Stealth Home Opener

With the Vancouver Stealth set to kick off  the 2016 NLL Season, it’s ironic that the League announces the appointment of a new Commissioner.

Previous Commissioner George Daniel announced that he was stepping down to start a new law firm, but will remain as Counsel to the league.

The NLL officially introduced Nick Sakiewicz as the new Commissioner, which is effective immediately.

He has over two decades of experience working in the MLS (Major League Soccer) and most recently serving as co-founding partner and CEO of Keystone Sports and Entertainment, which is the ownership entity of the Philadelphia Union of MLS.

Sakiewicz stated “I’m honored and excited to join a tremendous group of owners and lead the National Lacrosse League as NLL Commissioner,”

He continued “Similar to soccer 20 years ago, lacrosse is a dynamic and rapidly-growing sport amongst an incredible demographic in North America. The National Lacrosse League is celebrating its 30th anniversary season featuring the best players in the world and highlighted by some incredibly entertaining competition. I’m really looking forward to bringing my experience working in MLS to the NLL and helping everyone in the lacrosse community to grow the league and expand the sport.”

He also conceived and launched the Philadelphia Union (Major League Soccer’s 16th franchise) along with leading the acquisition and construction of the team’s home field at Talen Energy Stadium (formerly PPL Park) in Chester, Pennsylvania.

 He joined Major League Soccer as an original founding executive in 1995 and along with a small group of league executive helped launch MLS in 1996.

He was the first Vice President of Commercial Sponsorship Sales and went on to lead two inaugural Major League Soccer teams from 1997 to 2006 in Tampa and New York, serving as President and G/M for both clubs.

He received the league’s Executive of the Year award twice (1999 & 2000) and was nominated a third time and played the lead role in building Red Bull Arena and also helped in the record sale of the New York MetroStars to the Red Bull energy drink company.

He engineered the deal to build the first of two soccer-specific stadiums for the New York Red Bulls in America’s largest market, and in doing so, Sakiewicz solidified the long-term viability of the New York-based MLS franchise.

In 2006, Sakiewicz helped found Keystone Sports and Entertainment by assembling the investors who would eventually become the ownership group of Major League Soccer’s 16th expansion team, the Philadelphia Union.

Over a two-year period from 2006 to 2008, Sakiewicz led Keystone’s efforts in negotiating one of the league’s most favorable soccer specific public/private stadium deals in history, paving the way to officially announce the Union’s first-ever season.

Over the course of two decades, Sakiewicz has helped launch MLS, managed two inaugural teams, built two stadiums, launched an expansion team and raised over half a billion dollars in investment capital, stadium funding, sponsorship and ticket sales.

All this only two short days away from the kick-off of the Vancouver Stealth home opener.