Interview with Nick Desrosiers, owner of the New Jersey Rascals

By Kevin M. Neibauer

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with the owner of the PLL (Professional Lacrosse League) New Jersey Rascals; Nick Desrosiers. Nick was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to give us an insight into the business of lacrosse ownership.

KMN-Have you played the sport?

ND -Kevin, unfortunately where I grew up in CT Lacrosse wasn't yet a hot commodity we were a big baseball and football community and that is where my focus was. Now I have a cousin who is a diehard lax fan and is an avid player who really turned me onto the sport. So although never player I am now a huge fan and would love to see the sport continue to grow. .

KMN- What got you into the sport?

ND-After conducting our due diligence we decided that lacrosse being the fastest growing sport in the U.S. would be a wise early stage investment for us with a strong possibility of significant financial upside. We compared LAX with Soccer in hopes that the NLL, PLL, NALL, MLL would find similar success and growth as MLS, just a 20 year old league team values are beginning to break the $100m mark for organizations that cost $50,000 back in 1993. We eventually hooked up with PLL President and friend of DC Sports & Entertainment, Brett Vickers who introduced us to his league and the ground floor opportunities that existed.

KMN-What is your financial background?

ND-DC Sports & Entertainment, LLC is a family owned and operated sports and entertainment management and consulting firm, specializing in everything from advisory services to the said industries to operating our own assets. Typically our investments range from $500k to $10m. At this time and for the foreseeable future will continue without any outside investments of any kind.

KMN-New Jersey Rascals...how did they come about?

ND-In relation to our membership in the Professional Lacrosse League one of our main objectives was to create a team name with brand power. By introducing our "Rascals" brand with a character logo as you can see in our secondary marks we feel we gave the Rascals name face recognition. Our logos were done by long time DC Sports & Entertainment designer Brian Bednarski of Kettle Corn Studios whom we have collaborated with on several different projects with and have a great relationship with.

KMN-Where does the team go from here?

ND-After an inaugural year that included several tough business decisions that included many now public dealings within the league itself, we now feel we are in a good position to build towards what we hope will be a very prosperous future in the states capital of Trenton. Look to the New Year for many updates on the Rascals and our plans for 2013!

KMN-Frank Menschner, how did you meet him?

ND-Frank contacted our General Manager, Randy Fraser to offer help in the local community in New Jersey and the Philadelphia Metro Area. If you know anything about Frank you know he knows just about everyone in the game and has a passion for LAX that is professionally appealing. Frank later joined us as an advisor before we made our decisions for the 2012 season. Through it all I have found Frank to be a good guy, a welcomed addition to our organization and a personal friend of which I wish nothing but the best to and look forward to him retaking his position with the Rascals soon after the New Year.

KMN- Do you have any aspirations about NLL or MLL ownership?

ND-We have explored many opportunities and while we love our Rascals, we do realize that we are a minor league team and we would definitely like to add an MLL or NLL franchise to our company when the right opportunity presents itself.

We would to thank Nick for his time and we look forward to seeing the New Jersey Rascals in action very soon.