The National Lacrosse League has found a new home to stream its games. The largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world has announced that ESPN and ESPN+ will be the exclusive home for live NLL games throughout the United States and the rest of the world, except for Canada.
Subscribers to ESPN+ can watch all of the high-stakes drama and hard-hitting action of the upcoming NLL season for only $6.99 per month, or $69.99 annually. The Worldwide Leader in Sports will carry all live NLL games on their networks or platforms, with a minimum of 10 live games annually broadcasted on ESPN linear networks. Combined with ESPN+, the network will carry up to 139 lacrosse games each year, which is the largest number of live televised games in the league’s 34-year history.
“We are so proud, honored and excited to work with ESPN and ESPN+ in this unprecedented landmark announcement for the NLL. Never before in the 35-year history of the league have fans, sponsors, teams and players had this type of access and exposure across the United States,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “While we, our sport and the industry continue to focus on digital native fans, we will also have the benefit of expanded reach through live distribution on ESPN linear networks. We’ve been steadily building on our media strategy and towards this kind of distribution over the last few years and are excited about the momentum an announcement like this generates heading into NLL Faceoff Weekend, December 3-4.”
“We’re thrilled to reach this new multi-year rights agreement with the National Lacrosse League, adding to our already extensive commitment to the sport of lacrosse on ESPN platforms. The NLL features elite players competing in an exciting and fast-paced game that we look forward to showcasing across ESPN and ESPN+ in the years ahead,” said Dan Margulis, Senior Director, Programming & Acquisitions, ESPN.
Founded in 1986, the NLL is a 15-team league and ranks third in average attendance for pro indoor sports worldwide, behind only the NHL and NBA. The 2021-22 season will begin on Friday, December 3 when the Vancouver Warriors travel west to take on the San Diego Seals. Six games will take place on Saturday, December 4, including the debut of the league’s latest expansion franchise Panther City (TX) Lacrosse Club taking on the Philadelphia Wings. On the same day, defending NLL champions Calgary Roughnecks will begin their season in a 2019 NLL Championship rematch against the Buffalo Bandits in Buffalo. The Roughnecks are looking to win their fourth National Lacrosse League Cup/Champions Cup, but they still have a ways to go before tying the Philadelphia Wings and Toronto Rock for a league-high of 6.