Major League Lacrosse (MLL) announced Thursday that MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston, S.C., home of the USL’s Charleston Battery, will host the 2018 MLL Championship Game on Saturday, Aug. 18. It marks the first time the MLL Championship Game will be played in the state of South Carolina.
“The Championship Game presents a great opportunity to showcase the top talent our sport has to offer, and we are very excited about bringing this unique event to the beautiful city of Charleston,” MLL Commissioner Alexander Brown said. “I would like to thank the Charleston Battery and the Charleston Sports Commission for their support of this event and for hosting us at a tremendous venue in MUSC Health Stadium.”
MUSC Health Stadium opened in 1999 as the first modern, privately-funded soccer stadium in the U.S. and the 5,100-seat stadium boasts the largest jumbotron in the Southeast at 3,000 square feet. Modeled after iconic English soccer stadiums, MUSC Health Stadium is known for clean sight-lines and an English-inspired pub in the venue, the Three Lions Club. The stadium has hosted a variety of major events, including the Zac Brown Band playing there annually.
“We're excited for the opportunity to host the Major League Lacrosse Championship Game at MUSC Health Stadium this summer,” said Charleston Battery Chairman Eric Bowman. “We're lucky to have such a versatile venue that allows us to bring marquee events like this to Daniel Island. We're looking forward to giving Charlestonians the chance to see elite athletes playing their sport at the highest level right here in their own backyard.”
The MLL Championship Game is traditionally played at a neutral location and recent renditions of the game have been hosted by venues that are not home to an MLL team. Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas hosted the game last season before becoming the home venue for the Dallas Rattlers. Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga. hosted for two seasons in 2014 and 2015 before welcoming the Atlanta Blaze, then hosted again in 2016.
The Ohio Machine and Denver Outlaws have met in each of the last two Championship Games, with each team winning once and spawning the newest rivalry in MLL. If those two teams meet in the 2018 Championship, it will mark the second time in league history that the same two teams have played in three consecutive Championship Games, joining the Lizards and Bayhawks who met in each of the first three Championship Games in league history (2001-03).