "How we've survived where other leagues have come and gone during out time period is pretty simple: we watch every penny, and we don't pretend to be what we're not. We're not a Big 4 sport, so we don't act that way. We're out there grinding for every single ticket, every single story in the paper, everything we can get, and that's how we have to be." He added of potential expansion, "Our ultimate goal is to grow to 16 teams, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I've got a total of 18 markets that we've got our eyes on. We know when we'd be able to launch somewhere. It's then making sure we've got the right venue and the right operating group for the team. You get those three components together, and we're ready to go." Gross has previously stated MLL would like to "expand to 16 teams within the next decade." He said, "The 'end of the decade' was more a placeholder for us as a league, but whether we get there or not doesn't matter. If we're not ready, we don't want to force it" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/8).
