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The National Lacrosse League (NLL), Alterna Savings and Alterna Bank (Alterna) today announced an exciting new partnership, making Alterna the official and exclusive financial institution for the NLL in Canada. The partnership brings together Canada’s most innovative financial institution and the largest and most successful men’s professional lacrosse league.
“We’re excited to team up with yet another great brand to form this unique partnership with Alterna, which has proudly served its customers in Canada for more than a century.” NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz said. “The inaugural Alterna Cup will be an exciting competition amongst our five Canadian teams and bring an added twist of competition to delight our tremendous fans in the Great North. As we continue to expand our league, it’s essential that we align ourselves with successful organizations like Alterna to make our league even stronger.”
Founded in 1908, Alterna Savings is known for its high-touch service and community roots across Ontario, while Alterna Bank is a national digital bank known for its innovation; it was the first bank to introduce a digital end-to-end mortgage experience. Alterna is also the proud sponsor of NLL teams Toronto Rock and Vancouver Warriors; this new partnership with the NLL takes Alterna’s involvement in lacrosse to a whole new level.
“We’re thrilled about this partnership. Alterna has a long history of helping Canadians reach their financial goals and helping communities thrive, and we’re very proud to support a sport that is so deeply-rooted in Canadian history,” says Rob Paterson, President and CEO of Alterna. “As Canada’s national sport, lacrosse has been played by Indigenous Peoples for hundreds of years. Today, lacrosse is an action-packed game that makes for exhilarating yet affordable entertainment for the whole family. We’re so pleased to be bringing communities together through lacrosse and helping this important sport continue to grow.”
The NLL is North America’s largest and most premier professional lacrosse league, ranking third in average attendance for pro indoor sports, with 13 teams in key markets across North America. The NLL experienced substantial growth last season with nearly a million total ticket sales, a 28-percent increase from 2017-18, and 60 percent of ticket sales were from people who never played lacrosse. Digital viewership also rose significantly through Turner and B/R Live, showing substantial increases in total unit sales (up 151 percent from last year), average unique viewers (+27 percent) and average minute audiences (+14 percent).
Alterna is the latest key brand to join the NLL roster that includes GEICO and Michelob Ultra, as well as US Lacrosse and USBOXLA. Sponsorship revenues are projected at a 29-percent increase from 2018 to 2019.
For the 2019-20 season, a new season-long competition has been created among the five Canadian franchises, based on head-to-head competition between the Calgary Roughnecks, Halifax Thunderbirds, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock and Vancouver Warriors. The team with the best record in those games will be crowned the Canadian champion and receive a new trophy called the Alterna Cup. The cup design will be released in the coming months.