Professional indoor lacrosse league coming to Queen City in 2023 with the Charlotte Bootleggers

CHARLOTTE — The Queen City will soon welcome its first professional indoor lacrosse team in over a decade when the Charlotte Bootleggers debut in January 2023.

The Charlotte Bootleggers will debut against the Jim Thorpe All-Americans on Jan. 7, 2023 inside Bojangles Coliseum, where the team will play its home games.

Charlotte was a part of the initial seven markets to be granted teams in the league in July.

The last indoor professional team was the Charlotte Copperheads, who only played for one season in 2012 and also played its games at Bojangles Coliseum. The Charlotte Cobras of the former Major Indoor Lacrosse League, was the first indoor team in Charlotte but folded in 1996.

There have been other professional lacrosse teams that have come through Charlotte. The Charlotte Hounds, an outdoor team that was a part of Major League Lacrosse, played in Charlotte from 2012 to 2018.

The new team is a part of the inaugural Professional Box Lacrosse Association (PBLA), which is a new league that hopes to put a new twist on the sport of lacrosse, according to the PBLA website.

The PBLA currently has nine teams.

According to the Bootleggers’ website, the team name was chosen by fans.

The season will last through mid-April. For more information on the Bootleggers and how you can buy tickets, click here.

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