Chicago Machine (MLL)
| League | MLL |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Home stadium | Toyota Park |
| Based in | Bridgeview, Illinois |
| Colors | Light blue, white, black |
| Head coach | John Combs |
| General manager | John Meister |
| Local media | Daily Herald |
The Chicago Machine was a men's field lacrosse team that played in Major League Lacrosse and was based in Chicago, Illinois until the franchise left after the 2009 season to be a travel team in 2010. The team then transferred its roster to the reborn Rochester Rattlers on November 23, 2010 when it was announced that the team's roster would be moved there. In January it was announced that in 2012 an expansion team would move to Columbus, Ohio. Later that team was revealed to be a reborn Machine franchise, rebranded as the Ohio Machine.
The establishment of a Chicago Major League Lacrosse expansion franchise was announced on August 21, 2005. Along with expansion teams representing Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver, the Chicago Machine became part of the Western Conference of the MLL in 2006. The team played its home games in 2006 at Sports Complex at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois.
The Machine finished the 2006 season on August 12. The team became the first and to date only MLL team to go the whole season without a victory. The team lead most of game against the Dragons on August 12 only to see the Dragons tie the game at the end of regulation and then win the game in overtime.
After losing their season opener in 2007, the Machine won their first game in franchise history on June 2 defeating Denver. The Machine had lost a league record 13 consecutive games (including all 12 games in 2006). They have yet to place any better than fourth in the Western Conference.
In December 2006, the Machine announced that its home field for the 2007 season would be Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.
From 2006 to 2008, they were in the Western Conference. With the MLL contraction for the 2009 season from 10 to 6 teams (due to the state of the U.S. economy), there will only be one conference.
John Meister first signed on with the Chicago Machine in March 2006, he helped to start the team, and was the President from 2006–2009. He left the Chicago Machine September 2009 to pursue other opportunities. After Kevin Finneran was fired from the Chicago Machine after the inaugural season John Meister took on the role of general manager as well as president of the Chicago Machine.
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