Major Indoor Lacrosse League
Current season, competition or edition: 2017 NLL season
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NLL logo
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| Sport | Box lacrosse |
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| Founded | 1986 |
| Inaugural season | 1987 |
| Commissioner | Nick Sakiewicz |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Countries |
 Canada (4 teams) United States (5 teams) |
| Headquarters | Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Saskatchewan Rush |
| Most titles |
Philadelphia Wings (6) Toronto Rock (6) |
| TV partner(s) |
Fox Sports (USA), TSN (Canada), WatchESPN (Phone App) |
| Official website | NLL.com |
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. Headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, the NLL currently has 9 teams with 5 in the United States and 4 in Canada. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring, from January to June. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Champion's Cup. The NLL has averaged between 9,400 and 10,700 spectators per game each year since 2004.
The version of lacrosse played in the NLL is "box lacrosse" otherwise known as "indoor lacrosse". The NLL plays four 15-minute quarters with 2-minute breaks between the 1st and 2nd quarters and between the 3rd and 4th quarters (with a 12-minute break between the 2nd and 3rd quarters referred to as "half-time"). The clock does not run when play is stopped. The team that has scored the most goals at the end of regulation time is declared the winner. If a game is tied after regulation, the two teams play sudden death overtime periods of up to 15 minutes each where the next team to score wins the game. Each team dresses 18 players of whom 2 are goaltenders; the remaining 16 are called "runners".
Each team in the NLL plays 18 games during the regular season, 9 at home and 9 away. The teams are divided into 2 divisions: the East Division and the West Division. Each team plays at least 12 of its 18 regular season games against division opponents.
The regular season begins in late December and ends in April. At the end of the regular season, the top 3 teams in each of the East Division and West Division make the playoffs to compete for the Champion's Cup. The 2 regular season division champions earn a first-round bye as top seeds. The 2nd seed hosts the 3rd seed in their respective division for the single-game elimination Division Semifinal in the 1st round.
In 2014, the Division Finals and Championship expanded to a 2-game series from the previous single-game elimination setup. The top seed from each division played the winner of the Division Semifinal game between the 2nd and 3rd seeds with the lower-seeded team hosting the first game and the higher seed hosting the second game of the series. Whoever won both games would win the 2-game series. In the event of a series split with both teams winning one game, a 10-minute mini-game period would be played; if still tied, multiple 10-minute overtime periods thereafter, until one team scores. The mini-game was played immediately following the conclusion of the second contest to determine the winner of the playoff series.
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