Exact start date of a full NLL season, expected sometime this fall, will be announced at a later dateNLL
The National Lacrosse League has canceled its plans for a three-week made-for-TV event at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton beginning in April, pivoting its focus to starting a full season in the fall of this year, with teams based in their local markets. On Friday, the Canadian government issued new restrictions limiting travel, restrictions which NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz called “quite onerous.” Sakiewicz explained, “Because 70% or so of our players are in Canada, it made it very difficult to pivot to do the event in the U.S.” He added, “At the end of the day, when you can’t cross the border, and the governmental and provincial restrictions are such that you physically can’t operationalize the event, there’s not a lot any of us could do.” Sakiewicz did not go as far as to characterize the decision as a surprise, citing the uncertainty of the pandemic. He expressed that the cancellation has the full support of both the NLL BOG and the league’s players. The exact start date of a full season will be announced at a later date.
CUTTING-EDGE LACROSSE: Sakiewicz stressed that, for the league, the event was set to serve as a “showcase, really, of innovation and technology.” He mentioned several aspects including increased cameras around the venue like robocams, super-slomo, locker-room cams and players cams; mic’d players, referees and bench personnel; what he described as a “very-deep integration of sports betting into the broadcast;” insertion technology for advertising; and enhanced data capturing with advanced analytics such as ball speed and metrics related to players’ floor coverage. Still, it is not all lost work. Sakiewicz said the NLL learned a lot during the 10-week process planning the event. He indicated that the league plans to move forward with some of the technology, in particular, the sports-betting and advertising advancements.
