The American Lacrosse League ("ALL") was a professional lacrosse league that played for one partial season in 1988. At the time it featured most of the best lacrosse players in the world who played some of the most exciting lacrosse games ever witnessed. It was founded by Terry Wallace and Bruce Meierdiercks, former teammates at Adelphi University. The league folded after five weeks of play.
Wallace and Meierdiercks tried to fashion the new league after the success of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League which commenced operations in 1987. Both leagues employed a "single entity" ownership model, instead of franchise being owned individually. The league owned all of the teams which helped to keep costs down.
Meierdiercks in announcing the leagues formation stated "Terry and I were All Americans and we love lacrosse. We're not doing this for the money. We're financially sound and in a position to do this for two years." He continued "then we plan to sell the franchises to the GM's - at least give them the first right of refusal. Then Terry and I will probably take over an expansion franchise in Philadelphia or Los Angeles or San Fransisco." Meierdiericks claimed at the time that he and Wallace invested $2 million of their own capital into the league by "pre-paying" expenses to give the infant league two years of financial runway.
In an attempt to distance the outdoor version from the pro wrestling atmosphere that permeated the MILL, in a "shot across the MILL's bow" the ALL leaders stated the games would be played in a family atmosphere with no alcoholic beverages sold, affordable ticket prices ($8 per game single tickets and $56 season tickets) and the players were to be "drug tested." The ALL stated that with 2,500 paying fans per game, the league could break even the first year.
The ALL announced a 10-game cable TV package deal with the FNN/MSG (Madison Square Garden network), which reached at the time over 32 million television homes. As it turned out, no drug testing was ever performed on players or included in any of the player contracts. In addition, the concept of a "family atmosphere" was also a fiction as Denver Rifles co-Captain, Steve Bevelle, overheard the League owners instructing the referees in confidence prior to the first game in Boston to "put away the whistles and let the men play." The clear inference was to let the games indeed turn into the WWE but with sticks and helmets.
The League announced a 6-team league with each team playing 15 games. Teams were set in Boston, Baltimore, Syracuse, New Jersey, Long Island and Denver. The league attracted some of the greatest lacrosse players of the era including USA World team members and US Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductees such as Brook Sweet (University of Massachusetts), Brad Kotz (Syracuse University), Bill Bergan (Hobart College), Tim Schurr (Washington & Lee University), Peter Scott (Johns Hopkins), Steve Beville (Washington College), Gerry Byrne (University of Massachusetts), Zack Colburn (UPenn), Todd Curry (Syracuse University), Michael Burnett (UNC), John Nostrant (Washington College), Kevin Martin (Hobart College), Dan Pratt (Syracuse University), Mark Burnham (Syracuse University), Travis Solomon (Syracuse University), Greg Tarbell (Syracuse University) and Tom Rosa (Hobart College) to name just some of the 138 players drafted and signed by the league (80% of the players were All-Americans in college). Baltimore attackman, US Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee Brooks Sweet stated "Every game is going to be like Hopkins vs. Hopkins. I was skeptical at first, but when I saw the caliber of players in the league, I was impressed."
For the most part, players were assigned to teams on a regional basis to increase fan loyalty stemming from their college experiences. The Syracuse team was made up of mostly Syracuse University and Hobart College players; The Boston team made up of University of Massachusetts and Brown University players; the Baltimore team consisted of Johns Hopkins, University of North Carolina and Loyola University athletes; the Denver Rifles had players hailing from The University of Colorado, Colorado State University and Colorado College etc. Players were signed to uniform two-year contracts that paid $4,800 the first year and $6,000 in 1989. At that same time the MILL (the indoor league) was still paying its players $100 per game. The first player officially signed by the league was Greg Fisk, an All-American Midfield hailing from the University of Massachusetts and signed to the Boston Militia.