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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NLL Gets Back Into N.Y. Market With Long Island Expansion Club

NLL teams have played in Nassau Coliseum before between '89 and '09getty images

The NLL is expanding once again, this time to Long Island as the indoor lacrosse league continues its growth efforts under Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. The franchise will be owned by GF Sports, a subsidiary of N.Y.-based GF Capital, which at one point also owned sports media measurement outfit Repucom. Nassau Coliseum will host the club when it begins play in '19. The franchise has not yet been named and will start a survey today seeking fan feedback on what it should be on NLLNewYork.com; the nickname and logo will be revealed early next year. The team becomes the NLL’s 13th organization and fourth expansion franchise to be announced since the middle of last year. Recent expansion NLL clubs have been expected to pay an entrance fee of more than $5M. GF Capital Managing Partner Gary Furhman told THE DAILY that his group decided to buy the franchise because it is looking to diversify its sports portfolio and caught wind that the NLL was looking to expand in the N.Y. area. The market is important to GF both in terms of its business and because a lot of its staff is based there. The NLL originally planned to announce this news a couple weeks ago but pushed the event back due to its labor dispute, which has since been resolved.

BITE OF THE BIG APPLE: While there is a glut of sports and entertainment options in the N.Y. area, Fuhrman feels that “when you think about Long Island, there’s actually not much (in terms of sports options) -- there is a white space there for the team we’re launching.” This also is not the NLL's first go at the N.Y. market. The N.Y. Saints played at Nassau Coliseum from '89-'03, and then the N.Y. Titans split games between the Coliseum, MSG, Prudential Center and CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton from '06-09. GF Sports' other investments include the ATP N.Y. Open, which is also held at Nassau Coliseum, as well as equestrian events like the Longines Master Series. Sakiewicz said, “It’s another transformational move for the NLL just like bringing in Joe Tsai, Comcast Spectacor and the Vancouver Canucks (as new owners of other expansion teams). This one is massive. It’s another major step for a league that is 33 seasons in now, but in a lot of ways, we’re a startup and starting over again.” Sakiewicz said the NLL’s current plan is to expand to 16 teams over the next couple years.

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