In summing up the state of Major League Lacrosse, a league he helped start last year, the words of the usually long-winded Jake Steinfeld suddenly become quite concise.
"Every day we're alive, we're getting a bit stronger," Steinfeld said.
Those have been the words he has lived by.
As chairman of Body by Jake Enterprises, Steinfeld has become a celebrity through his fitness business. He is still trying to make the same impact on lacrosse.
As Steinfeld guides the MLL into its second season, league officials seem optimistic that the addition of several sponsors, a new television deal and a change in venue for two of the franchises, including the one in Baltimore, will translate into bigger numbers at the box office.
"You always want to be better, but at this point, we're very happy with where we are," said MLL executive director Matthew Pace.
Neither Steinfeld nor Pace would discuss exact financial figures of the league's performance in its inaugural season. Season 2 began last week, and continues tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., when the Bayhawks play their opener at Ravens Stadium against the Rochester Rattlers.
Pace, however, did say the MLL stacked up well in Year 1 with other recent start-up leagues. Steinfeld said he started the league with enough financial backing to last three seasons.
"I believe we proved ourselves last year, and we're going to continue to better ourselves," said Steinfeld.
Before last season, league executives were adamant that each of the six teams in the league needed to draw an average of 5,000 fans for it to thrive. However, attendance at all but one venue - Rochester, which averaged 5,791 - lagged behind that number.
At Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field, the Bayhawks attracted an average of 4,156 fans, the second-highest total. The overall league attendance average was just less than 4,000.
While an average of 5,000 will again be the goal, league officials assert there are other key factors in gauging the league's health.
"It's just one element, not make-or-break, particularly if the TV does well and the sponsors are happy," said Pace.
The league agreed on a television package with Fox Sports Net, which will broadcast a game of the week on Sundays throughout the season, starting June 16. The deal will bring the game into 52 million homes, a 225 percent increase from last year's package, and pay particular attention to non-traditional lacrosse markets such as California, St. Louis and Denver.
One drawback to the deal is that the Bayhawks, whose home games WMAR broadcast last year, will not be allowed to continue their partnership with Channel 2.
"I always thought the key was you needed to create a fan base of non-lacrosse players, just pure sports fans," said the league's marquee player, Gary Gait, who led the Long Island Lizards to the inaugural MLL title last season and is now a player-coach for the Bayhawks.
Steinfeld said the league will add two franchises by next summer. Philadelphia; Washington; Columbus, Ohio; and Denver are possibilities.
But this season, the only movement came from franchises within state borders.
Instead of alternating home games between EAB Park and Hofstra Stadium, Long Island will play full time at Hofstra, the venue that yielded the bigger turnout.
The New Jersey Pride, which was last in attendance last season, moved north from Yogi Berra Stadium in Montclair into Commerce Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. The minor-league baseball stadium offers a better location in a state where the sport has experienced a boom at the grass-roots level.
Pride assistant general manager Charlie Shoulberg said that since the move, group ticket sales are up nearly 250 percent.
Then, there are the Bayhawks, who made the move downtown to Ravens Stadium, after forging a marketing partnership with the NFL team in mid-February.
Michael Fiorelli, a former executive in the Orioles and Ravens front offices, was named vice president and general manager of the Bayhawks in February. He said yesterday that the team has sold double the number of season-ticket packages it did at this time last year.