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91-555: The Chesapeake Bayhawks and New York Lizards (originally the Baltimore Bayhawks and Long Island Lizards) were MLL members throughout its existence and competed in the first three championship games, with the Lizards winning two. The Boston Cannons , the last of the six charter franchises to remain in their original market with their original name, won their first championship in 2011. The Philadelphia Barrage returned to

182-838: A Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland . They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Baltimore Bayhawks from 2001 to 2006 and as the Washington Bayhawks from 2007 to 2009. They won six Steinfeld Cup titles, the most of any MLL franchise. The Bayhawks played two seasons at Homewood Field at Johns Hopkins University , in 2001 and 2003, while they played at M&T Bank Stadium in downtown Baltimore in 2002. Their home moved to Johnny Unitas Stadium on

273-485: A $ 40 million 10,000-seat stadium on the grounds of the former Crownsville State Hospital that would have included a three-story team headquarters. The project's first phase would be a 6,000 seat amphitheater that the Bayhawks hope to be playing in by 2020, while phase two would include 20 youth fields but the local community raised significant objections to the plans. The Bayhawks new and old head coach Dave Cottle began

364-445: A 60-second shot clock , the elimination of the restraining box, and allowing dive shots. The shot clock was originally 45 seconds before it was changed to 60 seconds for the 2005 season. From the inception of the league to 2008, there was a limit of three long-stick defensemen per team in order to promote scoring. Beginning in 2009, the league conformed to high school and college lacrosse rules and now allows four long–sticks per team on

455-476: A bad position at 3–5. The Bayhawks were finally able to regain some momentum but were ultimately eliminated with a loss during the second-to-last week of the regular season. They finished the season on a high note though, a 23–19 victory over the defending champion Denver Outlaws. In the game, rookie Josh Byrne scored seven goals and finished 2017 with the Major League Lacrosse record for goals in

546-399: A collegiate player draft. The collegiate player draft occurred prior to the league season. Only players who competed at the collegiate level and whose NCAA eligibility has expired in the previous season were eligible for the draft. The exact date, location, and number of rounds varied each year. In addition, each off-season, MLL heald a supplemental player draft. The draft was held to expand

637-478: A combination of strength and conditioning workouts, skill, development sessions, and team building activities. Athletes may also participate in recreational sports or activities to maintain their competitive edge while enjoying a break from the rigors of their primary sport. Furthermore, athletes may take advantage of the off-season to pursue personal interests, further their education, or engage in community service and outreach initiatives. Beyond individual training,

728-663: A desire to limit travel expenses. In the scheduling system used in the NFL , it is possible for two teams to only meet every four years, and to only have 2 common opponents in a season. Major League Baseball has the most uneven schedules of all the four major North American sports. In MLB, the conferences are called leagues instead, but have exactly the same effect as conferences (as with all North American major leagues , leagues, conferences, and division are not based on skill, but instead geography, history, and rivalries). Prior to scheduling changes in 2023, teams played 19 games against each of

819-586: A different team in a different country. The Chicago Machine played the entire 2010 season as a traveling team testing expansion markets for the league, before deciding that the franchise would be moving to Rochester and adopting the Rattlers name in 2011. In 2010, the Bayhawks and Lizards met for the fifth time in the championship game. The Bayhawks prevailed 13–9, almost the same score as when they beat Long Island 15–9 five years earlier. The newly renamed Chesapeake Bayhawks went on to win two more championships in

910-468: A double round-robin "regular season". The Football League started its promotion playoffs in 1987, with the third up to the sixth-ranked teams participating for the final promotion berth (the two top teams are automatically promoted). Elsewhere, relegation playoffs are also held to determine which teams would be relegated to the lower leagues. One prominent top-level football league, the Eredivisie of

1001-681: A league in a particular sport will operate their regular season at roughly the same time as the others, international tournaments may be arranged during the off season. For example, most European football league club competitions run from July or August to May, subsequently major international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championship are organised to occur in June and July. The table represents typical seasons for some leagues by month. Blank or white denotes off-season and pre-season months and solid colors mark

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1092-518: A new equipment deal with STX, a sponsor of one of the LXM Pro teams. The deal moved LXM to the MLL off-season and allowed players to participate in both MLL and LXM. However, LXM Pro didn't hold any tour stops after the announcement. During the early years of MLL, the league did not have any teams in the southeast. In January 2011, Commissioner David Gross announced that Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as Columbus, Ohio, were granted expansion teams for

1183-503: A playoff system (except during the two World Wars) since 1899. South Africa's Currie Cup has determined its champions by playoffs since 1968, and New Zealand's National Provincial Championship , the top level of which is now known as the Mitre 10 Cup , has used playoffs since its creation in 1976. Argentina's Nacional de Clubes has determined its champion by playoffs since its inception in 1993. Currently, two separate competitions feed into

1274-552: A preseason, a series of exhibition games played for training purposes; a regular season, the main period of the league's competition; the postseason , a playoff tournament played against the league's top teams to determine the league's champion; and the offseason, the time when there is no official competition. In association football, many clubs tour and then they have a series of exhibition games for training purposes. In baseball, many clubs go to spring camp and then they have spring training . The National Football League preseason

1365-608: A renovated stadium, the Launch and Machine effectively folded. The announcement dropped the league down to six teams, the fewest teams since 2011, and meant all remaining owners owned only one team. Jim Davis , owner of New Balance , had owned the Hounds, Launch, and Machine, but he now owns only the Dallas Rattlers. Returning from a two-year retirement, 44-year-old John Grant Jr. broke the record for career points scored during

1456-430: A season for a rookie with 39. The win put them at an even 7-7, but did not prevent them from extending their playoff drought to four seasons. On September 14, the Bayhawks announced that head coach Brian Reese would not be returning because the team wanted a full-time coach, the league's first. On December 13, the Bayhawks announced they were bringing back Dave Cottle as head coach. The Bayhawks were developing plans for

1547-425: A team's protected list to a pre-season active roster of 40 players. If a player wasn't selected, they returned to the player pool. From 2006, overall league attendance varied between 3,800 and 6,500 per game, peaking in 2011 and steadily decreasing to an all-time low in 2018. There had always been a great deal of disparity in attendance figures for different teams in the league. Playing at Invesco Field at Mile High ,

1638-418: A two-round knockout stage to determine the champions. It has since been expanded to the 4-round knockout stage today. The Copa Libertadores has applied a knockout stage since the 1988 tournament, expanding to the current four-round format next season. All intercontinental club football competitions now feature a knockout stage. The off-season , vacation time , or close season is the time of year when there

1729-456: A winning season in each of the first five years of the league, posting a 44–19 record. The 2006 season was a transition year for the Bayhawks. BT Lax Operating purchased the franchise from the prior ownership group led by the Pivec family. The Bayhawks went 4–8 and missed the playoffs for the first time in its history. Following the season, the new owners announced the team would be renamed

1820-449: Is 60 minutes long, divided into four 15-minute quarters with 15-minute intermission at halftime, plus multiple 10-minute golden goal periods for regulation games ending in ties unless one team scores, which wins the game. Teams are required to dress twenty players, with ten players on the field at a time. MLL rules are based on NCAA rules with various changes. The most significant are a two-point goal line 16 yards (15 m) from each goal,

1911-462: Is a highly structured three-game series of games in which teams are afforded a larger roster limit and play games that do not count toward the record. It is used to evaluate and prepare talent for the upcoming regular season. In the highest levels of professional tennis , the preseason (November–December) consists of extensive period of training on and off the court (gym/fitness work as well as working on tennis-specific skills like for example improving

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2002-741: Is more important than winning the regular season. This includes the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada ( MLB's World Series , the NBA Finals , the NFL's Super Bowl , the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals , the MLS Cup , and the CFL's Grey Cup ), and the major Australian sports (BBL Grand Final, NBL Grand Final , A-League Grand Final , AFL Grand Final and NRL Grand Final ). European leagues have also started holding playoffs after

2093-417: Is no official competition. Although upper management continues to work, the athletes will take much vacation time off. Also, various events such as drafts , transfers and important off-season free agent signings occur. Generally, most athletes stay in shape during the off-season in preparation for the next season. Certain new rules in the league may be made during this time, and will become enforced during

2184-661: Is played in a double round-robin format in the same way as the European championships. A system similar to the Apertura and Clausura developed independently in Philippine professional basketball , with formerly two, now three tournaments (called "conferences") in one season, with each conference divided into an "elimination round" (the single round-robin group stage) and the playoffs in the North American sense. Winning

2275-419: Is reserved for the country's cup winner, only three of the four teams are guaranteed a place in the next season's European competitions (unless both the cup winner and runner-up are already qualified for Europe by other means). The playoff determines the country's second Champions League participant, and the points at which the two or three Europa League entrants join that competition. Conversely, some leagues like

2366-624: Is sometimes used instead of regular season. Many football leagues in Latin America have a very different system. Because most Latin American countries never had a football cup competition, they instead split their season into two parts, typically known as the Apertura and Clausura ( Spanish for "opening" and "closing"). Most countries that use this system, Argentina being one notable example, crown separate league champions for each part of

2457-549: The 2018 campaign at home against the Dallas Rattlers , who were playing in their first game since relocating from Rochester. The Rattlers defeated the Bayhawks 15–9. On April 28, the Bayhawks collected their first win of the season and Cottle's second tenure with a 14–11 victory over the Florida Launch . After a 1–2 start, the Bayhawks would rattle off seven straight victories, including back-to-back wins over

2548-588: The COVID-19 pandemic , the league announced they would play a week-long quarantined season in Annapolis at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with no fans. Every team would play each other once (five total games) before a four-team playoff as normal. On December 16, 2020, it was announced that the MLL had agreed to merge all operations with the Premier Lacrosse League . Under this agreement,

2639-865: The Home Depot Center . Denver Broncos ' owner Pat Bowlen brought the Denver Outlaws to an NFL stadium, Mile High . The other new franchises were the Chicago Machine and the San Francisco Dragons . Despite winning championships in 2006 and 2007 , Philadelphia didn't attract more than 2,500 fans to their games. So in 2008, the Barrage tested out new markets by playing all of its "home" matches in five other cities: Cary, North Carolina ; Hillsboro, Oregon ; Irving, Texas ; St. Louis ; and Virginia Beach . In addition,

2730-537: The LXM Pro Tour . The tour would feature two teams playing games across the country at special events involving the LXM Pro game and youth activities. The tour competed for players with the MLL as the more established league would not let players under contract play in other professional lacrosse events. On February 13, 2014, MLL announced a partnership with the LXM Pro Tour, a week after the league announced

2821-532: The Long Island Lizards and the Baltimore Bayhawks . The Lizards won titles in 2001 and 2003 , while the Bayhawks won in 2002 and 2005 . The recently relocated Philadelphia Barrage beat the Boston Cannons 13–11 in 2004's final. In 2003, New Balance became a "founding member" and major sponsor of MLL. New Balance founder and CEO, Jim Davis got very involved in the operation of

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2912-607: The Los Angeles Clippers (a team within their division, a subdivision of the conference) four times in a regular season, while both will only play the Toronto Raptors , who are in the opposite Eastern Conference , twice. Part of this is due to the vast geographic distances between some teams in North America — measured in a straight line, Los Angeles is 3,494 kilometres from Toronto, for instance — and

3003-687: The Premier League do not hold a postseason, and therefore these leagues' champions and relegation are instead based on the regular season records. Although rugby union did not become professional until 1995, that sport has a long history of playoffs, primarily in France and the Southern Hemisphere. The French national championship, now known as Top 14 , staged a championship final in its first season of 1892, first used more than one round of playoffs in 1893, and has continuously operated

3094-543: The 2008 Steinfeld Cup but like the Barrage, struggled at the gate. At the start of the 2009 season, a new ownership group in Toronto bought the rights to the Rochester franchise. The Toronto Nationals inherited the staff and players of the team, but the Rattlers' name and team colors were left in Rochester for the possibility of a future team. That same group of players went on to win another championship in 2009 playing for

3185-623: The 2012 season. The Ohio Machine and Charlotte Hounds opened play in April 2012, with both teams missing the playoffs in their inaugural season. With the expansion, the league grew to eight teams and expanded its schedule to fourteen games. In November 2013, the Hamilton Nationals folded and an expansion franchise was awarded to the Florida Launch for the 2014 season. The Launch inherited the Nationals roster. The Atlanta Blaze became

3276-505: The 2019 season. Also in 2019, MLL saw its first goal by a Japanese player, Kohta Kurashima, who is also the first Japanese born player in MLL history. The Rattlers ceased operations after the 2019 season. and the staff and roster were shifted to an expansion team called the Connecticut Hammerheads. The Atlanta Blaze also ceased operations after the 2019 season and were replaced by a resurrected Philadelphia Barrage . Due to

3367-594: The Barrage's "home game" against the Cannons was played in Boston. At the end of the 2008 season, four teams – Los Angeles, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and San Francisco – folded due to financial problems. Several of these teams suffered from poor attendance, San Francisco drew 2,808 per game and only 1,920 in New Jersey. This contraction forced the remaining six teams to form one conference. The Rochester Rattlers won

3458-508: The Bayhawks produced losing records, 5–7 and 4–8. In 2009 , the Bayhawks returned to Maryland for good and signed a three-year agreement with the US Naval Academy for their home games. A permanent home did not help the Bayhawks on the field, they finished with another 5–7 season. In March 2010, the Bayhawks announced a new ownership group, Hometown Lacrosse, LLC led by majority owner Brendan Kelly. The Bayhawks also announced that

3549-421: The Bayhawks went 10–2, dominating the competition and setting several scoring records throughout the year. They scored 47 more goals than any other team and lead the league with fewest goals allowed, resulting in an average score of 20–13. The team capped the regular season with their fourth National Division title and their second MLL crown. The Bayhawks were the only Major League Lacrosse team to have

3640-587: The COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. All 18 games (including postseason) were available on the ESPN family of networks, including ESPN+. ESPN2 broadcast two games on Sunday, July 19. A few days later, the partnership was expanded to TSN for Canadian viewers and ESPN Player to allow fans to watch from over 130 countries. The championship game was broadcast on ESPN's flagship station on Sunday, July 26. Chesapeake Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were

3731-561: The Cannons Lacrosse Club. Major League Lacrosse was founded in 1999 by Jake Steinfeld , Dave Morrow and Tim Robertson. Steinfeld is the creator of the Body By Jake line of exercise equipment and videos. Morrow is a former All-American lacrosse player at Princeton and the president of Warrior Sports . Tim Robertson is the son of televangelist Pat Robertson and the former CEO of The Family Channel . Steinfeld

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3822-627: The Denver Outlaws at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland , following a COVID-19-shortened 2020 season . On December 16, 2020, the league announced that it would be merging with the Premier Lacrosse League . At the time of the announcement, the 2020 MLL champion Boston Cannons were announced as the only team continuing play in the 2021 season as members of the PLL. Their roster would be set via expansion draft and, following PLL style, dropping "Boston" from their name, becoming

3913-582: The Denver Outlaws had led the league in attendance all but one year of their existence. A significant portion of Denver's attendance was from one game each year. The Outlaws established a tradition of having a game on the Fourth of July that always attracted the biggest single-game attendance in the league. 31,644 people attended the game and watched fireworks afterward in 2015. The Fourth of July game regularly attracted over 25,000 people. Outside of this special event game, Denver drew about 6,000 per game. The league

4004-484: The Denver Outlaws. In front of an Outlaw-friendly crowd, the Bayhawks stormed out to a 5–0 lead before letting Denver slowly creep back into it. The Outlaws would take their first lead of the game, 9–8, with eight minutes to go. The Bayhawks, though, would persevere with goals from Steele Stanwick and Andrew Kew in the final three minutes. Chesapeake would ultimately win their sixth Steinfeld Cup, and first in six years. In January 2020, Cottle stepped away as head coach. He

4095-580: The Lizards to win their first MLL crown. In the MLL's third season , the Bayhawks continued their National Division dominance with their third straight title, but again came up just short in the MLL Championship against the Lizards. The Bayhawks made the playoffs in 2004 , but were eliminated in the semifinals. The 2005 Bayhawks squad is regarded as one of the greatest lacrosse teams ever assembled. Led by hall-of-famers Gary Gait and Tom Marechek ,

4186-421: The MLL accidentally exposed the confidential personal information of over 1,000 players, nearly everyone who has ever played in the league or tried out for a team. The information was stored in one excel spreadsheet that was publicly linked on the league's website for a day. It is unknown if any player experienced identity theft as a result of the incident. Headquarters: Fox Sports Network broadcast games for

4277-753: The Nacional, the Torneo de la URBA (for Buenos Aires clubs, held since 1899) and Torneo del Interior (for the rest of the country); both use playoffs to determine their champions. Super Rugby , involving regional franchises from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa and national franchises in Argentina and Japan, has used playoffs to determine its champions since its creation as Super 12 in 1996. By contrast, other European countries were slow to adopt playoffs in rugby union. The English Premiership only began playoffs in 1999–2000 , and did not use them to determine

4368-631: The Netherlands, uses two different playoffs—one for relegation purposes, and the other to determine one of the league's entrants in the following season's UEFA Europa League . In Superleague Greece , which currently has two places in the UEFA Champions League and three in the Europa League, the teams that finish second through fifth in the regular season enter a home-and-away "playoff" mini-league. Since one Europa League place

4459-531: The Outlaws were successful from the start, missing the postseason only once in 14 seasons, while claiming three championships in ten appearances. The Connecticut Hammerheads were the league's youngest franchise, and were set to play at Rafferty Stadium near Bridgeport in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shortened, quarantined season. The final champions were the Boston Cannons, who defeated

4550-570: The Washington Bayhawks and play around Washington, D.C.. The Washington Bayhawks played their first home game of the 2007 season at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Virginia with the subsequent five home games at Georgetown University 's Multi-Sport Field . George Mason Stadium served as the primary field for five home games during 2008 with one home game at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Both years

4641-837: The Year Defensive Player of the Year Offensive Player of the Year Goalie of the Year Most Improved Player August 17 game at Long Island canceled due to rain Season (sports) In an organized sports league , a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from

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4732-501: The accuracy of serve). In sport, the term "regular season" or "home-and-away season" refers to the sport's league competition . The regular season is usually similar to a group tournament format: teams are divided into groups, conferences and/or divisions, and each club plays a set number of games against a set number of opponents. In most countries the league is played in a double round-robin format, where every team plays every other team twice, once at their home venue, and once away at

4823-486: The campus of Towson University from 2004 to 2006. They won National Division titles in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005 and made the 2004 playoffs as a wild card. In 2001 , the Bayhawks won the National Division crown, but fell short in the championship game to the Long Island Lizards . The following year , the Bayhawks repeated as National Division champions and this time avenged their title game loss by beating

4914-539: The creation of Major League Lacrosse." The league held two separate drafts to stock the six teams for the 2001 season. The first draft took place in 2000 for post-collegiate players. A second draft was held on June 1, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, for players whose college eligibility had expired in 2001. Ryan Mollett of Princeton was selected first overall by the Rochester Rattlers. In addition, each team

5005-405: The defending champion Ohio Machine , a team who swept them the season before. The Bayhawks would drop three of their last four contests of the regular season, but at 9–5, the team still earned second place and a home playoff game in the 2018 postseason. In their first playoff appearance since 2013, the Bayhawks lost a close game to the Denver Outlaws , 13–12, despite defeating the Outlaws twice in

5096-438: The demands of competitive play. This period of rest is essential for preventing burnout, reducing the risk of injuries, and allowing the body to recover from the wear and tear of regular training and competition. Athletes may use this time to focus on rehabilitation from any lingering injuries, undergo medical evaluations, and engage in cross-training activities to maintain overall fitness levels. In addition to rest and recovery,

5187-494: The field at any one time. 20 players dress for each regular-season game. The MLL Championship Game was played at a neutral site decided by the league. Teams qualified for the playoffs by finishing with one of the top four records during the regular season. Those four teams played in a semifinal to determine who plays in the Championship Game. Italics indicates a defunct team Every year, Major League Lacrosse held

5278-416: The final. After their third title in four years in 2013, the Bayhawks missed the playoffs in the following four seasons, the second time in franchise history. In 2016 , seven teams finished tied atop the standings at 8–6, including the Bayhawks. Due to tiebreaker procedures, the Bayhawks were left out of the playoffs. In 2017 , the Bayhawks started the season 3–1, but a four-game losing streak put them in

5369-631: The first two seasons, then ESPN2 televised a weekly MLL game from 2003 through 2011. In 2012, ESPN2 televised three regular season games, the All-Star Game, one semifinal, and the MLL Championship game. MLL games have not been regularly shown on ESPN2 since 2012 due to low ratings. Games continue to be streamed on ESPN3. CBS Sports Network has televised all-star games and the playoffs since 2013. MLL did not receive any money from these networks for these deals. In 2017, Lax Sports Network

5460-449: The founders of the league in April 2017. Trematerra alleged that Gross provided inaccurate information about the profitability of the league in 2014, when Trematerra was considering buying an expansion franchise. The suit also claimed that because the league, some of its major sponsors, and Lax Sports Network were all controlled by the same people and entities, sponsorship and broadcast rights were sold for below market value. In August 2017,

5551-503: The initial draft. The first MLL game took place on June 7, 2001, with the Baltimore Bayhawks defeating the Long Island Lizards 16–13 at Homewood field in Baltimore, Maryland. Chris Turner scored the first goal in MLL history. The MLL played a 14-game regular season its first two years, then the schedule was cut to 12 games. After the first year, the league's playoff format had the top teams in each division advancing to

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5642-512: The last week of March to the last week of September. In other team sports , like association football or basketball , it is generally from August or September to May although in some countries – such as Northern Europe, North America or East Asia – the season for oudoor summer sports starts in the spring and finishes in autumn, mainly due to weather conditions encountered during the winter. A year can often be broken up into several distinct sections (sometimes themselves called seasons). These are:

5733-588: The league champion until 2002–03 . The Celtic League, now known as Pro14 , resisted a playoff system even longer; its champions were determined solely by league play from its inception in 2001–02 until playoffs began in 2009–10 . When the UEFA Champions League reformatted in 1993, it added a "knockout stage" involving four teams that finished at the top two places in their respective groups. Like North American sports leagues, this setup prevented some participants from facing each other, necessitating

5824-587: The league in 2020 after an 11-season hiatus. After moving from Bridgeport to Philadelphia, the Barrage won three championships in four years from 2004 to 2007. For much of the league's history, the Denver Outlaws were the only team west of the Mississippi River , being part of the league's ambitious westward expansion in 2006. Being owned by the Pat Bowlen family and the Denver Broncos ,

5915-632: The league's number of teams up to ten. The expansion markets were Los Angeles , Denver , Chicago , and San Francisco , extending the league across the country and into top media markets. MLL combined the original six teams into the Eastern Conference and put the new teams into the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Riptide were owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group and played its home games at

6006-403: The league, including providing financial support. Davis still owns the Dallas Rattlers . In 2005, Andrew Goldstein became the first American male team-sport professional athlete to be openly gay during his playing career. Goldstein played goalie for the Long Island Lizards from 2005 to 2007, although he only appeared in two games in 2006. MLL added four teams for the 2006 season, bringing

6097-428: The leagues will operate as one under the "PLL" brand and model. In order to accommodate the influx of players the PLL will be expanding the league to include its eighth touring team, known as Cannons Lacrosse Club, paying homage to the 2020 MLL champions, the Boston Cannons . The roster of this new team was determined by the 2021 expansion draft. A Major League Lacrosse Field is 110 yards long and 60 yards wide. The game

6188-451: The next regular season. The Off-season is characterized by a break in regular league or tournament play, allowing athletes, coaches, and staff to rest, recover, and prepare for the upcoming season. The off-season typically follows the conclusion of the regular season or playoffs and precedes the start of preseason training or conditioning camps. During the off-season, athletes often take time off to recuperate both physically and mentally from

6279-512: The next three years, in 2012 and 2013. Their five Steinfeld Cup trophies are the most in MLL history. The league's attendance peaked at 6,417 per game in the 2011 season. The individual franchises had a wide range of local support. Denver lead the league in attendance, drawing 12,331 fans per game in 2011, while the relocated Hamilton Nationals had 1,214 people per game, one-tenth of Denver's attendance. In late 2009, Kyle Harrison , Scott Hochstadt, Craig Hochstadt, Xander Ritz, and Max Ritz formed

6370-415: The ninth MLL team in 2016. The Rattlers relocated [again] from Rochester, New York, in 2018 to Dallas, Texas, and began play as the Dallas Rattlers in 2018. On April 1, 2019, just two months before the start of the season, the league announced that the Charlotte Hounds, Florida Launch, and Ohio Machine would not be playing in 2019. While the Hounds announced they would be back in 2021 under new ownership in

6461-454: The off-season is also a critical time for teams to regroup, strategize, and plan for the upcoming season. Coaching staff and management may conduct player evaluations, analyze performance data, and make personnel decisions such as trades, drafts and free agent signings. Team bonding activities, such as retreats, workshops, and social events, may be organized  to foster camaraderie and cohesion among teammates. As most countries which have

6552-459: The off-season provides athletes with an opportunity to address weakness and areas for improvement in their performance. Many athletes use this time to work on specific skills, refine techniques, and build strength and conditioning through targeted training programs. Coaches and training staff often collaborate with athletes to develop individualized offseason training regimens tailored to their specific needs and goals. Off-season training may include

6643-457: The opposition's venue as visitors. The results over all games are accumulated and when every team has completed its full schedule of games, a winner is declared. In North America, the scheduling is different. Rather than every team playing all others twice, teams usually play more games against local rivals than teams in other parts of the country. For example, the NBA 's Los Angeles Lakers will play

6734-478: The playoffs for the first time since 2005. The Bayhawks defeated the Boston Cannons 13–9 in the semifinals, and won the Steinfeld Trophy for the third time with another 13–9 victory over their archrivals, the Long Island Lizards. After a rollercoaster season and another 6–6 record in 2011 , the Bayhawks were defeated by the Boston Cannons in a close match-up in the playoffs at home. In the off-season,

6825-498: The playoffs is the ultimate goal of every team for every conference; while there is no season championship, winning all conferences within a single season is rare and has only happened five times since 1975, with the two most recent examples occurring in 1996 and 2013–14 . The qualifying round and playoffs setup has permeated down to the local level and in most team sports, although seasons are not divided into conferences. Many sports leagues have playoffs or "finals" that occur after

6916-435: The postseason World Series , and thus MLB teams did not play the other league's teams at all). In 2023, teams played all interleague teams in a single season for the first time; teams now play a 3-game series against all teams, except their designated interleague rival with 4 games, totalling to 46 games (later increased to 48 games and a 6-game series with their interleague rival for the forthcoming 2025 season). In Australia,

7007-411: The regular season is complete. A subset of the teams enter into a playoff tournament , usually a knockout tournament , generally a pre-determined number with better overall records (more wins, fewer losses) during the regular season. There are many variations used to determine the champion, the league's top prize. In many of these leagues, winning the league's top prize at the conclusion of the postseason

7098-470: The regular season. It was only the Bayhawks' second playoff loss in five trips to the postseason since becoming the Chesapeake Bayhawks in 2010. After the 2018 season, the professional lacrosse landscape changed drastically with the launch of the Premier Lacrosse League and the migration of nearly 150 Major League Lacrosse players to the upstart league. In addition, the number of MLL teams

7189-627: The season, using only league play. A few others, such as Uruguay, crown one champion at the end of a playoff involving top teams from each half of the season. Mexico operates its Apertura and Clausura as separate competitions that both end in playoffs. Brazil has a different system, the season starts with the state championships in January (every Brazilian state have his own championship), these state championships ends in April. The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A itself starts in May and ends in early December, and

7280-580: The semifinals, with two wild card playoff spots going to the teams with the next-best records regardless of division. The first MLL Championship Game saw the Long Island Lizards beat the Baltimore Bayhawks 15–11 in September 2001. The game was played at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Paul Gait was named the game's MVP. Four out of the first five championship games were between

7371-532: The start of the 2019 season , the league announced that 12 games would be broadcast on Stadium and the network would air a weekly studio show. Also in 2019, MLL re-partnered with the ESPN network. Weekly coverage was shown on ESPN+ and several games, including the league championship, were broadcast nationally on ESPN2. MLL saw their biggest television-reach in league history. The semi-finals and finals combined for 297 million total household viewers. Major League Lacrosse would expand its relationship with ESPN for

7462-591: The team made some major changes when Kelly stepped down as head coach and promoted Dave Cottle from assistant coach to head coach. Cottle immediately brought in Tony Resch to serve as his defensive coordinator. In 2012 they recaptured the Steinfeld Cup, defeating the Denver Outlaws 16–6 in the final. The Bayhawks repeated as MLL champions in 2013 , defeating the Charlotte Hounds 10–9 in

7553-564: The team name would be changed to the Chesapeake Bayhawks to include all areas of the region from Northern Maryland to Virginia and Washington, D.C. to the Eastern Shore. The Bayhawks continued to play at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The team started out 4–6, leading Kelly to fire John Tucker and take over as head coach himself. With Kelly's leadership, the team finished the 2010 season at 6–6 and made

7644-428: The teams in their own division each year but only played 20 games total against all of the teams in the other league. Because each of the inter-league match-ups was part of a 3-game series or a 2-game series, teams played no games at all against most teams from the other league. They played 6 of the 15 teams in the other league, a historically high number (until 1997, interleague play was limited to exhibition matches and

7735-460: The two largest football leagues, the AFL ( Australian rules football ) and NRL ( rugby league ), both grew out of competitions held within a single city (respectively Melbourne and Sydney) and only began expanding to the rest of the country when inexpensive air travel made a national league possible. These leagues use a single table instead of being split into divisions. The term "home and away season"

7826-451: Was a former lacrosse player at Cortland State (NY), read an article about Dave Morrow. After reading the article, Steinfeld couldn't believe that with the excitement the sport of lacrosse has, there was not a professional outdoor league. Steinfeld said, "For years, America's top collegiate lacrosse players have not had the opportunity to play in a professional outdoor league at the conclusion of their collegiate careers. Those days are over with

7917-553: Was assigned three franchise players to each team before the initial draft. MLL began play in 2001 with six teams in the northeastern U.S. split into two divisions. The American Division included teams in Boston , Bridgeport , Connecticut, and on Long Island ; the National Division included teams in Baltimore , New Jersey , and Rochester . All teams were owned by the league, which assigned three franchise players to each team before

8008-418: Was given exclusive rights to all 63 regular season games. Twitter streamed the semifinal games and CBS Sports Network broadcast the final. On April 1, 2019, the league announced they had reacquired broadcast rights from Lax Sports Network. It was unclear where each team would broadcast its games, though the Cannons announced on March 28 that NBC Sports Boston would air all 16 of their games. One day prior to

8099-465: Was owned by Major League Lacrosse, LLC, which was controlled by the founders and the six franchises. The founders – Steinfeld, Morrow, Robertson, and Davis – control five of 14 ownership shares (36%); the nine franchises each had one ownership share (7%). Davis owned two of the nine franchises and has a stake in two others. Atlanta Blaze owner Peter Trematerra sued Major League Lacrosse, LLC, Commissioner Gross, Jim Davis and several businesses controlled by

8190-542: Was replaced by Tom Mariano , who had previously served as an assistant to Cottle. The Bayhawks' biggest rival were the New York Lizards . They faced each other in five Steinfeld Cup championships: the first three, in 2005, and in 2010. The Lizards won in 2001 and 2003, the Bayhawks in 2002, 2005, and 2010. Both Long Island and the Baltimore area try to claim bragging rights to be the top "hotbed" of producing lacrosse talent. Most Valuable Player Rookie of

8281-546: Was shaved from nine to six, as two teams folded and one (Charlotte) went on a hiatus. In the new-look MLL, the Bayhawks took advantage. Led by Lyle Thompson , who would win league MVP and offensive player of the year honors, Chesapeake would finish a league-best 10–6 in the regular season. Despite this, the Bayhawks would essentially have to play as the road team as they eventually made it to the championship game, played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Denver, where they would face:

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