The National Lacrosse League announced Monday that the upcoming draft, now slated for 22 September, will be partially televised.

Emipre Sports Network, a regional sports channel based in western New York, will provide five live updates over the course of its 90-minute "Fan TV", a viewer-interactive program airing weekday afternoons at 4:30 Eastern time.

The draft will be held at the newly-completed ESL Sports Centre on the campus of Monroe Community College in Rochester, the new site of the Knighthawks' training camp and practices. The draft is open to the public, and admission is free.

"The draft signifies the start of a brand new season. We are very excited to bring the draft to Rochester, and hope to have many fans in attendance as well as watching on Empire," said NLL Commissioner John Livsey.

"We are proud to host the 1998 NLL Draft," said Knighthawks president & CEO Steve Donner. "It gives us the opportunity to show our fans and media our draft picks in person. It also provides the added exposure of featuring the ESL Sports Centre."

Adding to the Knighthawks' enthusiasm towards hosting the nine-round draft, Rochester holds the first pick in the draft and made official in June they intend to select Syracuse University graduate Casey Powell with the pick, which was obtained from the Syracuse Smash in the Paul Gait trade.

Toronto, formerly the Ontario Raiders, received the second overall selection in exchange for Randy Fraser, following the allocation draft due to the suspension of operations of the Boston Blazers. Philadelphia received Baltimore's top selection for this and the next two years as a result of last December's blockbuster trade of Gary Gait.

It remains unclear whether Boston will return for the upcoming season, how it would stock its roster, and where it would select in the draft.