National Lacrosse League (NLL) and the San Diego Seals franchise are playing on March 4, 2023 in an outdoor box game versus the Las Vegas Desert Dogs at Snapdragon Stadium in a “community cultivation” event. This first-ever @NLL game played outdoors marks the world’s only professional box lacrosse league’s entry into playing in larger, outdoor venues similar to the NHL Winter Classic series, DI college basketball games played on aircraft carriers, and F1’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida. The Seals and Desert Dogs lax matchup is the first regular season outdoor game in the history of the NLL as box lacrosse in normally played inside an indoor venue. The Saturday game is schedule to start at 4:30 pm ETS/1:30 pm PST while broadcasting or streaming live across ESPN+, TSN.ca and the TSN mobile app. Look for a 03/04/2023 re-airing on ESPNU at 11 pm ET and 8:00 pm PT. The Sports Techie community blog curator started playing outdoor lacrosse in 1983 while in high school and has since been a Head Coach/Assistant of two H.S. club/varsity programs so seeing this growth of the sport invented by the indigenous people of North America around 1636 is truly awe inspiring. A side note is the Whittier College NCAA DIII program, the only varsity program on the entire West coast, is disbanding after 40-years much to the dismay of current and former players like myself, students and faculty, alumni, and the lacrosse community at-large. The reason this is notable is because Snapdragon Stadium will also be hosting an NCAA Women’s lacrosse tournament with two games on Friday and two on Sunday. Teams include: San Diego State University, Stanford University, Kent State University, and UC Davis. My Poets lacrosse team used to regularly defeat SDSU, Stanford and UC Davis on the men’s side over the last four decades. My hope is this NLL history making matchup for the world’s largest and most successful professional lacrosse league helps lead to a rebirth of Poet Lacrosse because this popular sport is also a solid community builder since it is now played with joy all across the United States and is also a national sport of Canada.
“Our goal for the NLL and for the sport of lacrosse is to continue to increase awareness, enthusiasm and enterprise value well beyond where it exists today. This epic setting gives us another unique opportunity to showcase our world class athletes and on-field product, and not only engage with our core audience but attract diverse sports’ fans in search of new entertainment passions,” said Brett Frood, NLL Commissioner. “We are looking forward to working with the Seals and all our supporters in Southern California to making this an event to remember.”
San Diego is the Heart of California Lacrosse
This will be a weekend celebration of lacrosse in San Diego that lacrosse fans around southern California will not want to miss. Broadcast talent and other events connected to the game will be announced in the coming weeks.
“The Seals have been working on this event for a long time now, and we’re very excited to see this idea come to life. It’s crazy that in the 36-year history of the league this has never been done before,” said Seals President Steve Govett. “We can’t wait to build our box on the field of Snapdragon and play in the San Diego sunshine. Let’s take this outside!”
Snapdragon Stadium will be scaled for 10,100 seats for the special event. A limited number of tickets for the Snapdragon Showdown are now available at SealsLax.com. If you are interested in a group outing for game, please contact the Seals at 619-375-3755 or email [email protected].
The Seals will open their home season this Friday against the Saskatchewan Rush at 7:00 pm at Pechanga Arena, available to watch on ESPN+, TSN.ca and the TSN app.
Snapdragon Stadium
“We’re honored to host the Seals first ever outdoor NLL game,” added Adam Millar, General Manager of Snapdragon Stadium. “Looking forward to seeing another amazing San Diego team out on our field, and excited to welcome a whole new set of fans to the stadium!”
Snapdragon Stadium is a 35,000-seat multipurpose venue owned by San Diego State University and managed by OVG360. As part of SDSU Mission Valley, Snapdragon Stadium serves as a year-round entertainment destination and hub of community engagement. The venue is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification and manages sustainability efforts as a top priority. Snapdragon Stadium is home to SDSU Aztec Football, San Diego Wave FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby. In addition to tenant events, Snapdragon Stadium will host a myriad of events including concerts, festivals, dirt shows, international sporting events, championships, community events, and more.
Visit SnapdragonStadium.com for more information.
NLL
Founded in 1986, the NLL ranks third in average attendance for pro indoor sports worldwide, behind only the NHL and NBA. The League is comprised of 15 franchises across the United States and Canada: Albany FireWolves, Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, Las Vegas Desert Dogs, New York Riptide, Panther City Lacrosse Club (TX), Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, and Vancouver Warriors.
For more information, visit NLL.com and find @NLL on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For more information visit NLL.com.
Sports Techie, adopting sports betting, the analytics of statistics, and now a box game played in an outdoor venue mark the kind of innovation that makes the NLL a fresh league as it approaches it’s 40th year in existence come 2026.
San Diego lost the NFL’s Chargers to Los Angeles in 2017 and is the largest city in America to never have won a Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Championship or Stanley Cup, but it is still an amazing sports town.
Look for the Seal and NLL to help the regions community cultivation continue in 2023 at Snapdragon Stadium on March 4.
Shoot, score, win.
Poet Pride.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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