NLL to Missouri?

With expansion on the horizon and league stability still a major focus, have Brett Frood and the NLL set their eyes on Missouri?

 

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St. Louis and Football

The city name of St. Louis in terms of sports is synonymous with the Rams of the National Football League. From 1995 to 2015, the Rams were a league darling, even featuring “The Greatest Show On Turf” in the early 2000s. The Rams won Super Bowls in 1999 and 2000 and appeared in one more in 2002.

 

In 2010, a businessman named Stan Kroenke purchased the Rams football team. He eventually relocated the Rams to Los Angeles, California. Now, the St. Louis BattleHawks of the new United Football League (a coalition of XFL and USFL) are the only professional football team left in St. Louis.

 

Stan Kroenke

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment owns multiple sports teams: Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, and … the Colorado Mammoth. Crazy coincidence, huh?

 

Is Stan Kroenke still invested in the city of St. Louis? Are the Colorado Mammoth a major asset to him, or just a tax write-off?

 

Why St. Louis?

Kurt Hunzeker is the Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations in the NLL. As mentioned by many, Hunzeker was instrumental in bringing the league’s UnBOXed initiative to light. No doubt, he’s a big part of the growth in the National Lacrosse League.

 

One of Hunzeker’s former jobs was President of the St. Louis BattleHawks in the 2020 version of the XFL. On his own LinkedIn page, Kurt Hunzeker says this about his accomplishments:

 

Exceeded all major business goals at the time when the season suspended due to the global pandemic, including:
• Total revenue (58.5% above goal; likely 97% above goal if season completed)
• Most tickets sold (led XFL; 38% above goal; likely 66.7% above goal)
• Best total and per-game attendance (led XFL; 11.4% more than second place)
• Most merchandise sales (led XFL; 211.6% above goal; likely 407.8% above goal)
• Most social media followers (led XFL; 25.3% more than second place)
• Highest gameday experience rating (led XFL; 81 Net Promoter Score)

 

Based on that success, one could only imagine why the NLL wanted to move there.

 

The Missouri Scoop

Pegula Sports & Entertainment (Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bandits, etc) are selling the Rochester Knighthawks. As I reported before, there are rumors from multiple sources that believe Grand Rapids, Michigan is Rochester’s next destination.

 

I am now hearing that St. Louis or Kansas City are strong contenders to land Rochester if the NLL has its way.

 

Kansas City by the Numbers

One source listed Kansas City as the top want for the NLL over St. Louis and Grand Rapids.

 

According to NPR,  the Kansas City Royals (MLB) had the 3rd-worst percentage of fans in attendance at 42.5% in 2023. However, the St. Louis Cardinals were 3rd-best at 92.5%.

 

According to Wikipedia, Sporting Kansas City (MLS) was 7th in attendance percentage at 100.8% of 29 teams. St. Louis City SC was 9th at 100%.

 

The Kansas City Chiefs ranked 11th-best in 2023 for attendance percentage at 100%, according to Sports Business Journal.

 

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Reality

The major hurdle with the NLL right now is that they haven’t found other investors. One of the reasons why Brett Frood was hired as commissioner of the National Lacrosse League was due to his NASCAR background where he had to bring in sponsors for Stewart-Haas Racing. From 2009 to 2022, Frood was President of the stock racing company.

 

The NLL wants additional owners to invest. Thankfully, Steve Nash, Dustin Johnson, and Wayne Gretzky are part owners of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. But is star power enough to attract others? Is the Buffalo Bandits attendance numbers enough to lure investors? Time will tell.