On August 30, 2017, the NLL awarded an expansion franchise to the city of San Diego and owner Joseph Tsai, co-founder of the Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba Group. Tsai, a La Jolla resident, "played lacrosse at Yale University and retains a passion for the sport."[1] The franchise fee for San Diego and fellow expansion team Philadelphia Wings was a reported $5 million.[2]
On October 24, 2017, the name of the franchise was revealed as the San Diego Seals.[3]
^Called "Divisions" through 2022, called "Conferences" in 2022 and 2023, system was dissolved in 2024.
References
^de Crescenzo, Sarah (October 26, 2017). "New San Diego Lacrosse Team Selects Sea Mammal Mascot". San Diego Business Journal. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
^Ingemi, Marisa (September 13, 2017). "Even biggest skeptics can't deny NLL's growth". US Lacrosse Magazine. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
^"A LAX San Diego team name: Seals". Retrieved October 24, 2017.
^"NLL: Seals earn hard-fought victory as team honours Brodie Merrill". In Lacrosse We Trust. 2023-12-11.