Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff for the championship trophy, the Steinfeld Trophy, named after founder Jake Steinfeld. League attendance peaked at 6,417 in 2011 and the 2019 average was 4,587.
The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Baltimore Bayhawks from 2001–2006 and as the Washington Bayhawks from 2007–2009.
The New York Lizards, originally the Long Island Lizards, were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) team based in Hempstead, New York, located on Long Island. They are original members of the MLL. They lost the league's inaugural game on June 7, 2001 to the Baltimore Bayhawks, 16–13.
The Boston Cannons, formerly known as Cannons Lacrosse Club, is a professional men's field lacrosse team in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). Formerly based in Boston, Massachusetts, they played in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) from their inaugural 2001 season to 2020. The team's home field was Veterans Memorial Stadium in nearby Quincy. In the MLL, the team won two Steinfeld Cup championship games in 2011 and 2020, the latter being the MLL's final championship. The Cannons joined the PLL in 2020 following the MLL–PLL merger and were rebranded as the Cannons Lacrosse Club before later being rebranded as Boston Cannons once again when the PLL assigned home cities after the 2023 season.
Conor Gill is a professional lacrosse player who had an exceptional collegiate career at the University of Virginia before going on to the professional ranks.
The Denver Outlaws were a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They began playing in the MLL in 2006 as an expansion team.
Kyle Sweeney is an American professional lacrosse player who plays for the New York Lizards in Major League Lacrosse. He is the vice president of sports nutrition at Medifast, and co-founder of the Gotham Lacrosse League.
The 2008 Major League Lacrosse season was the eighth season of the league. The season began on May 17, 2008, and concluded with the championship game on August 24, 2008.
Chris Collins is an American-born professional lacrosse player of the NLL, MLL and a member of TEAM USA
Billy Glading was a professional lacrosse player with the Washington Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse, and the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League.
Steele Stanwick is an American former professional lacrosse player who played for the Ohio Machine and Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. He played his NCAA Division I career at the University of Virginia. He won the Tewaaraton Trophy and the Jack Turnbull Award.
Brent Adams is a professional lacrosse player for the Atlas Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League and the New York Riptide of the National Lacrosse League. Adams was an All-American midfielder at Fairfield University and played for the United States men's national lacrosse team.
Steven Brooks is a professional lacrosse player that retired from the New York Atlas of Premier Lacrosse League in 2019. Brooks was the 6th overall draft pick in the 2008 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft by the Chicago Machine. He played high school lacrosse for Libertyville High School in Libertyville, Illinois. He also attended a postgraduate year at Bridgton Academy, where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in September 2023. Brooks played college lacrosse at Syracuse University. In January 2020, Brooks was named assistant coach of the New York Atlas in the professional lacrosse league PLL. He is the first ever PLL player turned coach in the league's history. He is currently serving as offensive coordinator and assistant coach for New York Atlas.
Dillon James Ward is a Canadian professional lacrosse player (goalie) for the Colorado Mammoth in the National Lacrosse League and Waterdogs Lacrosse Club in the Premier Lacrosse League.
Kyle Hartzell is an American former professional lacrosse player. He is currently the Head Lacrosse Coach for the University of Texas at Austin, as well as assistant coach and defensive coordinator for the Boston Cannons of the Premier Lacrosse League. He graduated from Salisbury University (D3) in 2007. Hartzell previously played for the Atlas Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League. Kyle is playing for the NLL Expansion Team the San Diego Seals Kyle Hartzell has also played professional lacrosse for Washington, Chesapeake, Ohio, and New York in the Major League Lacrosse. Hartzell had a career high 11 goals in 2012 as a part of the Ohio Machine, as well as 22 total caused turnovers. Known for his flashy over-the-head and rusty gate checks and his outspoken personality, Hartzell has become one of the most well-known defensive players in lacrosse.
The 2016 Major League Lacrosse season was the 16th season of Major League Lacrosse. The season featured 9 teams after the addition of the Atlanta Blaze via expansion. It was the first season since 2008 that the league fielded more than eight teams. The defending champion New York Lizards were coming off their third Steinfeld Cup victory in franchise history and first since 2003 after defeating the Rochester Rattlers 15–12 August 8, 2015 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia. On August 20, the Denver Outlaws won their second Steinfeld Cup trophy in three years, coming back to defeat the Ohio Machine, 19–18.
The 2019 Major League Lacrosse season was the 19th season of Major League Lacrosse. The regular season began on Friday, May 31 and ended on Sunday, September 22. It was the first time the league would ever begin its season after Memorial Day, allowing all players selected in the collegiate draft to play a full season. 2019 also marks the first time each team would play 16 games. The league has played a 14-game schedule since 2012. Additionally, the league returned to a Championship Weekend format instead of a two-week postseason for the first time since 2013. Championship Weekend was hosted in Denver with two semifinal games on Friday, October 4 and the 19th Steinfeld Cup was hosted at Dick's Sporting Goods Park October 6 on ESPN2.
The 2020 Major League Lacrosse season was the 20th season of Major League Lacrosse. Each of the six teams were slated to play a ten-game regular season starting on May 30, until the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the season. On July 2, the league announced teams would play a five-game regular season over the course of a quarantined week in Annapolis, Maryland at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, the home of the Chesapeake Bayhawks. The regular season was scheduled to begin play on Saturday, July 18 with a four-team postseason the next weekend on July 25–26.
The MLL–PLL merger represented a unification of the two major professional field lacrosse leagues in the United States at the time: Major League Lacrosse (MLL) and the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). Initial terms of the merger were released on the morning of December 16, 2020. The two leagues agreed to unite under the "Premier Lacrosse League" name and logo, operating as a tour-based model and removing the last of the hometown-based professional field lacrosse teams in the United States. The Boston Cannons would be the sole MLL team identity to play in the PLL for the 2021 season, rebranding as the Cannons Lacrosse Club.
