Major League Lacrosse

For the lacrosse league formerly known as the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, see National Lacrosse League.
Not to be confused with Major Series Lacrosse.
Major League Lacrosse
SportField lacrosse
Founded1999
First season2001
Ceased2020 (Merger)
CountryUnited States
Last
champion(s)		Boston Cannons
(2nd title)
Most titlesChesapeake Bayhawks
(6 titles)
TV partner(s)ESPN, Stadium, Lax Sports Network
Official websiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001.[1] Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff for the championship trophy, the Steinfeld Trophy, named after founder Jake Steinfeld. League attendance peaked at 6,417 in 2011[2] and the 2019 average was 4,587.

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 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, 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 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.[3] 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 the Cannons Lacrosse Club.

  1. ^ Post College lacrosse
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference attendance2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Turner, Nick (16 December 2020). "Premier Lacrosse League Merging With Rival in Bid to Unify Sport". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 16 December 2020.