Kyle Daly
San Diego is now home to a National Lacrosse League (NLL) professional lacrosse team: The San Diego Seals. The NLL has been aggressively expanding their league in recent years to coincide with a jump in popularity of the sport, and on Aug. 30, 2017 they awarded Joseph Tsai permission to open the franchise. Soon after, their name and logo were announced to honor the city.
The San Diego Seals’ color scheme is purple and gold, and the logo has several relations to local amenities. In part it is due to the Seals and Sea Lions that can be spotted around Tsai’s home in La Jolla. There is also an homage to the Navy SEALs who famously train and are based in Coronado. The SEAL’s are recognized by their Trident logo, the same that can be sean on the San Diego Seal’s mascots head as a crown.
Tsai chose to pursue bringing lacrosse to San Diego because of his love for the sport and the city, as well as his anticipation for the expansion in popularity of the sport. Tsai was born in Hong Kong, and grew up in in New Jersey, eventually attending Yale. He played varsity lacrosse while attending, and has continued his love of the sport since then. He is the co-founder and CEO of Alibaba, an Aasian tech giant.
The Seals will play at the Valley View Casino Center starting in November of 2018. Online, you can already purchased tickets and season passes.
The expansion comes at a time when many San Diego sports fans are still bitter from the Chargers move to LA. College teams like the Aztecs, minor league professional teams like the 1904 FC and the Gulls all hope to capitalize on the empty market. San Diegans may soon find that these second tier sports become a mainstream attraction.
