Major League Lacrosse Information & Major League Lacrosse Links at HealthHaven.com

Major League Lacrosse
	; MLL logo
Sport	Field lacrosse
Founded	1999
Inaugural season	2001
No. of teams	6
Country(ies)	United States; Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Toronto Nationals
Most championships	Philadelphia Barrage (3)
Official website	MajorLeagueLacrosse.com

Major League Lacrosse is a professional men's field lacrosse league that is made up of five teams in the United States and one team in Canada. The league currently has all six teams in one conference.

[edit] History

The MLL was founded by Jake Steinfeld, Dave Morrow and Tim Robertson in 1999, and began regular season play in June 2001. Steinfeld is well-known for creating the Body By Jake line of exercise equipment and videos. Morrow is a former All-American lacrosse player and the president of Warrior Lacrosse.

The season runs from May to August. MLL rules that differ from traditional lacrosse rules include: a two-point goal line 16 yards (15 m) from each goal, a 60-second shot clock, and the elimination of the restraining box. From the inception of the league in 2001 to 2008 there was a limit of three long-stick defensemen per team. Beginning in 2009, the league will have conform to high school and college lacrosse rules and allow four long–stickman per team on the field at any one–time.^[1] The shot clock was changed from 45-seconds to 60-seconds in 2005. On January 13, 2001, MLL conducted its first draft. After the league assigned each team three players, goalie Sal LoCascio was the first player selected by Bridgeport.

MLL announced on March 9, 2005, that the league would expand to Los Angeles for the 2006 season, and that the team would play its home games at The Home Depot Center. AEG, Inc. was confirmed as the franchise's owner/operator. On July 2, 2005, MLL officials revealed that Denver, Colorado would also be home to an expansion franchise, with a team playing at Invesco Field at Mile High. The league subsequently added teams in the Chicago, Illinois and San Francisco, California markets, creating a western conference for these teams. MLL Western Conference play began with the 2006 season.

The league has gained numerous sponsors that have helped it grow. Current sponsors include: Dick's Sporting Goods, New Balance, Warrior Lacrosse, Bud Light, Tommy Hilfiger, Gatorade, Cascade, Brine, Gear-Up Sports, Under Armour, First National Bank of Omaha, Starbucks, The Great Atlantic Lacrosse Company, and Body by Jake.

The league was divided into the American Division — Boston, Bridgeport (moved to Philadelphia in 2004) and Long Island — and the National Division — Baltimore (moved to Washington after the 2006 season and to Annapolis after the 2008 season), New Jersey, and Rochester — from 2001 until 2005. The MLL played a 14-game regular season its first two years; in 2003, the schedule was cut to 12 games. The league's playoff format has the top teams in each division advancing to the New Balance MLL Championship Weekend, with two wild card playoff spots going to the teams with the best remaining records regardless of division.

Major League Lacrosse Progression
Year	Teams	Games Played
2001	6 teams	14 games
2002		14 games
2003		12 games
2004
2005
2006	10 teams
2007
2008
2009	6 teams

In an effort to test markets as potential expansion/relocation candidates, the Philadelphia Barrage franchise played all of its 2008 "home" matches in other cities; Cary, North Carolina, Hillsboro, Oregon, Irving, Texas, St. Louis and Virginia Beach.^[2]^[3]^[4] In addition the Barrage's "home game" against Boston was played at Boston, Massachusetts.

Fox Sports Network televised games in 2001 and 2002. ESPN2 has televised games since the 2003 season. On March 14, 2007 the two agreed to a television contract that will run until the 2016 season.^[5]

At the end of the 2008 season five teams folded due to financial problems thus forcing the MLL to form one conference. At the start of the 2009 season, the Toronto Nationals were added to the MLL after they bought the rights to the Rochester Rattlers. The Toronto team thus gained the staff of the Rochester team as well as the players, but the Rochester name and the team colors were left in Rochester for the possibilty of a future team.