Surprise! New NLL lacrosse boss Sakiewicz talking expansion

By Neil Stevens

Lacrosse fans have heard this before.

A new National Lacrosse League commissioner comes in and expansion is one of the first words out of his mouth. The late Jim Jennings had membership up to 13 by 2007. Trouble was, some of those new franchises were built on ownership quicksand. George Daniel took over the top job and by 2012 there were nine left, and there are nine today.

Now here comes Nick Sakiewicz, who was introduced as the new commissioner on Thursday, and he says his No. 1 priority is expansion.

“I’ve got my eye set on getting to 16 as soon as we possibly can,” says Sakiewicz, a 55-year-old Philadelphia resident of Polish descent whose background is in soccer and whose name is pronounced Suh-KEV-itch.

(A note on Daniel: teams folding and relocating weren’t his fault. 1. Quality of play in the seven years he was commissioner reached a new high; 2. Long-term collective bargaining agreements with the Professional Lacrosse Players’ Association fashioned under his watch put the NLL on a solid labor foundation for years to come.)

Sakiewicz elaborated on his expansion views by saying due diligence will be done. No fly-by-night bidders will be entertained. NLL owners are confident he can build their league because of what he did in co-founding Major League Soccer in 1995 and helping it mushroom into the successful 20-team operation it is today. He was CEO of the Philadelphia Union team ownership group until last autumn. He was one of 150 candidates who put their names forth for the NLL post.

Toronto Rock owner Jamie Dawick was not part of the search team but “I know a lot of time and energy was put into finding Nick.”

“I like everything I’ve heard and I’m excited,” says Dawick.

Sakiewicz has attended one NLL game in his life – a December exhibition game in Allentown, Pa. – but he’ll see plenty during the six-month season that began last weekend. He’s flying to Atlanta for Saturday’s Georgia Swarlaxmagazine.com

home opener against the Rock, and he’ll be at other home openers including next Thursday’s in Toronto when the Rock play the team they beat to win the East Division title last spring, the Rochester Knighthawks.

Nobody expects the NLL to go to 16 teams immediately. Regardless, the talent is available to stock new teams.

“You could have a couple of decent teams added right now,” says Dawick. “There will be enough talent to go around. Kids are flocking to the sport. I don’t see that as an issue. If we can add quality owners in the right cities, we’ll find the players to play, for sure. We’ve got a couple of good (cities to add) right now.’’

Well, if it’s so easy, why weren’t teams added during Daniel’s watch?

“George worked hard at expansion,” says Dawick. “George might be directly linked to the first two expansion teams to come along thanks to the work he put in on expansion. It’s about finding the right owners.”

Some fans might be opposed to expansion because that might dilute talent but owners are all for it for obvious reasons. More teams means more TV deals and increased sponsorships and franchise value.

“For this league to take the next step, become mainstream and relevant and become something, that’s why (Sakiewicz) is saying we have to get to 16. To start, I’d like to get five in each division. We’ll just keep plugging away on it.’’

One could not miss the enthusiasm in Sakiewicz’s voice during the league conference call that introduced him to the media. Lacrosse is the fastest-growing youth participation sport in North America, just as soccer was when he helped launched MLS, he says.

“NLL competition is the best-kept secret in professional sports entertainment. These are real men playing a real game and the world needs to see it.”

It really does not matter that he has no background in the sport. He’ll bring an out-of-the-box perspective and “I think we’re going to need that.”

“The NLL reminds me so much of where we were in the MLS 20 years ago.”

He added that he wants to augment existing digital platforms and find new ones. It’s an approach that is right for the times because Internet websites such as the one I write for, Laxmagazine.com, are where fans get their lacrosse news.

The NLL has changed dramatically since rules were brought in to eliminate brawls. Fighting has almost disappeared. Amen for that. Today’s NLL is all about athleticism, speed and stick skills. No offside whistles. Lots of goals with 25 or more most games. Affordable ticket prices. The league has a lot going for it.

The NLL is ripe for a new round of expansion and Nik Sakiewicz will try to make it happen, as others have tried.

As George Daniel said nearly seven years ago, “It is only a matter of time before we start to see the league expand. With expansion, we’ll be able to grow on the television and sponsorship fronts.”