Western New York is a hotbed for lacrosse, and the Buffalo Bandits can take credit for having a hand in that.
But it wasn’t always that way.
In their three decades as a professional lacrosse team, the Bandits have helped give rise to the sport in the area and turned casual sports fans – and those who may not have previously known much about lacrosse – into rabid backers.
When the Bandits first began playing games as an expansion team during the 1992 season, indoor box lacrosse was known as more of a Canadian sport and one played mostly by the game’s creators – Native Americans. And there were only a handful of high school and youth programs in the area at the time.
Now, varsity lacrosse programs have sprung up all over Western New York and it’s a lot easier to find clinics that cater to younger players as lacrosse has become a mainstream sport in the Buffalo area.
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That popularity has been reflected at the box office where the Bandits, one of the most successful organizations in the National Lacrosse League, have exceeded their season ticket numbers from before the pandemic and currently lead the 15-team league in attendance.
“Lacrosse is growing nationally and globally, but I’d like to think the Bandits have played a big part in the growth locally,” said Scott Loffler, senior director of operations for the Bandits. “People here gravitate toward the sport, and when our team is playing well, it only helps.”
So, how have the Bandits become such a hit in a town with two major league professional teams?
What’s helped to differentiate the team is being able to offer “world-class entertainment at a minor league price,” according to John Jiloty, senior vice president for growth channels and content at The Martin Group. He said the Bandits sell an exciting sport that’s like hockey but even more affordable, vibrant and entertaining.
The team has been able to establish a recognizable brand with their orange and black uniforms, driven these days by social media marketing, and thrive by prioritizing a family-friendly experience, where goals are just as plentiful as the music, chants, mascot visits and dancing led by the team's cheerleaders, the Bandettes.
Buffalo is also in a good spot for a pro lacrosse team because it is close to Southern Ontario and there is a large Indigenous population in the area.
“The Bandits have worked to get recognition with mainstream sports fans and done it better than anyone else in the game,” Jiloty said. “You have such a good marketplace to draw from for an exciting sport that is a lot like hockey from a watchability perspective.”
In addition, Buffalo’s market is considered right-sized for second-tier professional leagues and a lacrosse team helps fill a void, said John Cimperman, a longtime sports marketer who now owns 42 North Brewing. The NLL also features some of the best players in the world.
“Buffalo is a good market for these smaller leagues,” Cimperman said. “Buffalo really goes out of its way to be perceived as a major league town. We love it when we’re on national TV and have the national spotlight. Even with a second-tier league, you still need to have that perception.”
There’s also no substitute for success when it comes to attracting fans to a game and new team. The Bandits won back-to-back championships in their first two seasons and have maintained much of that momentum throughout their history by making a league-high 11 appearances in NLL championship games and prioritizing grassroots marketing and community outreach efforts.
“Our fans really do like to follow a winner,” Loffler said. “Winning out of the gate and continuing that tradition has helped create a positive outcome for us and gotten our fans involved.”
Bandits score big with marketing campaign
While it is growing in popularity, lacrosse is still not considered one of America’s major sports, so to bring fans into arenas to watch it, there needs to be an in-game entertainment element along with the action.
“A sport like ours, unfortunately, has to do stuff like that to get people in the building,” Loffler said.
But the Bandits have embraced it, creating a carnival-like, sometimes gimmicky atmosphere that appeals to children, as well as young adults.
“Yes, it is an indoor lacrosse game, but there is so much energy and entertainment around it,” Cimperman said.
It also helps that most games are on the weekend or Friday nights, making it easier for kids to attend. They are also held during the winter months when parents are looking for things to do with their kids.
“My young daughters have been to a couple of different sporting events, and they’re into Bandits games because there is cotton candy, mascots running around, and the game is fun,” Jiloty said. “It keeps their attention the whole time.”
Loffler credits longtime game announcer Chris Swenson for creating some of that atmosphere. Swenson started most of the chants that get the crowd excited, like “BOX, BOX, to the box” when an opposition player is called for a penalty. Swenson and John Tavares, the Bandits’ former star player who is now the team’s coach, have been the fabric of the organization since Day One, Loffler said.
Season ticket growth after tough times
The Bandits’ season ticket base has grown substantially since Covid wreaked havoc on the league, resulting in the end of the 2020 season about two-thirds of the way through and canceling the 2021 season altogether.
Right now, the Bandits are at 7,200 season tickets sold and that does not include suite holders. Last season, the team started with 4,500 season tickets sold with Covid-related border restrictions that made it harder for Canadian fans to attend games. About 5,000 individual tickets and 500 group tickets are now being sold for each home game.
The Bandits have finished first or second in attendance in every season that’s been played since 2016 and currently rank atop the league with an average attendance this season of 14,239. Individual tickets sell from about $29 to $144, but there are plenty of approximately $30 tickets available in the 300 level and behind the net in the 100s.
Before the season, the team hired a sales staff that began making outbound calls to seek out fans interested in season tickets, and that’s helped, Loffler said. Ticket sales are the driving force for NLL teams’ sustainability.
“We’re not at a point where we’re like the other major sports teams and can operate with no fans, so those two years really hit our bottom line,” Loffler said. “It’s definitely a huge positive coming out of Covid to be where we are right now.”
Success on field doesn’t hurt
In three decades, the Bandits have been to 11 championship games, including three since 2016.
In a market at times starved for postseason contests during the Bills’ 17-season playoff drought, which ended in 2017, and the Sabres’ current 11-season playoff drought, the Bandits have been just what the doctor ordered.
“There’s the entertainment factor but to keep people coming back, you’ve got to consistently be good,” Jiloty said.
Fans were sucked in from the start. In the Bandits’ second year, they became the first team to sell out every regular season home game during a season, with 16,325 fans per game at the former Memorial Auditorium.
The Bandits went on a 22-game winning streak that spanned three seasons, including winning two titles and playing in three championship games. The team won titles again in 1996 and 2008.
Involvement in youth scene key
Getting players out into the community – working full time, being approachable and hosting programs – has helped increase the team’s visibility.
The team offers opportunities for about 150 youth players to participate in winter leagues through the Junior Bandits program and also formed a Junior Bandits Summer Travel Select team that plays around Western New York and in a Toronto tournament put on by the NLL.
The Bandits also run a program where players go to schools to teach kids the game of lacrosse during physical education classes. Players get to more than 60 schools throughout the year, working with over 25,000 students.
“It makes such a difference in how word gets spread and it expands your reach beyond the sport and into the life of the casual sports fan,” Jiloty said. “That expands your audience in multiples.”