Without fanfare, the National Lacrosse League has called off the Outdoor Showcase, which it had scheduled for next month as its first step towards a parallel field lacrosse league.

The Outdoor Showcase had been scheduled for Saturday, 1 September in Commerce City, Colorado, as one of a series of NLL activities; the other major event that weekend, the NLL's annual entry draft, will still be held that same day, at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Steve Govett, general manager of the host Colorado Mammoth, explains that he couldn't deliver the elite lineup of players that was expected for the field lacrosse game.

"We were not able to get the players that we wanted," Govett said. "We apologize but it's not fair to the fans and not in the best interest of everyone involved to go ahead with something that's seen as less than the NLL's best."

A report on InsideLacrosse.com explains the problem a little further, and the problem is the very entity which NLL would be competing against in the field lacrosse market -- Major League Lacrosse.

Many players who were expected to participate also play in MLL, and their playing contracts specify that they may not participate in any field lacrosse games in which they are paid or fans are charged admission.

NLL had planned both for the Outdoor Showcase, which was planned as a first step towards launching a fall field lacrosse league as soon as next year.

"We’d like to look at trying to do it in the fall of ’08, that’s our goal," NLL commissioner Jim Jennings told Inside Lacrosse in July. "Maybe we can do more showcases in our cities... We could start a league in ’08 or we could do showcases and start in ’09."

It is now unclear whether NLL can hold to that timetable. If NLL Outdoor is still a viable objective, though, expect a lot of competition this winter between NLL and MLL for the biggest names in lacrosse.