It’s been a tough year for Division I college lacrosse so far.
- COVID-19 forced the majority of the 2020 regular season and subsequent NCAA Tournament into cancellation.
- Furman was forced to fold its entire program and more schools are rumored to be considering similar options.
- Incoming freshmen for the 2021 season are losing scholarships due to seniors staying for a fifth year.
- Ivy Leaguers are either losing a year of eligibility or being forced to transfer in order to play again (Michael Sowers).
Instead of dwelling on all the bad, I figured we could all use some positive debate and discussion about expanding the number of sites where the NCAA hosts its annual final four.
Right now, there are three sites that the NCAA Final Four is played: Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Foxboro (MA). It’s not much of a mystery as to why the NCAA chooses these areas to host the Final Four every year. Boston, Philly and Baltimore are three of the top lacrosse hotbeds in the country and all three offer massive venues capable of hosting such an event.
Boston guys like myself hold the luxury of being able to drive 15 minutes down to Gillette Stadium to cover the Final Four every couple of years. It’s an awesome experience meeting and networking with all the various members of lacrosse media on the sidelines on Memorial Day.
Just to make myself clear, it is OBVIOUSLY a good thing to have the Final Four in a major lacrosse market like the three cities the NCAA currently operates in annually. I don’t want that to change and I think we need to keep the Final Four in major lacrosse markets. I would just argue that in order to help the sport grow, the NCAA should consider moving the Final Four around a little more to other major lacrosse markets. This would allow the sport to develop a new audience as well as allow fans in other areas of the country who are already interested in the sport to get to a Final Four and have a similar experience that the people of Boston, Philly and Baltimore do. There are plenty of markets out there who would jump at the opportunity to host a Final Four.
Here are some cities, venues and potential host schools broken up into two categories: prime and potential. You can decide whether or not it makes sense for the NCAA to give it a try in these cities.
Prime Candidates
City: New York City
Venue: Metlife Stadium
Host(s): Rutgers, NJIT, LIU, Fairfield, Princeton, Hofstra, Manhattan, Stony Brook, Wagner
Lacrosse is obviously massive in the Tri-state area. Long Island is one of the top recruiting grounds in the country. Northern New Jersey/Southwest Connecticut are not far behind. There’s an ample number of host-able Division I programs that call this area home and Metlife Stadium is more than capable of hosting such an event. Traffic on the Jersey Turnpike getting to the stadium is an issue, especially on a holiday weekend like Memorial Day. That said, every stadium has a traffic problem. Metlife holds a lot of potential both in terms of attendance and growing the sport. This is my top candidate.
City: Buffalo
Venue: New Era Field
Host: Canisius
We all know how big lacrosse is in New York State. Buffalo will attract fans from upstate and western New York schools such as Syracuse and Cornell, and that’ll be huge. Another big reason to put the Final Four in Buffalo is the potential to attract a Canadian audience. Two things we know: lacrosse in Canada is huge, and there are a ton of Canadians in NCAA lacrosse. The PLL went to Hamilton, Ontario last year in its inaugural season and over 10,000 people attended. Buffalo is about as close to Canada as you’ll get and the NCAA definitely needs to try to take advantage of this. Also, pregame tailgates in Buffalo would be fire (pun absolutely intended).
City: Washington D.C.
Venue: FedEx Field
Host(s): Georgetown, Virginia
Lacrosse in the DMV area is huge as we all know. Baltimore has been a successful host, but it’s probably time to give D.C. (Landover, Maryland) a try. Attendance would be solid no matter who makes it, but if one of the local schools like Georgetown or Virginia made it then that would be fantastic. Plus, fans would have a good amount of site seeing to do on that Sunday between games. No reason not to give it a try.
City: Charlotte
Venue: Bank of America Stadium
Host(s): Duke, North Carolina, High Point
This would be interesting. Lacrosse in North Carolina is not as big as it is in the DMV, Tri-State or New England, but the state has three high-level programs (UNC, Duke, High Point). Furman also would have been a good potential host being just two hours South in Greenville, South Carolina but now that’s no longer an option. If any of the Carolina schools make it to Memorial Day weekend this would be a major hit, and it would breed an opportunity to grow the game in the South.
City: Pittsburgh
Venue: Heinz Field
Host: Robert Morris
Lacrosse is actually bigger in Western Pennsylvania than people think. Pitt is rumored to try to move up from the MCLA and start a Division I team. With that said it’s a haul for almost any fanbase of a major program to drive to Pittsburgh; four hours from Baltimore, six hours from NYC, nine hours from Boston and five hours from Philly. Attendance would sort of live/die on whether Penn State makes it. Still, there’s prime potential here.
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Less-Likely But Potential Candidates
City: Cleveland
Venue: First-Energy Stadium
Cleveland State or Ohio State could host but I just don’t feel lacrosse is big enough in this area to draw a decent local crowd.
City: Atlanta
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
It would be cool to see lacrosse played inside of a massive indoor stadium. Mercer seems like the most logical candidate to host and Georgia is becoming a really solid lacrosse area. Atlanta is a college sports town but this might be too big of challenge to host the Final Four, especially with no guarantee of an ACC school or Southern team making it.
City: Denver
Venue: Empower Field
The MLL and PLL have both done Denver with relative success. The only problem with Denver is its location compared to the rest of Division I college lacrosse. Whenever the Denver Pioneers are in the Final Four its a cross-country trip and they bring by far the smallest number of fans (not their fault, its just logistics). If you put the Final Four in Denver you could see the roles reverse. Even if Denver makes it and brings its share of fans it’s hard to see three other programs bring with them the same type of fan presence. It’s a solid idea to consider for the future but in order to ensure sustainable attendance it’s probably best to keep the Final Four on the right side of the Mississippi.
City: Jacksonville
Venue: TIAA Bank Stadium
You have your host school set in Jacksonville as well as a solid venue to host the event, and nobody is going to say no to going to Florida for a long weekend. The only issue is the local crowd draw. Baltimore, Boston and Philly always do well drawing a local crowd to the Final Four. I think people would be interested in Jacksonville but the sport needs to grow a little more in Florida before we put the Final Four there.
City: Green Bay
Venue: Lambeau Field
Simply put this would be all-time. Playing on real grass would be a twist, but I think lacrosse at Lambeau Field 1,000-percent needs to happen. It would be a surreal experience for both the players and fans. Marquette would be a solid host option but like Jacksonville, my issue with Lambeau is the unknown of a local crowd draw.
Flanny's Thoughts 