Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Wild Bunch Hiatus, National Lacrosse League Cancels 2008 Season

Players' Association rejects league proposal

10/16/2007

The 2008 NLL season was cancelled on Tuesday after the players' association rejected the league's final offer.The National Lacrosse League has announced the cancellation of its 2008 season. The cancellation was triggered by the Professional Lacrosse Players Association's executive committee rejecting the league's last Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) proposal.

"I would like to apologize to our fans, first and foremost", said NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings. "We are deeply disappointed that the PLPA's executive committee rejected our proposal without permitting all of the players to vote on the league's final offer. The offer included annual raises for all players in each year of the contract. Our owners made the best offer they could make while maintaining a sound business model".

Jennings continued, "This marked the fourth time we have had to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement in the past seven years. Professional sports leagues cannot do business without the stability of a long-term collective bargaining agreement. We will use this year to improve not only our relationship with our players but to improve our overall business model."