The name of Philadelphia’s new professional lacrosse team will be up to you.
At a press conference Thursday morning at the Wells Fargo Center, Comcast Spectator announced that Philadelphia will be getting a new NLL team, and the name will be determined by a fan vote.
“We are asking the fans to come up with the best team names and then the best names will be put into a poll for the fans to vote on,” Lindsey Masciangelo, executive director of business operations for the team, said. “We believe this is our team, the team of the city, so our fans will ultimately get to decide the name of the team.”
We know how Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney would vote — he said Thursday he is partial to bringing back the name Wings.
"I like the Wings, I'm just going to tell you right now. I'm a Wings fan," Kenney said.
“It is such a thrill to see Lacrosse come back to Philadelphia. Lacrosse is a natural for Philadelphia. It is fast, it is hard-hitting, it is tough and it represents a lot of what we like to watch in sports.”
Philadelphia hasn't had an NLL team since 2014, when the Wings moved to Connecticut and became the New England Black Wolves. The Wings were first established in 1986 and played at the Spectrum and the Wells Fargo Center. The Wings won six championships.
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The team in Philadelphia will become the 11th franchise in the NLL and will start playing in the 2018-19 season.
The National Lacrosse League has a Philadelphia tie in commissioner Nick Sakiewicz, the former CEO of the Philadelphia Union.
"Well Philly, here we go again — you spoke and we heard you," Sakiewicz said Thursday. "Returning NLL to Philadelphia is extremely important. It's the home of the league office and it helps us in accomplishing another initiative in our strategic plan. There's a very rich tradition here. ... This is an amazing sports town.
"Going into our 32nd season, there's no doubt the NLL is growing. We've created a significant amount of momentum over the last 18 months with major changes and major announcements."
Within the last year, NLL launched an over-the-top digital streaming platform with over 25,000 subscribers. The league also began streaming a Game of the Week on Twitter, which generated 350,000 views. The league's five-year plan includes a commitment to league expansion and that is underway with Philadelphia and Comcast Spectacor entering the mix.
"Another great reason for this partnership [is that] it's no secret that Comcast Spectacor and its parent company is a leader in sports programming and we're excited to tap into their knowledge and expertise in that area."
