Will Cleveland

staff writer

The Rochester Rattlers will return to Rochester for the 2015 Major League Lacrosse season, league commissioner David Gross confirmed on Wednesday. The long-term future of the field lacrosse franchise in the region remains up in the air.

"Absolutely, the team will be returning," Gross said from suburban Atlanta where the MLLwill play the championship game between the top-seeded Rattlers and No. 2 Denver Outlaws on Saturday at Kennesaw State University. "We want the team to work in Rochester."

"We have every intention that the team is going to be in the Rochester area for the long term," Gross continued. "We're still a young league. If I were to sit here and say to you that no team is moving anywhere for the next 10 years, unfortunately the history we've got on our side doesn't show that to be the case. For any team to be healthy and successful, we've got to get people to come to the games."

Gross also said the team is no longer owned and operated by the MLL. He said that league co-founder Jim Davis now owns the franchise. Davis is the chairman of New Balance footwear.

"Jim is the owner of the team, but Jim's a very private individual. He doesn't really like his name thrown around too much," said Gross, noting that the MLL doesn't own any franchises at this point. "The league owned the team last year as an entity and Jim took it from us this year."

The Rattlers averaged 1,329 fans per game this season, seventh-best in the eight-team MLL, but attendance increased throughout the season with a high of 1,748 for the final home game. Gross said the Rattlers, led by first-year Chief Operating Officer Brad Ford, are making positive strides.

Ford spent seven years as director of ticket operations for the Amerks and has also worked in the front office for the NLL's Knighthawks.

"I think Dave Gross literally needed someone like me to step up and say, 'I'm going to take this thing and we're going to put our best foot forward and make it work,' " Ford said. "We're going to take a heck of a swing at it, and if we can't do it after a year, and we can't show a little bit of turnaround, blow a little bit of life into this thing, then maybe it really should move on. Maybe we should close the door on that chapter for good. I think there's quite a story still to be told."

Rochester players say they notice a difference.

"The crowds after the games are larger and the fans are sticking around longer to see everybody," team captain Kevin Leveille said. "That's something we notice as players versus prior years when it just seemed like they didn't have too much interest in us."

WCLEVELAND@Gannett.com

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