State of Major League Lacross

St. Phil, meet St. Jake.

The Body By Jake dude can fund this league till the cows come home.

At least until the teams play in (you guessed it) Lacrosse specific stadiums.

About all that means is a large recreational area inside the gates (rather than out in the parking lots) for tossing the ball around and for small-games, as well as no end seating.

Which is why the Baltimore Bayhawks moved from Ravens Stadium BACK to Homewood Field in 2003.

 

The frightening thing about the attendence is that college teams regularly outdraw the Bayhawks in baltimore. For the NCAAs this weekend at Ravens Stadium, there will be a huge crowd, particularly if Hopkins and Maryland meet in the final.

The lax tournament is (I think) one of the NCAAs top revenue producers (along with wrestling, believe it or not).

The audience is there. The forumla is not, yet. I think as long as they keep their sites relatively low and realistic, they can hang around in some form. Problem is, some top players coach and the summer is recruiting time for the summer leagues so that hurts their ability to play.

 

Gee, seems like we were just talking about this.

Oh, that's right. We were.

Their regional approach is good. They keep costs down. They have deep pockets. They're not parading around talking about trying to be the 5th Major or anything.

If we had a team here, I'd go check it out on a nice summer night in a decent yard. And I've never seen a lacrosse match in my life.

 

MLL really could work on a small regional scale, I now broadcast OSU lacrosse here in Columbus, and we have made more ad money of our lax broadcasts than off of any of other non-football broadcasts. Lax fans are not hesitant to support coverage of their sport.

They really should put a team here in Columbus, either at Crew Stadium or at Jesse Owens Stadium and I think it could be a real success. They have had an all-star game here, but maybe after the disasterous failure of the indoor team here, the league doesn't think columbus can cut it.. Anyone in the area, who happens to read this really should come out and see an OSU game.. lots of fun... team is the "Best of the West."

 

I've seen it on TV and in personal at a local college. It's a stupid game and terrible to watch. It's as bad as Field Hockey. I would hate to this this expand and take TV time away from soccer. I noticed that the NCAA LAX final four is being televised on ESPN2. Why would they air that and not the college soccer final four? I don't like it one bit. WHat helps LAX that most of the players are failed football players so they get some cred because they're "tough enough" to have one time sat on the sidelines of a pointyball contest or 2. Bill Bergey's kid is the star of the Philly indoor franchise.

 

1. Your points on lacrosse are stupid. I'll leave it at that.

2. They show it because they are obligated to because of their NCAA contract. Like all the NCAA championships they have to show.

3. They also show it because it is a huge event (37K for semis, something the College Cup would cream over).

4. The soccer semis are shown, Mr. Dumas. Men's and women's and the finals

5. Lacrosse doesn't run over soccer this week. Women's softball does.

6. Kid at my high school had a chance to play football in college at the I-AA level. Turned it down for his free ride to UVa for lax. He's got hair follicles smarter than you.

7. Does Bergey's kid have another name? He ain't here - http://www.nll.com/article_278.shtml

 

Today's NCAA semifinal lacrosse betwen Hopkins and Syracuse actually drew over 37,000.

 

THat was for both games, actually. Still impressive, which is why Baltimore wants the games on a permanent basis.

D-2 and D-3 finals tomorrow. I would guess 10-12K for that partially on people who bought three-day passes. Salisbury is the only local team playing tomorrow.

Final Monday will be in the 40 range, If it is nice by some strange chance, the sky's the limit with Hopkins and UVa (which for lacrosse recruits heavily in Baltimore and has tons of alumns in the area) playing.

Like I said earlier, this is one of the biggest revenue producing tournaments for the NCAA. Hoops and baseball obviously are the best. Hockey is very good, but lax could pass them with the larger stadium available now.

 

Jake Bergey is his name. He does play for the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League (indoor) and is also a member of the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse (outdoor). Jake suffered a season ending injury before the 2002-2003 NLL season took place. The roster you link to is for active players only and due to the fact that the injury was season-ending, Jake didn't have to be listed on the roster. Jake should be in the lineup come next weekend when the Rattlers open their season vrs the Bridgeport Barrage.)

Oddly enough, Jake's younger Josh is playing for Salisbury State (a school you mentioned in a previous post in this thread) right as this moment in the Division III title game against Middlebury State. (The game is available to listen on broadcastmonsters.com)

LaxBandit...

 

Thanks for the info. The crowd today will be announced as a minimum 30K because the Sun said that's how many three-day passes were sold. Max capacity is 40,800 with the top deck closed.

And I found some info that said men's baseball doesn't always make money. Lax joins hockey and hoops as the only continual profitable championships, which is why they got 16 teams. This weekend did nothing to hurt that at all.

 

Um, lacrosse in the West Coast? Well, it's more believable than water polo on the East Coast.

 

They don't play water polo on the east coast?

 

LAX is a niche sport at best. IMO it is unwatchable, does that make me stupid? I don't remember the soccer final four being on ESPN last fall. I thought it was carried by FOX sporrts, in which case I can't get it because my cable co. carries Comcast. LAX like Hockey ar3e regional sports so I will argue that it is easier to make money with those sports because of logistics. THey can hold the final 4 around Baltimore or the Northeast and it will make money because you have local teams competing. Does 30K in the stands mean big ratings for ESPN? NO! All the fans are already at the game, no one is watching. Your friends hair follicles must be something, you seem very familiar with them.

 

Not really, Wyoming Valley West High School across the river from me in Northeast Pa. has one of the best programs in the country. A few players have gone to play on the national water polo team. Water Polo is possibly the fastest growing sport in the PIAA, more and more teams are added every year. There are no high school lacross programs that I know of in Pennsylvania. FYI Pennsylvania is the 5th largest state in the country. So I'd say outside Baltimore and anywhere else south of Albany lacross is not that popular and is probably dwarfed in popularity by water polo.

 

A) When did I say lax wasn't a niche sport. And what exactly is wrong with that? An opinion that something is not your cup of tea is one thing. Your blanket criticisms of the sport as "stupid" and attempts to pin down the motives and personalities of all lacrosse players based on one who stuffed you in a locker shows just how uneducated you really are. There's such a thing as personal preference.

2) Soccer Final Four has been on ESPN for at least three years. Your lack of knowledge of the way NCAA championships are broadcast undermines any position you take regarding who is bumping whom.

iii) Who gives a damn whether it's logistics that puts butts in the seats. The bottom line is they make money. Go to www.sunspot.net and read some of the articles on the Final Four being in Baltimore. People are coming from all over the country. And I bet the ratings are much better than MLS' ratings and probably as good as or close to the ratings for NCAA soccer. You have no earthly clue how popular the sport is if you think the only people who care are at the games. Besides, most NCAA properties like this are in the .7 to 1.0 range.

 

Water polo is not a PIAA sports. It is a club sport, just like lacrosse. http://www.piaa.org/Sports/Center/sptscntr.html

Girls is a varsity sport in Bucks County. Lancaster will add girls in 2005. There are a number of club teams scattered across the state. I would say it is on par or greater than water polo.

Care to throw some facts in? Some numbers?

 

http://www.laxpower.com/update03/binboy/natlccr.php

That link leads to this year's ranking of EVERY high school in the country that plays lacrosse. It paints a decent picture of where the balance of power is.

The Laxpower.com webpage is a generally good resource to get sheer numbers of lacrosse at the high school and college level.

Admittedly, Upstate (Central) NY, Long Island, and Maryland are the primary hotbeds. It is definitely a growing sport, and to say water polo is more popular everywhere else is asinine.

In recent years, in New Jersey, many new schools are adding lacrosse (both girls and boys) every year. In just the past year, 15 schools added boys lacrosse, bringing the total number to 99 schools. And 12 added girls, bringing the total to 123. Conversely, I think only one or two of the prep schools has water polo.

I don't know about the viability of pro lax leagues today, but the sport is definitely growing on a grassroots level. Towns all over are starting recreational programs. It's a game that has all the excitement of hockey, and is easier to follow on TV, but isn't nearly as expensive to play or regionally dependent (no ice/cold necessary).

Heck, at my high school, more people usualy went to lacrosse games than football games. That was an exception rather than a rule, but you can't underestimate how big lacrosse is in upper-middle class communities in the northeast. Those people have money, are usually educated, and are willing to spend it on their favorite sport. The NCAA Championships are really just an annual pilgrimage for lacrosse fans to get together.

 

move this thread to their own Biglax.com.

 

Excuse me?

 

Dude. Wake up. There are dozens in and around Philadelphia. SWB is not the center of the universe.

Well, not exactly. ESPN had to sweeten its pot 10-fold last year to retain the NCAA women's basketball tournament. It also has a certain number of "must carrys" like swimming, but has dropped gymnastics and field hockey.

I look for College Sports TV to gather some of these. They already got women's lacrosse (tomorrow night at 8 p.m. on Channel 610 on your DirecTV system). It was a GREAT overtime period, BTW.

 

To bring in another soccer tie-in

Don't forget about Bruce Arena's background in lacrosse (All-American at Cornell)

http://www.ussoccer.com/bio/bio.sps?iBiographyID=7743

 

Don't they have to show at least highlights for those though?

 

http://www.dailylocal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8091928&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id=499600&rfi=8

Might want to check out the other end of the north-east extention . My old school (Westtown, not Malvern Prep) has had girls' lacrosse for decades, and boys' for about 5 years. Real, real big with the prep-school set, of which there are about 14 gazillion in the main line & southern Chester Co.