NLL and the Fans

Forming a true, personal connection to fans is hard to come across in most professional sports but, in the National Lacrosse League, players take a substantial amount of pride in the relationships that they build with the people who support them..

Most professional athletes take pride in the fan base that they form, but another major motivation is the paycheck they receive for being a professional. Lacrosse players do not make the money that most other professional athletes make. Players in the NLL make an average salary of just under $20,000, according to the NLL. To put that into perspective, the average salary of an NFL athlete, according to businessweek.com, is $1.3 million and the average salary of a professional hockey player in the NHL is $2.4 million.

When it comes to lacrosse players, it is clear that the paycheck does not mean much to them. Most professional lacrosse players have other jobs that they work during the week in order to make a living salary, and they play lacrosse on the weekends. That means that lacrosse players’ lives are twice as busy as most other professional athletes. It is a balancing act for the players who also must make time for family and friends on top of work and practice.

So why do lacrosse players take on such a huge burden? Their passion that they have for the game and their commitment to devoted fans are driving forces.

“Without fans in our game, we wouldn't be able to play. We don't make enough money to do this for a living. Fans mean everything to us and the league,” said Knighthawks forward Cody Jamieson.

After every home game this season, Knighthawks fans were able to go down on the field and meet the players and get autographs, which helped build to relationship between the two.

The Rochester Knighthawks players and management go out of their way to satisfy their fans and make them feel as if they are part of a big family of lacrosse lovers. General Manager Curt Styres takes pride in keeping the fans of his team happy. Styres has previously given away merchandise at the games, including hats, flashlights, and bobble heads of different players to try to get more people out to the game and show his appreciation of their support for his team. He has also gone as far as paying for a bus to take fans to away games during playoff season. Styres has always treated the fans with respect and has shown that he cares that they are happy and taken care of.

The players feel just as passionately for their fans as Styres does. Fans are the icing on top of the cake at lacrosse games because their loud cheers and applause add to the energetic atmosphere. The support keeps the players working as hard as they can.

“The fans are a huge part of the game, when the atmosphere changes the players respond and feed off of that energy,” said Rochester Knighthawks transition player Joel McCready. 

When the Knighthawks travel to other arenas for games, the environment is completely different than the environment of a home game. The dynamic changes because almost everyone in that arena is rooting against the visiting team. The mindset of the players has to change when they play in a city other than their home. The mentality has to be set differently and the players can’t go into the game hoping to feed off of positive energy.

“Keeping focused on the game is key, and if we let the fans get to us, we tend to play bad. Staying positive as a team is key,” said Knighthawks forward Craig Point. “We worry about on-floor play first and take the crowd out of it by playing our game.”

Fans are able to cheer on their NLL team even if the team is not playing on home turf. The games are always either broadcast on The Lacrosse Network, YouTube or CBS Sports Center. Even if the players cannot hear their fans cheering them on, they can know that many are still watching from the screen at home and get the motivation to push through the game because the fans are still watching them.

Lacrosse is a fast, vigorous, and exciting sport which is what is what draws people to the NLL. It is the most personable sport that really allows fans and athletes to come together and appreciate each other. Take away the large paycheck and what is left is the support and companionship from the fans.