Less than a week after Boston’s outdoor lacrosse team won its first-ever league title, Boston’s indoor lacrosse team might not be Boston’s anymore.
The Blazers today announced they are suspending operations for the 2012 season, with eyes on a new home arena in 2013. That search will include venues “both nationally and locally,” according to a statement posted on the team’s Facebook page.
“The Boston Blazers have temporarily suspended operations for the 2012
National Lacrosse League (NLL) season as we begin the initial steps to
relocate the team to a new home facility for the 2013 season,” reads the statement, which comes in the form of an open letter from president/GM Doug Reffue. “We have
initiated a six-month strategic plan under my direction to evaluate
prospective home arena venues, both locally and nationally, where the
Blazers can play the 2013 campaign and beyond.”
The club’s website has been replaced with the same statement, as well as the team’s 2010 intro video.
“This temporary suspension represents the first phase of a relocation process as we evaluate potential home venues for the 2013 NLL season and beyond,” Reffue said in a statement emailed to local media. “We are interested in partnering with an arena where we can build on the momentum created over the past three seasons and forge a long-term win-win relationship between the team, the local corporate community and a facility operator. At this early stage of the process, we are already in active discussions with several prospective venues.”
The club’s youth-related community programs and charitable initiatives will remain in place in 2012. The Blazers said they will continue to operate in “offseason mode” during the suspension in play.
The Blazers — the second indoor lacrosse franchise of that name in the Hub — began play in 2009.
The team experienced moderate success on the field, but drew its most prominent national headlines for a January halftime show in which mascot “Scorch” appeared to receive lap dances on the field.
