Portland LumberJax

National Lacrosse League (2006-2009)

Tombstone

Born: 2006 – NLL expansion franchise
Folded: May 4, 2009

First Game: January 13, 2006 (L 12-7 @ Arizona Sting)
Last Game: May 1, 2009 (L 20-16 vs. San Jose Stealth)

NLL Championships: None

Arena

The Rose Garden
Opened: 1995

Branding

Team Colors:

Ownership

Owner: Angela Batinovich

Background

The Portland LumberJax of the indoor National Lacrosse League arrived in the City of Roses as an expansion franchise in the spring of 2005. The LumberJax made their home at the Rose Garden arena, a venue which had seen more than its fair share of quixotic sports concepts come and go since opening in 1995. Arena Football’s Portland Forest Dragons, indoor soccer’s Portland Pride and Portland Pythons had all learned the cruel lesson that it’s hard to turn a profit playing a minor league sport in another man’s building. None lasted more than three seasons.

Initially, the team attracted moderate media interest due to the youth (and gender) of its owner, 24-year old Angela Batinovich. Batinovich was a relative lacrosse novice, but became enamored with the indoor version of the sport after attending a Colorado Mammoth NLL game. Her expansion bid was backed financially by her father Robert Batinovich, founder of the San Mateo, California-based Glenborough real estate investment trust.

Debut

The new franchise conducted a Name The Team contest, with ‘LumberJax’ outpolling ‘Shadow’ and ‘Fear’ in the final online voting.

The LumberJax posted winning record of 11-5 in their inaugural season. The club announced average attendance of 8,332. The strong showing on the carpet alongside solid box office numbers led to Angela Batinovich’s selection as the 2006 NLL Executive of the Year.

The LumberJax regressed in 2007, posting to a 4-12 record and seeing a 10% drop at the gate to 7,527 announced per game, about 25% below the purported league-wide average of 10,283.

Owner-Player Marriage

Following the 2007 season, in what may well be a professional sports first, owner Angela Batinovich married one of her players, transition player Adam Bysouth. The pair met in 2005 when Batinovich visited the since-defunct Anaheim Storm NLL club to research her expansion interest. The Storm folded following the 2005 campaign and many players on the first-year LumberJax roster in 2006 were Storm refugees.

Labor Turmoil & League Struggles

Meanwhile, the NLL negotiated with the Professional Lacrosse Player’s Association (PLPA) to renew an expired collective bargaining agreement. Philadelphia Wings owner Russ Cline provided some transparency into National Lacrosse League finances in an October 2007 interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer. Cline claimed that the 14 member franchises lost $750,000 on average per season. Cline’s 21-year old Wings franchise, considered the NLL’s model of stability with a base of 5,000 season ticket holders, lost half a million dollars in 2007. Dave Succamore, executive director of the PLPA, countered that none of the league’s 14 teams spent up to the $500,000 salary cap ceiling.

On October 16, 2007, the NLL announced the cancellation of the 2008 season due to the labor impasse. Nine days later, the league reversed course, proclaiming an agreement had been reached and the 2008 season was back on. The remarkably clumsy negotiation cost the league two franchises. The Arizona Sting and expansion Boston Blazers both decided not to return from the nine-day hiatus. Boston forestalled its debut until 2009, while the Sting ultimately folded.

The LumberJax entered their third season in January 2008 with 1,700 season ticket holders. The team lowered ticket prices and announced attendance rose back to 8,104, essentially even with 2006 levels. The on-field product also improved, as the LumberJax qualified for the playoffs with a 9-7 record and a fourth place finish in the West division. The LumberJax then upset the both the first place San Jose Stealth and the third place Calgary Roughnecks on the road to earn a berth in the 2008 NLL Championship game. The Lumberjax lost to the Buffalo Bandits 14-13 in the final before 18,690 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

Demise

For the LumberJax’ fourth and final season in 2009, season tickets increased from 1,700 to 2,200. But the convulsing U.S. economy hit the club hard, as corporate sponsorship revenue declined by 50%. Angela Batinovich’s father, now retired, absorbed a substantial hit to his investment portfolio.

The LumberJax played their final game on May 1st, 2009, a 20-16 home playoff loss to the San Jose Stealth before 6,053 at the Rose Garden. The club ceased operations three days later on May 4th, 2009. Notions to move the club to another Pacific Northwest community went nowhere. The LumberJax roster was submitted to a dispersal draft in July 2009.