Rochester Rattlers lacrosse team moving to Dallas/Fort Worth

Years of speculation that the Rochester Rattlers outdoor lacrosse team would be relocating are over. They're gone.

Major League Lacrosse made it official Thursday. The team is now the Dallas Rattlers and will play in Frisco, Texas, near Dallas/Forth Worth, where the MLL held its championship game in August as a way to test the market. The Ohio Machine beat the Denver Outlaws, 17-12, in front of 7,543 fans.

The Rattlers' news comes on the heels of Wednesday's announcement that the future of the Rochester Rhinos soccer team is in serious jeopardy. Rhinos owners said the storied-but-struggling soccer team will cease operations if they can't raise $1.3 million by Nov. 30. The four-time USL champions made a desperate plea for community and corporate help.

The Rattlers can't be saved.

The Rattlers played at the Rhinos' facility, Capelli Sport Stadium, last season and were operated by Rhinos owners David and Wendy Dworkin, MLL commissioner David Gross said last month in discussing the lacrosse team's future. Next season their new home is the Ford Center, a 12,000-seat indoor facility connected to Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters. It serves as the team’s practice facility.

MORE: Owners need $1.3 million by Nov. 30 or the Rhinos are extinct for 2018 season

The Rattlers debuted in 2001 and played at a few different venues locally. Like the Rhinos, they initially played at Frontier Field, the baseball home of the Rochester Red Wings. But they were booted out. Stadium officials said lacrosse chewed up the diamond too much.

The team, which went on to play at Bishop Kearney High School, The College at Brockport and Aquinas Institute, was originally owned by the Steve Donner-led Rochester Sports Group. That's the same organization that ran the hockey Amerks, indoor lacrosse Knighthawks and Rhinos until its 2008 demise when the RSG ran into major financial problems.

Coached by Fairport native and former Rattlers player Tim Soudan since 2011, the Rattlers won the 2008 MLL title, 16-6 over Denver. But the RSG issues, coupled with poor support by fans, led to the club moving to Toronto.

The Rattlers returned in 2011 and were owned and run by then-Rhinos owner Rob Clark. He eventually gave up control and then also lost the Rhinos in December of 2015 when the City of Rochester terminated his lease to run the soccer stadium.

Gross said last month the Rattlers haven't had local ownership for at least a couple seasons. Jim Davis owned the team, he said. Davis had no ties to Rochester, Gross said. Asked for more information about Davis, Gross declined, saying "he's a pretty private guy."

Soudan resigned as coach, the MLL said, and Geneva native Bill Warder, a Rochester assistant since 2007 and former Hobart player, is the new head coach in Dallas. He was on the Rattlers' 2008 MLL championship team.

JDIVERON@Gannett.com