As we all know by now, the NLL and PLPA have reached an agreement on a new CBA. A number of parts of the agreement have been released by the league, but not all.
The document itself is not available to the public (I asked), but I managed to get my hands on a copy. Here are some of the parts of the document that were not included in the NLL’s press release.
- Rosters are cut from 23 to 20 players. Teams will dress 18 players instead of 20 per game. In addition, pizzas ordered for the team will contain no more than three toppings, or two toppings plus extra cheese. The equipment manager will go and pick up the pizzas to avoid delivery charges.
- The requirement for each team to have at least five players from their home state or province has been dropped, at the request of the Minnesota Swarm and Colorado Mammoth.
- League expansion will be considered, but prospective owners are warned that the league will not consider expanding to a city that has more than six or seven previous failed NLL teams.
- Conference finals and Champions Cup finals will be decided by a two-game series with a 10-minute “mini-game” if the games are split. Wait, that’s not a joke, that’s actually in there.
- Ontario-based players who want to finish their career with the Toronto Rock must fill out a form available from the Commissioner explaining in 500 words or less why they would be a good fit for the Rock. They must then apply in person at the TRAC where they will meet with both Jamie Dawick and Terry Sanderson for interviews. Wristband policy is in effect.
- GMs who make trades that include nothing but draft picks where all of the picks are third round or later will be assessed a two-minute Waste of Freaking Time penalty.
- Players over 30 (down from 32) with enough NLL experience can opt for free-agency. Except if a team designates them a Franchise Player, in which case they can’t. Except if they are over 34 and reject the Franchise Player designation, in which case they can. Except if the team designates them a Special Franchise Player, in which case they can’t. The next CBA will contain the ability for the player to reject the Special Franchise Player designation.
- The regular season is extended by two games, and the playoffs will consist of as many as five games for the Championship winner, up from three. This should have the desired effect of extending the NLL season a little further into the MLL season. [This entry has a handwritten note next to it which says “make sure that last sentence is removed before this document is released to anyone”]