Saskatoon is now home to professional lacrosse team

Saskatoon is now home to a professional lacrosse team.

Owner Bruce Urban announced todaythe Edmonton Rush franchise has relocated to the city and been renamed the Saskatchewan Rush.

The team is thedefending championof the National Lacrosse League, which consists of nine teams based in North American cities.

Urban said some American cities were also interested in hosting the franchise, but Saskatoon won out.

"We put a lot of work into Edmonton, and lacrosse had hit new strides in the last year or two in Edmonton,"he said. "We needed to have a proper venue and a proper arena deal which we have withSasktel[Centre] and we said, 'Hey, guys Saskatoon is the place to be.'"

The team wasnot invited to play at the new downtown arena in Edmonton.Urban and the citycouldn't agree on a deal for an arena lease.

The attendance numbers averaged fewerthan 7,000 per game in recent years. But Urban expects the Saskatoon audience to be closer to 11,000.He estimates ticket prices at$35.

Urban said the team hasa salary cap of $600,000. Half the players will live in the city and half will likely fly in for matches.

Local fans excited

Many local lacrosse players took inTuesday'sunveiling of the team's colours and logo, including Ty Currie, who's been playing the sport for about six years.

"It's huge. It's awesome for everyone around," said Currie."The game has been growing a lot in Saskatchewan, and this is only going to help it now."

"It's fast-paced, hard-hitting action. Lots of goals. The crowd is nuts, there's music playing all the time. Everybody's pumped up, and it's just an unreal atmosphere," said Currie.

"I'll have two season tickets, for sure."

The lacrosse season runs from January and wraps up in early June.Teams play an 18 game schedule, including ninehome games, which are always on weekends.