Seals to host first-ever outdoor game against Desert Dogs at Snapdragon Stadium on March 4
Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, California
The National Lacrosse League has announced that on Saturday, March 4, 2023 (4:30pm ET), the San Diego Seals will host the league’s first-ever outdoor game. The regular-season game will take place between the Seals and the Las Vegas Desert Dogs at Snapdragon Stadium.
The history-making match will be available live on ESPN+, TSN.ca and the TSN app.
The impressive San Diego-based venue officially opened its doors this past September. Snapdragon Stadium, owned & operated by San Diego State University, plays host to the school’s football program and other local outdoor professional franchises.
The stadium seats 35,000 fans for football, but will be scaled back to 10,100 seats for the NLL regular-season game. Today’s announcement indicates only a limited number of tickets are available and can be purchased at SealsLax.com.
“The Seals have been working on this event for a long time now, and we’re very excited to see this idea come to life,” said Seals President Steve Govett in today’s announcement. “It’s crazy that in the 36-year history of the league this has never been done before.
“We can’t wait to build our box on the field of Snapdragon and play in the San Diego sunshine. Let’s take this outside!”
Both NLL franchises are owned by Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai. The Desert Dogs ownership group also includes Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Dustin Johnson. In addition to the two lacrosse teams, Tsai also owns the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, the WNBA’s New York Liberty, and has invested in other sports properties like the Premier Lacrosse League and MLS’s Los Angeles FC.
The early-March weekend will also include an NCAA Women’s lacrosse tournament that will feature San Diego State University, Stanford University, Kent State University and UC Davis.
During the 2020 NLL regular season, the Seals had planned on hosting a regular-season game against the Vancouver Warriors on the flight line at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, marketed as the “Rumble on the Runway”. Before the game could be played, MCAS Miramar had transitioned to, “…a temporary quarantine facility for U.S. citizens returning to the country from Wuhan, China, amid the coronavirus outbreak.”
Like all pro leagues during that time, the NLL would later cancel the remainder of their season due to the pandemic.