From Sky news.

This is connections.

I'm Brian Sharp.

Today's connection was made a couple of months ago, when the Seneca Nation began exploring the possibility of buying the Rochester Nighthawks lacrosse franchise.

The team was for sale and its future was very much uncertain.

Fast forward to Tuesday, and the Senecas were announced as the new owners, making them possibly the first sovereign native nation to own a major professional lacrosse team, certainly in the history of the National Lacrosse League.

This holds significance that goes deeper than a business deal.

And we'll get into that.

Joining me today are Seneca Nation president Jay Conrad, Seneca Nighthawks president and general manager Dan Carey, and self-described superfan Eli Hackett.

Thank you all for being here.

Thanks for having us, Brian.

I wanted to start at the beginning, and this is for President Seneca.

I heard a lot of references yesterday to the creator's game, and I was hoping you could explain that to me.

Yeah.

Good morning.

Good afternoon.

I guess, how are you today?

Good, good.

How are you doing?

Good.

Good.

Thanks.

Yeah.

You know, the creators game.

The creator gifted us this game in regards to, back in history, at a time when, you know, we, our people, we're, maybe having some disagreements or we needed a way to settle some, issues.

The creator created a game that we now know is lacrosse.

Where, our, people would have, participated in a to settle, disagreements or, in about social, kind of gatherings to bring people together as well.

So, this game was, you know, brought forward in history, to our ancestors and brought forward in history to where we are today.

So we we call it that.

It's a medicine game.

It's a game of healing.

And, just, you know, it helps.

It's a is a big part of our life, is a big part of our culture.

Who we are as a people.

And, you know, when we play the game, we play it, for the enjoyment of the creator.

And is there I was told that there's a very maybe it's too long to get into on the air, but, a longer story of of how this began and and how it was gifted.

Yeah.

I'm sure you know, there is, so I don't know if I get into that today or certainly, you know, we can do that down the road or whenever you want.

Okay.

Well, Dan, you've been with the Nighthawks since 2019, but you're also a player in the league for several years.

I'm.

I'm wondering when they announced this yesterday, the the press release began.

One of the most storied cities and National Lacrosse League history is entering a new era.

Can you talk some about that history?

Yeah.

So considering the city, the the Nighthawks have been here since 1995.

So from 95 up until 2019, they had, you know, the old Nighthawks, which relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

And we started a new franchise in 2019, the new Nighthawks.

There was an expansion team.

And, you know, we've been here, as this team in this franchise since then.

So a lot of history within our league, our league has been around for a long time.

But, you know, there's been, you know, a handful of teams that have come and gone and Buffalo and Rochester are both and, you know, two teams that have been kind of long standing franchises.

There's so much, you know, there's the roots of the sport of lacrosse, obviously, you know, from the creators and the, you know, the Native American culture here, that was, you know, that kind of rooted in this Rochester area.

But now the professional side of it, there's a ton of youth lacrosse and the, the, the schools in Rochester, you know, kind of top notch programs.

So there's a lot of lacrosse history within this area.

And the Nighthawks have been here since 1995.

And, you know, I think, we have such a passionate fan base here that has been growing continually over the last, you know, I guess, 20 plus years.

Right.

It's it's been a long time.

So we're we're just excited to continue this.

And, you know, I think it's such an amazing fit to have the Seneca nation as, as the the owners of the new Nighthawks.

And it's it's been, though, a tough summer in June, the previous owners, the Pegula owner of the Amherst, the bills, the sabers and the bandits.

You mentioned down the road.

They announced they were done.

They weren't.

Wouldn't be operating the team anymore.

I think we have a clip.

And this is from yesterday.

We caught up with your star forward, Connor Fields, last year's league MVP, and he talked about the uncertainty from the players perspective for us after last season, it was uncertainty.

We didn't know if there was going to be another season.

You know with with this team and in this city, you know and that's what that's at the end of the day was what we all wanted.

We love playing together and we love playing, you know, in this city in front of these fans.

So it was all hoping this summer and credit to Commissioner and Dan, you know, I think they both did a great job in not just finding an owner to own the team.

They found the right owner.

And I really feel like that's true.

So we're just full of excitement and it's how we hoped.

And Eli, I want to get you involved as well as a fan.

What is the summer been like?

And what do you think about the direction the team now?

It was it was really stressful for me, and for a lot of the fans, you know, Dan said that the original Nighthawks franchise was moved to Halifax, and that was, a really big disappointment for a lot of the lacrosse fans in Rochester.

The to see, their beloved team get relocated.

You know, they were quickly followed up by the new Nighthawks, but, for some people like me who are or slightly newer fans, I wasn't there through that experience.

But for some people, though, they were seeing flashbacks of of, the original franchise leaving.

So, I had heard rumors, but there had been rumors before, and sometimes rumors have, a a crumb of validity, but sometimes they don't.

And so, it was hard to try to suppress feelings about what might happen when, you know, you don't know if there's any truth to a rumor or not.

And, I tried to just take a stance that was, you know, I really hope this day.

And I'm going to try to be gracious if they do get relocated or, or moved and, you know, trying to think about how that might change, how I approach the league.

You know, I would probably either, if they were moved, I would probably just follow the team, you know, if that meant there were in another city, I would probably just try to follow them as much as I could.

Maybe get to some games in Buffalo or Toronto that are close to Albany.

But it would have been, you know, a pretty big bummer as a season ticket holder to go from getting to all their home games to maybe I'd make a home game once in the season, you know, and I should mention, you know, I wrote a column for City Magazine, which is on newsstands now.

And I'd like you would mentioned that, you know, as of press time, we don't know.

And hopefully by the time you're reading this, there's news.

Yep.

Yeah.

The the thinking was that I was hearing was that, a decision would probably have to get made by August 1st, just because that was at the time when the league's free agency was opening up.

Now there's, negotiations going on with the players and the owners of the league.

That's ongoing.

So that ended up delaying free agency by a couple of weeks.

As it stands right now, so at the time that I was writing that, though, it was looking like, a decision would probably have to be made by August 1st.

So, I thought that maybe by the time the article came out that people would know more than I did when I was writing it.

And, it was only a few days later that we got the official news, and I want to play one more clip.

This is from National Lacrosse League Commissioner Brett Freund.

This deal came together quickly.

I think, President Seneca, we were talking yesterday.

You had said that this began maybe mid-May, with an initial, idea of of the Seneca nation being one of several investors you wanted it to be, solo and invest, solo owner to control your own destiny in this clip.

Commissioner Freund talks about just the quickness of the deal.

Yeah, these things don't happen overnight.

I mean, typically you take a for a acquisition of a professional sports entity and you're talking a year, maybe more.

So the diligence and the details and just overall, the, rolling that took place from a number of folks, from the league level folks up here, etc., in a two month time span was quite extensive.

So really, we'll call it, I think met with, President Seneca a couple months ago, probably for the first time, maybe two and a half months ago.

And then, we fast tracked it, very quickly.

So, a tedious process with a wonderful ideal utopian result.

And, President Seneca, I know you've said that this this just made sense.

The history, the connections, but also that this is an outside the box idea for many.

Now, I'm assuming you've gotten a look at the numbers done your due diligence.

You're a businessman.

Why did this makes business sense?

Well, I think it makes, business, sense.

In regards to, the potential, that we have, as far as economic development, in the Rochester and the region, you know, I think, certainly, you know, to get a foundation, to build on, I think, the Nighthawks, it's a great opportunity for anybody that's looking to, to get into business and I think, whatever happened in the past, the numbers that were there aren't Seneca Nation numbers.

Those were a different owner.

And, different owners had different viewpoints and perspectives and ways of doing business.

The business acumen that we have at Seneca Nation is, geared in a different, model.

And so, certainly we're going to, incorporate, the way we do things.

In Rochester there with the Nighthawks to make sure that, we take the right steps, that we use our patients and, we make good decisions and, we create an atmosphere there, where the fan base will grow and the revenues will be, growing as well.

And we, do things the right way and pay attention to detail.

You know, certainly you mentioned the previous owners, they owned several sports teams.

You know, we got the bills, you got the sabers, you got the bandits.

And so, you know, the Americans.

And so there's that takes a lot of their attention.

And, maybe, I don't know, but, maybe they just don't pay the attention that they needed to, to Rochester to get it to a point where it was, successful.

But we will and, we are, determined to, make that happen.

And, I believe we will.

I want to take take that and multiple parts here, but I guess starting with Dan, is the team profitable right now?

I don't know how important or how, I guess appropriate is the type get into the financials of it.

But at this point, you know.

No, but that's that's the goal here.

That's the, the process that we're looking at.

And, you know, from, from my standpoint, you know, President Seneca is 100% correct there.

We, we're going to do everything the right way and make sure that, we put our, all of our efforts into, to filling that building.

We have a great product on the floor.

Our team is, is in a in a really good position right now.

Very competitive.

I think we're one of maybe four teams in the league that have made the playoffs the last three years consecutively.

We're still fairly young.

We've got a lot of experience ahead of us that, that we need to, to be one of those top tier teams.

But I think we're we're right there.

And, that's a big component to it.

That's an important aspect of the business, is making sure that you have a good product.

You know, ultimately, by the time you walk into that building and by the time you leave, it should be a great experience.

So enhancing, certain aspects of our game and our game presentation are going to be an important part of it.

But ultimately just the advertising and the marketing and, you know, being, being a little bit more visible and noisy in our, in our market to have people recognize and understand what we're doing.

So, you know, from our standpoint, it's, that's that's a, you know, this is a business.

It's really important to us.

We we know that our fans have had, you know, had a tough time over the last, you know, few six, seven years to, you know, potentially lose a team.

They got a new team coming in and and to have that announcement, to, for us to, you know, no longer be operating the team.

There's some uncertainty there, but this should be, to me, a great opportunity for fans to to really jump on board and to support this team if they, you know, want to continue to to have a professional lacrosse team, which I think there's a lot of people in our market that do.

So we're going to do everything we can to make sure that this is a great product.

And, we're out in the market and do all that to make it a successful business.

And I wanted to just with President Seneca, how important is profitability to the Seneca nation on this venture?

I mean, I know, it's important, you know, it's you know, it's certainly, if you're in business, you want to make money, you want to be able to be profitable, you want to be successful.

And, it is important.

It's it's a priority.

And I think, you know, it goes hand in hand with what's going on, across the National Lacrosse League.

You know, the commissioner is, you know, certainly working, hard in regards to, creating, a brand that is, marketable across this country and across North America and the world for that and for that matter, you know, you're able to watch, professional box lacrosse now on ESPN, which is a big thing, you know, you can, tune into it.

You can follow, teams and and become, fans for the growing of the fan base of the league.

Will also influence the success of the teams that comprise the league.

And, we're excited to work with the league in regards to that, to do our part to be able to build that brand and to continue to grow and be successful.

The I got explained to me this morning because I was seeing box lacrosse yesterday.

Can one of you explain just to listeners who maybe aren't as familiar with the game box, the box lacrosse versus field lacrosse?

Yeah.

You know, I'll back there and you want to go for that.

Sure.

Yeah.

No problem.

So feel across is ten v ten.

So you've got nine runners and a goalie larger field.

There's different rules that come into play.

Specifically the, the area of the field that players are allowed to play in.

So you've got attack and defense.

You've got to have certain amount of players that stay on a certain line and a certain side of the field.

There's different rules when it comes to, the physical part of it.

So cross-checking and slashing it changes a little bit.

There's some variance from the outdoor, from field, across the box, across, so box is, played in a hockey arena and or lacrosse arena.

So it's very similar to what you'd see hockey kind of basketball.

You've got five on five plus a goalie.

The nets are they're going to be smaller than than hockey goals.

And the rules, it's a faster pace that the rules are a little bit different.

There's I think it's a little bit more physical.

This is cross-checking.

And, you know, there's a there's a lot more contact and box across.

I think part of that is it's a shorter, smaller playing surface, but also just the rules themselves.

So, there's a shot clock that's 30s.

So the pace of play is very quick.

Players are changing on the fly.

So, you know, we've got primarily defensive players and offensive players.

Some transition will stay and play both ways.

But you know for the most part you've got these high end skilled offensive players that are, you know playing playing offense.

And they come off once.

Once we lose possession of the ball and the defenders come out and and, take care of our own end.

So it's it's quite a bit different.

But the skills are very similar.

You got, you know, a lot of, transferable skills for, for box and field.

A lot of the Canadians, that's what they grow up, they play box across.

You know, I think, a lot of the, the Native American culture and some of the, the territories and, and reservations have, you know, both.

But I think there's a lot of box across being played in the majority of them as well.

So, I think the U.S. players, box across is growing.

It hasn't been their primary game.

It's been filled.

But there's a lot more players within the U.S that are that are starting to play the The Box game.

I think part of it is because of the NFL, it's, there's an opportunity for them to play professionally and they see that avenue is something they want to want to pursue.

So very, very different in the rules and how the game is played.

But there's a lot of similarities and transferable skills between both leagues or both, both types of games.

So I wanted to, talk to you.

And then we're going to go back to, President Seneca and Dan here on some of the things of what they want to do for to grow.

But I'm wanting to start with you.

As far as what drew you to the Nighthawks, to this game, and what has been your experience you mentioned in your column, that these last six years, five years, six years, there's always been that level of uncertainty given the multiple teams that were owned and and that.

But I'm just wondering your experience and what drew you to this.

Yeah.

So for me, what drew me was, was really just chance.

I was at an Amherst game, with my wife and some friends, and someone in front of us was like, you know, have you ever checked up on Nighthawks?

And I was like, no, I've heard of them.

I don't really know that much about it.

Like, you should check it out.

They're rowdy.

I was like, all right.

So we went to, our first Nighthawks game, just kind of on a on a whim on that guy's suggestion.

We didn't realize it, but it was, the Nighthawks were on a five game win streak.

It was their first five game win streak going into their sixth game against the Buffalo Bandits.

And they had not this franchise, the newer Nighthawks franchise had not beat the bandits yet.

So on on on the line was extending to a six game win streak and also beating the Buffalo Bandits for the first time.

And, bandits fans travel.

And so the the blue collar, bluegrass arena was, was, pretty loud, pretty full, with a pretty strong contingency of bandits fans as well.

And, it was just a, it was a rowdy atmosphere.

It was a great game.

And the Nighthawks came away with the win extending to the six game win streak.

And, I was hooked from that point on.

What have you seen as far as just fans in attendance, fan enthusiasm, folks that you talk to as you've gotten to to really know this, this team, this fan base, the sport?

Yeah, I'd say there's, you know, there's probably three levels of of of fans.

There's people that are pretty into it, hardcore like I am.

I consume, a lot of NFL content, podcasts and pundits and news.

I'm on the an l subreddit quite often and I also follow box across outside of the NFL now in lacrosse in general internationally.

So, there's there's fans like me that are really keeping up to date with, players that are coming up to be into the professional league, college and, in the Canadian junior system.

And then there's fans that, that have season tickets, maybe even.

And they go to a lot of the games.

It's just something that they really enjoy, but they might not follow the stats and, consume content outside of of going to the games.

And then there's a lot of people who, go once in a while, they go with, with people like me when I invite them, they have a really good time.

So I'd say that's kind of like the three levels of fans there.

Is there things you heard, the president said could touch on?

And, Dan, I was wanting to grow that base.

Is there things that you see or hear?

There's like, you know, if we could do this that could draw more people.

Yeah.

For sure.

In my experience, I mean, I've probably brought, probably like 50 different people to the first Nighthawks games since I've been I've been a fan, I've coordinated work outings and large friend group outings and stuff.

And everybody that I've brought has a really good time.

It's it's a really good, as you said, an incredible on for onslaught product.

I think what I see is just, I think in advertising getting, getting getting the word out, encouraging people to just give it a try because I think people who give it a try and are really liking it, and, beyond that, I think, I mean, I'm not I'm not a businessman.

I haven't run a franchise.

But I do think that maybe there's something to be said about targeting, the colleges and universities in Rochester, I think, from what I understand, one of the things that's been really successful in Halifax, which is where the old Nighthawks got moved to, is they can they draw a really good, college age crowd?

There's several universities and colleges around Rochester, and, the Nighthawks play in the winter when it's pretty cold and snowy.

And I think tapping into the college age demographic would be a really strong move, especially in the winter when there's not a ton going on.

So that's that's something I start my work.

We're going to take a break in a minute.

I want to get one question that came in here from YouTube, and then we want to go into more after the break of of sort of maybe where where folks are thinking of taking the organization and, and the fan experience.

Question was, are there any thoughts about going back to the Nighthawks original colors of purple and teal?

I think that's probably our most asked question.

And, you know, president Seneca can jump in here, but for this season, we are going with our colors that our current color scheme with, kind of that, that army and that olive green and, black and gold.

It's, you know, it's what the decision was made before I came in and that was going to be the new colors.

I think originally there wanted to the the organization wanted there to be some kind of difference between the old organization and the current, you know, new franchise.

But we're listening.

We're, we're going to take notes and we're going to do what we think is best.

And, and ultimately have, you know, the fan voice be something that we consider and listen to.

I do have my opinions on it.

I'm sure, President Seneca has his as well.

And, other, you know, members of the nation and their council.

So there's going to be a lot of discussion on that.

And ultimately, we want this to be something that everybody in the community is proud of.

There is a sense, you know, when you're running a business, you can't make everybody happy.

And, you know, there's going to be a lot of suggestions that come in.

But that's pretty consistent, one that we have.

What what I want to see is no matter what colors we have, people support us.

You know, there's there's pro sports teams across the, North America that if you're in that market and that's your that's your team, you just grab on to it and whatever it is.

So, you know, instead of looking back at what it used to be like, understanding that this is important to a lot of people getting on board with whatever we're choosing to do.

But we are going to listen.

People have a voice and we want to.

It's for the fan experience.

It's for our players.

It's that sense of pride that you want in your logo and colors and all that.

So we have listened.

We're going to consider everything right now this year.

Like, you know, we we have a team that's ready to get on the floor in, late November or early December.

And this is the the jersey in the color that we're going to go with.

If we're going to make that change, then, you know, we're going to be discussing that over the next couple of months.

But I'll let, President Seneca jump in if he'd like.

Yeah.

Thanks, Dan.

Yeah.

You know, I think, he said it, right.

You know, we have our listening ears on I think, you know, for me in government, you know, certainly, listening to the people's suggestions and our ideas and our input, we incorporate that too in business.

You know, I think, we have to listen to the, the, the customer, the fan base in regards to what, they're looking for and what they like.

And, you know, what package they like to see, you know, it's all about, a lot of times in business, it's packaging.

And so, you know, we'll definitely, pay attention to that and we'll discuss those things in a roundtable, sessions that we'll be having here in the next couple of months in regards to the direction we go with that.

You know, myself, I like the old, my colors.

I used to go there when, they had them, they were they were good.

But, you know, I'm a military guy, too.

I'm, former Air Force.

And so I kind of like the olive drab as well, you know, those kind of, you know, good stuff.

And.

But, you know, I think, you know, everything's, possible.

And I think in today's sports world, a lot of teams, they're not stuck on just one jersey or color like it used to be.

You know, I remember when I was a kid that you.

They always just had one thing.

And that's the way it did, that the uniforms and, jerseys are very diversified today in today's sports world.

So I think there's opportunity, to be able to have a kind of, few different flavors of, team colors.

And so we look forward to that.

And, you know, it's exciting stuff.

All right.

Well, we're going to take that break, as you heard there, listening.

If there's lots of ways to connect, we got a caller on the line.

If you hold on to the other side of the break, lots of ways to connect.

You can call 844295825 5 or 5 852639994.

Email us connections at Whiskey Dawg or comments on YouTube, and we will take the break and be back with more about what fans can expect after this.

I'm Evan Dawson, coming up in our second hour, we bring back a recent conversation about the tiki scene in Rochester.

It's growing.

There's a new bar on Park Avenue, there's a festival this summer and a lot of focus on Tiki.

Yeah, there's also been conversation about cultural appropriation and where Tiki fits in or doesn't.

With that, we'll talk about all of that next hour.

Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Bob Johnson, Auto Group.

Proud supporter of connections with Evan Dawson, believing an informed public makes for a stronger community.

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I'm Evan Dawson, host of connections.

I'm taking a little break this summer, but that doesn't mean connections is going away.

My colleague Raquel Stephen will be hosting the first hour of the show over the summer.

She'll bring you the same long form conversations, in-depth exploration of issues, and variety of content that you're used to hearing in the second hour.

Each day, we'll bring back some of our and your favorite conversations from the show.

It all begins the week of July 14th.

UN connections.

All right, we are back.

We do have a caller on the line, Tim, from Illinois.

And do you have a question?

You guys?

Yeah.

So this is neighbor Fabian.

Neighbor.

How are you?

Great seeing you guys yesterday.

I'm going to try and get through this yesterday.

I do a lot of crying.

Very happy.

But, so, I will every announcement ever since 94, when Steve Donner actually called me.

And he's like, you do this work.

I to think older than like, actually what should be awesome.

Yesterday was the first one I've ever met.

I was going to fly in from Chicago.

I really wanted to, I just couldn't I would be there for the season opener, I promise.

Anyway, a couple of quick questions.

I'm running a fan crew, my house crew, for 30 years.

You guys have always been a great support system, and I've left it in great hands.

These three women who've been lighthouse fans for a long time, I'm going to take it over and run with it.

Very excited for them to work with the new management.

In 94, 95, there was a real focus on bringing local guys to the team.

Some of the guys from like Nazareth just went to National championships a few years earlier.

Schiller from, you know, Penfield, Fairport, pseudo a lot of the guys, Steve, Reggie from, Spencer, Syracuse even.

Is there any type of new focus to try to get not only local guys, but obviously, you know, there's a lot of talent out there.

But I'd like to see that focus back on not only Western New York, but I'm a native presence that I think we've kind of been missing for a few years.

And the second question is, is there any chance of getting a Hiawatha flag for any arena and on a flag pole outside permanently?

Yeah, I can I would like to I'll take that one.

Yeah.

Certainly.

You know, the talent pool in the native world, we have, great talent.

You know, I think, you look at, you know, the different, universities in the area where our, our members of our nations go and play, you know, there and, University of Albany, Syracuse, Cornell, you know, you name it, they're all around the area.

Rochester.

Buffalo.

And so, yeah, you know, I think, and across the country, I know there's lots of, native talent.

And so we'll be looking at that for sure.

And, you know, I think, as far as, getting the Hiawatha flag there, the one was in the arena yesterday and the Seneca nation playing as well.

And so, we we expect, you know, those things to, be there and, certainly.

I do anyway.

And I know they will be.

So but then, you know, yeah, I, I agree with that.

When it comes to the players now, right, from my standpoint, you know, and President Seneca and I have had this conversation already.

I think it's really important to be looking at local talent.

Right.

And we've got, now that connection with, you know, the Native American community that's close by.

But otherwise, you know, there's there's others that, that are all over the place that are great players.

I want to just make sure that we have a great product on the floor.

And, you know, players that are fitting our culture, what we want to do with our locker room able to help enhance our performance on the floor.

You know, we've had local Rochester players that, we've targeted and we've looked at and there's some great players within our league that, you know, are members of the Seneca Nation and Native Americans in Rochester, bass players, you know, it doesn't always work out to in our favor that those players are going to be able to play for us.

But, I think there's the huge importance of that.

And it's something that we've always discussed anytime we go through the draft or free agency, if if there's two players that are equal and one is based in Rochester, it just makes sense.

You know, we have we have a, a community here that is tied into some of these players.

And ultimately, this is a business, and we want to make sure we're drawing people to to the building.

But at the same time, we want to make sure we're as competitive as we possibly can be.

And if those players fit, you know, what we want to do here, then I think, you know, if all things are equal, that it just seems to make sense for us.

So I think, you know, targeting players, a little bit more than we have is is something that, you know, I'd like to see and like, for us to do, you know, it's always, it's always important to, to be tying in in the communities within our team and the culture of our team.

So, yeah, definitely, you know, we we, we share that and we feel the same way as there's wanting to see more of those guys here.

And ultimately, you know, part of the process when it comes to acquiring talent.

I want to jump off of that with, you know, on the team.

President Seneca, you said yesterday, your words, I think generally he, Dan, is going to be allowed to run the team as he sees fit, but will have some input as well.

And I'm just curious along these lines, how you how you both see this relationship working.

But President Seneca, where do you hope to have that influence?

Is it and the style of play is it and the recruiting?

Is it in the fan experience or how you describe sort of the party atmosphere there?

Where do you see wanting to influence things and have that input?

You know, I think on the outset I think we have to have be involved in all of those types of things.

We have to be able to be a sit at the table and have that discussion and have an open dialog in regards to the, the ideas and the thoughts that we have in regards to, moving in the right direction and, putting those things in place to make sure that, we're successful in all aspects of the, of the game, whether it's players on the field, whether it's, the financial part of it, whether it's marketing, advertising, the fan base, making sure that we're involved in community, that we're all in, the public and that we're, engaging with the schools, the colleges, you know, just, you draw a big circle around Rochester, go, like, go 100 miles or so.

That's where we got to concentrate on and be able to, you know, encourage people to come be involved and be a part of the Nighthawks.

And that's what we're looking for, and that's what we want to do, you know, and, you know, like going back to the last question, too, there's so much talent that is out there, native and non-native, to be able to, bring into the city of Rochester, into the Nighthawks, southern Ontario, Quebec, you know, New York, you know, just just that whole region is just great.

You know, you get the top schools in the country and lacrosse is Cornell number one.

And Syracuse, you know, we have the Shawnee nationals that are, right now getting ready to go over to, the under 20 team, going over to South Korea for a tournament.

And then you also have, you know, the nationals that are who are gearing up to go to men and women gearing up to go and compete at the Olympics in Los Angeles.

So the focus Rochester is going to be in the center of focus of lacrosse.

Just because of that, because of the holding of Shawnee nationals.

And, also now that the Seneca Nation is involved and owner of the Rochester Nighthawks, I'm sure that's going to be something as well that, people will be talking about.

And we got to make sure they're talking about it.

And that's why I.

What how do you capitalize on that?

Beyond advertise, we've seen programs and efforts.

You go back to Donner's years where you would discount tickets or even give away tickets just to get people into the, the stadium.

And then there was a whole conversation about devaluing the ticket.

But I'm wondering how you go about beyond the marketing, getting that word out, getting those folks into the stands, making them season ticket holders or not making them, getting them to be so you season ticket holders, have you gotten those discussions and how you do that?

Yeah, I think it's engagement.

I think it's, getting yourself out into the community and and being a part of it.

And, you know, I think you get a response from that and, you know, utilizing all the tools that you have in regards to, you know, reaching out to, organizations or to schools, colleges, community, to make it happen.

You know, I think, you know, back in the earlier days of my life, was this I was a salesperson.

I used to work for the Buffalo Bisons, and I was a group sales person.

And, back in the day when telemarketing was a big thing.

And, you know what?

I was able to, you know, I learned a lot, and that and those jobs that I had back when I was younger and, to be able to reach out, and, to get people to come into the stadium and to watch a baseball game.

I also work for the Buffalo Stallions.

I if you remember, there were a indoor soccer team in Buffalo and, you know, I work for them and, you know, we did very well in a group sales telemarketing scenario out there.

So I think, you know, we use any and everything that we can do, every advantage, every tool in our toolbox to be able to reach out to people.

And, I think moving around, you know, Dan and I talked about it yesterday, you know, a lot of our territories have arenas on their territory being able to, get out and, do exhibition or to hold the, training facility or training, and engagement with, youth organizations, you know, that's that's where that's where you get it, you know, because that's who's going to come to the game.

Like the gentleman earlier said about the different, levels of fan base, I think the other level is the family component, you know, families coming out to the game, kids that play, in sports and for them to introduce them, maybe to lacrosse, maybe they don't know about it.

Maybe they're just learning.

But you introduce that and you bring that, get that family because it's all about family too.

It youth sports because, the, the moms and dads have to take the kids, to practice, take them to the games, you know, and so it's a family thing.

And, and the Nighthawks, should be a family also orientated base.

Place where families can come enjoy, with the product on the field, enjoy the game and that entertainment.

Within the in the arena.

And just the atmosphere I think is going to be great.

So, you know, I think all of that is something that we need to focus on and work on.

Yeah.

Just to add to that.

And Eli mentioned it earlier.

So you know, looking at the different levels of fans, there's a lot of people within the Rochester community that are non-fans.

They don't know anything about the Nighthawks.

So that is that marketing aspect and the promotional side of it and getting out in the public and getting out within the community to, to to make people aware that there's, you know, a professional lacrosse team here.

And it's exciting and it's a great fan experience.

Like President Seneca has said, it's, you know, it's a family atmosphere.

But, you know, I mentioned earlier about the college crowd, like, everybody can be entertained like anybody who who if you are a concert goer, if you like NASCAR or if you like the NBA, it doesn't matter.

I think the NFL is something for everybody.

So there's levels of different type of people that are going to be entertained within that, that building in that game.

Turning those non-fans into casual fans and those casual fans into season ticket holders.

And that's, that's the that's the avenue.

That's what we want to get to.

And sometimes you turn a non fan into a season ticket holder, and they skip that casual fan base because they just get hooked on it.

Right.

So for us we need people advocating for this team that are within the community.

And you know, I don't feel like doing it on a Saturday night, but I'm going to go give this a shot.

And Eli mentioned it earlier.

There isn't one person I can that I've ever met.

And I'm biased, and I'm in a position to have been since a player to, you know, management.

Nobody has ever told me that they haven't enjoyed that experience.

I don't think I've ever heard that.

It's it's just anybody that goes to one of these games loves it.

And they might not turn into a season ticket holder because of their schedule and everything else they got going on.

But, there's a lot to be done.

But this is this is a great experience, and we want to make sure that we get that to as many people as possible to, to have them, you know, experience it for the first time if they haven't already.

And I want to go back here before we run out of just sort of to where we started, that this is also a, there's a particular, I think someone called it poignant or but a special connection here, particularly for lacrosse and, America's oldest team sport.

I was, you know, reading yesterday, but I want to go back to Nighthawks player again, Connor Fields.

And he talked some about that history, the culture, his time playing for the Seneca War Chiefs and all of that coming together.

I played junior lacrosse when I was younger on the Seneca Nation, actually, for the Seneca War Chiefs.

So, you know, I was very familiar with the the meaning of the game.

You know, the Madison game and how it should be played, playing it the right way.

So, you know, I was lucky enough to be introduced to that at, at a young age.

And I credit playing for the Seneca Chiefs for a lot of where I am today and who I am as a player today.

So, you know, to hear all that and to hear President Seneca talking, you could tell that they really do care about the game itself and the growth of the game and playing the game the right way.

And they want to win, right.

And that's all the things we want to.

So just to hear that from, you know, your new owner is very exciting.

And jumping off of that, we had touched base on this yesterday, but just how do how is that reflected in your locker room and in your team now?

The culture and the history, and I guess for both of both.

Well, for everybody here, how how you see the, the possibilities of both expanding on that and using this opportunity to educate and, and bring people in to that deeper connection.

I feel with that our group, there's always been a connection to it.

But, to bring that a little bit more and a little bit more visibility to it and the education aspect of it for our players, it just adds there.

So our guys are so passionate about the game of lacrosse and they love it.

And you know, these guys, they're professional.

But it's not to the level of the compensation that these other leagues are getting.

So these guys, there's a true love for this game, for our players and staff and everybody involved.

We have people that just want to be part of the team and you know, they're doing whatever is needed, you know, during a game day to make sure that this runs smoothly.

So, you know, but I think there's such a a great opportunity for us to, you know, within our ownership and educating our players to, to have them fully understand the importance of it is going to be good for us.

Like, that's a great thing.

And, you know, I feel like I have a really good handle on that myself.

And, you know, I've had some teammates over the years that, that have helped with that.

You know, as a young player, we played against, you know, the teams in Six Nations and Brantford, Ontario, and, and you see, you know, you can just see it and how important the game is to them.

And, and it was to us as well.

But it's just different.

So I think bringing that into it and finding opportunities for, you know, whether it's President Seneca or, you know, members of the nation or the council to to be kind of educating us and bringing certain things within our team because this is it's a game, but it's also a lot more to a lot of people.

And I think that, that can help us.

That's going to be good for our for our locker room and our culture.

President Seneca, I'm wondering how important it when you look for players.

And I don't know how hands on you expect to be, but that understanding of the history and the culture, is that something that's going to be front and center for in recruiting?

Or how do you see that being built up?

I think culture is going to play a main, role and component of what we do.

And it's it's just, who we are and the way we do, things, you know, it's an important thing, and it's a part of the education process.

You know, I think, on a government level and my travels that I do to Albany and Washington, you know, native, history, Seneca history, Houdini, Shawnee history.

There's a model.

Not a lot of people who are, knowledgeable in regards to that.

And I think, it can go a long way, to building relationships.

When people know, who we are, what we're about, and what we believe in and, the way we live our lives and the things that are important to us, our value system, you know, and, you know, even from the game of lacrosse, it's the ability for lacrosse to, to build, be that bridge, to be able to bring people together and to educate people in regards to something maybe they never really thought about or learned about, when they were growing up or even when they're young.

I think, there's a lot to learn about, native people and native nations.

And so I'm really excited about that opportunity.

And to be able to bring that, to the people through the Rochester Nighthawks.

I want to stay with you a minute here, too, as we we spoke, I think, for the first time several months ago, ahead of at that time when you would ask for and you've since, welcomed Governor Hochul.

For an apology from the state on the Thomas Indian School.

You we talked before about all the different areas that you wanted.

Attention to public safety, environmental, economic development, unkept promises on past agreements.

We've seen some movement on some of those.

I'm wondering where this fits into that.

Was this a detour or does this does this fit along the way and sort of the at the 10,000ft view, the bigger picture, you know, certainly, since I've been president and, my time is on the council, I've always, you know, believed that engagement, developing relationships with, leadership, within New York with, well, there's the executive chamber or in the legislature or whether it's in Congress down in, Washington or the white House.

You know, we have to be on a continued process of, engagement and education because things change so much, within those, places in the legislature, in Congress that, new people come in and they really don't know.

So we're always on the educational, I guess, tour or you want to call it, and, making sure that they know who we are, where we are.

You know, a lot of times I go to Albany, I had a we have to take a map.

If you can imagine this, that, in within the state of New York, if you're going into the legislature, some people don't even know where the Seneca nation is.

You know, it's kind of like what dance that people in Rochester don't even know about the Nighthawks.

And so it's all about education, you know, and, we have to go in and make sure they know our issues, make sure they know who we are, where we are in our history.

And so, you know, that's all about it.

And, you know, we were, you know, been working on, a lot of different, initiatives and Rochester, the region in Rochester and that whole central New York central area and a part of our Aboriginal territory, we've been planning, summit like we've had I had a summit here in Western New York with a delegation, here in western New York.

We've been to Albany a couple of times doing Seneca Impact aid, educating and being present, being seen and being heard.

And then we're planning the same thing also, within, the Rochester region, down again and again down there.

Victor.

And so, you know, this kind of, accelerated that, I guess, in a way that, this opportunity came and was on my lap and, was like, hey, this is, an opportunity for us to get into business.

So economic development and also it's an opportunity for us to build relationships also with the community and with, a spot within our Aboriginal territory that, we've been working on.

And so I think the creator works in different ways.

We never know what's going to happen.

And I always say that the creator directs our steps and brings us opportunities when we don't see it coming.

And then there it is.

And, and so here we are.

And now we're the new owners of the Rochester Nighthawks, which is just the great thing.

And, very grateful for that.

We're almost out of time.

I want to go around the table.

And just if there's other thoughts, either speaking to the fans or the public of of just or just what the last 24 hours have been like, for each of you since the announcement and, and just what you've been hearing or, again, just things that you'd want to say to folks who are listening.

You can start.

Start.

Okay.

Yeah.

No, it's it's been a fantastic process over the last, I guess, couple of months from my standpoint, you know, just so thankful and grateful that, for President Seneca and the nation to be, you know, taking ownership of this team, that means a lot to so many people, you know, everybody within our organization.

But obviously, you know, sitting beside Eli here as a season ticket member and, and our fans and the community that really care so deeply for that.

So that needs to grow.

We want to continue to push that.

You know, Commissioner Fruin mentioned it yesterday on the support that we need to make this successful.

So we're we're excited.

You know, Rochester nighthawks.com is where you can go and buy a season ticket.

And we are taking deposits right now.

We're rounding out our staff to, to help with that and make sure that we're going to be putting ourselves in a great position to to have success.

So we're excited.

And, you know, I appreciate you having us on.

Thank you.

And yeah, I just what have you been hearing from fans?

The fans are excited.

The vibes are high.

I think the fans feel that this new ownership, is a is an ownership that cares about lacrosse, and it's going to be invested in lacrosse in Rochester.

You know, I'm not going to, talk bad about about the schools, but, you know, the is there were some boos yesterday when there there were some boos, you know, Nighthawks were a line item, you know, on their business plan.

It filled slots at the Bluegrass Arena when they were managing it.

But I don't think any of the fans ever came away with the feeling that the Ghoulies cared specifically about the Nighthawks or about lacrosse really in general.

You know, so to have owners that, have played lacrosse who, have already been ingrained in the lacrosse culture, and that care about this area is going to be huge.

And, I think the fans are also extremely excited to have, a sovereign nation on a team in this league.

It's very cool.

And President Seneca, not much time.

I want to give you the last word.

Yesterday I just enjoyed so much.

They're meeting a lot of the fans that came to the event and their, passion for the game.

And so I hope that passion spreads throughout the region.

And I look forward to seeing everybody at the arena, on opening night when the Nighthawks open their season.

So I'll be there.

Don't you dare miss it.

All right, president Seneca.

President Kerry and Eli, thank you very much for your time.

This connections, your time.

Thank you.

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