NLL announces Panther City Lacrosse Club as 14th franchise (November 17, 2020)
After several months of speculation and trademark filings, the NLL announced that the new Fort Worth, Texas franchise would be called the Panther City Lacrosse Club. Rumors that the Dallas-Fort Worth area would receive a franchise were first started when NLL analyst Jake Elliot revealed that it was a market the league was looking at last summer.
Last December, Commissioner Sakiewicz spoke to Pro Lacrosse Talk about his thoughts on future expansion and hope to add three new franchises over the next three years. Rumors were further fueled when a trademark for the “Fort Worth Panthers” was filed by the league. The NLL finally announced that Fort Worth had been awarded an NLL franchise on July 22, and then revealed the team’s name and logo on November 17.
Premier Lacrosse League announces merger with Major League Lacrosse (December 16, 2020)
The biggest pro lacrosse news of 2020 came in the middle of December and to the shock of nearly every lacrosse fan. News that the PLL and MLL were merging was first reported by Sportico and was generally met with positivity from the lacrosse world. The move was big for a niche sport that many predicted would struggle to survive if the PLL and MLL continued to compete with each other. The merger allowed both leagues to come together and unify the professional outdoor game once again, with the MLL’s history intact and PLL’s innovations at the forefront of the sport’s future.
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