Due to travel and logistic uncertainties surrounding the upcoming season, the National Lacrosse League has announced the cancellation of the 2020-21 campaign.
Back in late October, the league announced that it was targeting the weekend of April 9 to 11 to start the league's 35th season as part of "NLL Faceoff Weekend." However, with many uncertainties still present with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NLL has now shifted its focus towards that start of a traditional season in the fall of 2021.
"We have gone through many scenarios, including playing a bubble season in Canada in April, but the logistical challenges, including the recently announced tighter travel and quarantine restrictions across the Canadian border have required us to pivot. We have decided to focus on playing a full season in our markets, starting in the fall of this year," said NLL commissioner Nick Sakiewicz in a league statement. "While many of the factors we can control were moving along well, those outside of our control, especially pertaining to obtaining government approval as far in advance as we would have needed, are no longer feasible. All the efforts and innovations we were planning will now go towards a full season starting this fall and into next year. We thank our players, teams and Board of Governors, whose thoughts in this process were invaluable, and we now set our sights on getting lined up for a full NLL season starting in the fall. We also thank our fans for sticking with us – we will be back, and it will be even more exciting than ever before."
The league has yet to announce any dates for the upcoming 2021-22 season, but it is planning to play a full season into the spring of 2022. The 2021-22 season will also include the debut of Panther City Lacrosse Club in Fort Worth, Texas, giving the NLL its 14th franchise.
The 2019-20 NLL regular season was suspended back in March at the time the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in the U.S. and Canada. The league attempted to hold off the playoffs for a while, but officially ended the season on June 4, 2020.
As for the Buffalo Bandits, the team finished the 2019-20 season with a 7-4 record in 11 games played, which was good for a tie for second place in the North Division with the Toronto Rock.
