Seattle is known for a lot of things: throwing fish, the Mariners, Seahawks, the Space Needle, and professional lacrosse? Yes, you heard me clear, professional lacrosse! 

The NLL has recently created a program called NLL UNBOXED, which is an organization made to “test the water” in North America and to possibly bring in some expansion teams: some locations for them are Baltimore, Charlotte, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Montréal, Ottawa, Salt Lake City, the Tampa Bay area, St. Louis, and Seattle. 

So great, Seattle is potentially getting a pro lacrosse team! But little do people know, this wasn’t the first time pro lacrosse has been in Seattle. In 2010, the NLL introduced the Washington Stealth–previously the San Jose Stealth–to Seattle. The Stealth were not making enough money in Washington because the market wasn’t there then, and they played in Everett, not Seattle. So with a super successful poverty-ridden franchise, the Stealth, at the start of the 2014 season, moved north to Vancouver where they were the Vancouver Stealth, and in 2019, were renamed the Warriors. That was the end of professional lacrosse in Washington.

Until 2023! The NLL has revisited the idea of expanding the League into other/previous markets again. And nine years after the final season for the Stealth, the Seattle Shipwrecks were born. Now, a disclaimer: this isn’t a confirmed team. It’s an organization to help grow the game. Now, if the Shipwrecks gain enough of a following in Washington, they might become an actual team! 

Nine years later, the market is definitely strong here in Seattle, and an NLL team would for sure do way better here now. Could they bring home the cup in their first season once again? Who knows! But what is known is that I will be at every home game I can make!

Godspeed Shipwrecks, hopefully, we see you in Seattle a few years from now!