The National Lacrosse League today announced a deal with HDNet of Dallas, to televise nearly a third of this coming season's games in high definition format.

Coming on the heels of a television deal with CNN/Sports Illustrated, today's deal calls for 34 games, all shown live. Since the league has not released any television schedule yet, it's unclear whether HDNet's coverage will overlap that of CNN/SI or that of the soon-to-be-announced Canadian television outlet.

"We are excited to be a part of HDNet," NLL commissioner Jim Jennings said. "The new high definition channel has already carved out a great lineup of programming. We are pleased to join the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the U.S. Olympic Committee in providing programming for HDNet. We believe the NLL will be a great fit for the new network's audience."

NLL joins a rather prominent group of sports associations on HDNet. Fifteen baseball games will be shown in the remaining month of the current season, with as many as eighty in 2002. When the NHL season begins in October, at least 65 games will air. Also, events sanctioned by the thirty-nine Olympic-level national governing bodies affiliated with the U.S. Olympic Committee will be shown.

HDNet, founded by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Colorado Studios president Philip Garvin, is the world's only television network to broadcast exclusively in high-definition format, placing its programming -- primarily sports, movies, concerts, documentaries and music videos -- on the cutting edge of entertainment. Although active only a few hours a day this month, HDNet will expand to sixteen hours of programming every day on 4 October.

"I believe our viewers will really take to the National Lacrosse League," said Cuban, whose antics at Mavericks games have placed him among the most controversial owners in professional sports history. "The action is fast-paced, and it will provide a unique experience in high definition television. We welcome the NLL to our new family of sports and entertainment programming on HDNet."

"I believe the market for HDTV-enabled TVs and tuners is set to explode over the next five years," Cuban explained in launching HDNet. "The current state of the HDTV industry is very similar to the early days of the personal computer and the Internet, when the industry debated about technology and standards and growth was confined to the early adopters. With each of these industries, new marketing and sales-driven businesses were key to driving the growth of the markets to the next level."

The all-HDTV network debuts tomorrow on the DirecTV digital satellite service at channel 199, and is available at no additional charge to all DirecTV subscribers. Currently, DirecTV is the only satellite service offering HDNet.