Lacrosse’s Pinnacle is Memorial Day, not Pro

[Finster]

I just can’t get into professional lacrosse; not in person nor on television.

I’ve got friends who have played it, now I know parents with sons playing, but I simply don’t feel it. I’m happy for the leagues; am I the only lacrosse junkie who has zero feeling about the professional leagues?

Memorial Day championship weekend is it for me. I don’t really care about summer club ball for high school kids either. Crown the D1-2-3 champs, and I exhale for three to four months.

For me, the entire lacrosse schedule ends on Memorial Day. It begins again, tepidly, with Fall ball.

I’m interested in anyone’s thoughts. If you’ve found a way to get into professional lacrosse, let me know what I’m missing. There are good people playing and managing, and I feel some remorse I’m not supporting these folks.

Only thing I can agree with you on Finster

Am I that bad??

[Finster]

I just can’t get into professional lacrosse; not in person nor on television... I feel some remorse I’m not supporting these folks.

I know for me, and believe for many, many lacrosse fans, if the Pro teams were organized like NCAA alumni teams (similar to when there was no pro lacrosse and lacrosse tournaments were composed of (SU alumni, Hobart alumni, etc.), people would be more interested. I believe...

Great idea.

[DoubleD]

More and more ppl are interested. It's lacrosse at the highest level and the best college players we have watched thru the yrs. Like all pro leagues they draft the best players no matter what team they played on in college. As they grow and like next yr have homes for the 8 teams then some can like there hometown team but I know I love college lacrosse so my favorite team is the Redwoods due to a few players I enjoyed watching in college. Now I still get to watch them play and compete with the best. I mean if you enjoy watching an ACC game how can you not enjoy watching a higher level PLL game? I'm a Syracuse fan but can watch any ACC or Big Ten game and enjoy it just like I enjoy watching the PLL. The talent level is ridiculous.

[Mr3Putt]

Agree 1000%. Can’t get into Pro lacrosse. Living in Baltimore we are fortunate . We have the best HS league in the country, along w several Colleges that play at a high level. This other stuff is ok, but not close to the College game.

[MDGrad2012]

The PLL product is 1000X what the MLL ever was. It is fantastic lacrosse. If you haven't given it a shot yet, I really do recommend it. The speed, skill, and intensity is excellent. I also think the rules are well thought out. The change to the 32 second shot clock off of faceoffs was imo an incredible move. Baptiste absolutely dominated on FOs last night, but the Waterdogs still won, and I think it is all about that rule change.

I do agree with the critique about locations and I think they're doing a smart thing in moving to the hybrid model next year. That said, younger sports fans are more and more fans of players not teams. This has been observed by NBA journalists frequently in recent years.

Also, I really hope it keeps growing. 780,000 peak viewers on ABC in the week one game is really impressive! It would be very cool to have 1 million people watching a lacrosse game and we are getting close!

Idk, if you haven't tried it, give it a shot! I was skeptical, but I have had a lot of fun watching it!

[Unknown Participant]

I just can’t get into professional lacrosse; not in person nor on television.

I’ve got friends who have played it, now I know parents with sons playing, but I simply don’t feel it. I’m happy for the leagues; am I the only lacrosse junkie who has zero feeling about the professional leagues?

Memorial Day championship weekend is it for me. I don’t really care about summer club ball for high school kids either. Crown the D1-2-3 champs, and I exhale for three to four months.

For me, the entire lacrosse schedule ends on Memorial Day. It begins again, tepidly, with Fall ball.

I’m interested in anyone’s thoughts. If you’ve found a way to get into professional lacrosse, let me know what I’m missing. There are good people playing and managing, and I feel some remorse I’m not supporting these folks.

If you want to watch some great, highly skilled and compelling lacrosse games, watch this past weekend's games.

[bearlaxfan]

I just can’t get into professional lacrosse; not in person nor on television.

I’ve got friends who have played it, now I know parents with sons playing, but I simply don’t feel it. I’m happy for the leagues; am I the only lacrosse junkie who has zero feeling about the professional leagues?

Memorial Day championship weekend is it for me. I don’t really care about summer club ball for high school kids either. Crown the D1-2-3 champs, and I exhale for three to four months.

For me, the entire lacrosse schedule ends on Memorial Day. It begins again, tepidly, with Fall ball.

I’m interested in anyone’s thoughts. If you’ve found a way to get into professional lacrosse, let me know what I’m missing. There are good people playing and managing, and I feel some remorse I’m not supporting these folks.

If you want to watch some great, highly skilled and compelling lacrosse games, watch this past weekend's games.

I was a long-time Boston Cannons ticket holder, so no hater of the pro game. And before anyone badmouths the MLL, and I realize it had issues, let's see the PLL survive two major recessions like the MLL did- 2001's short but very sharp drop, and 2007 etc, the worst economy since the great depression.

The skill level is great, the 2pt arc keeps games competitive and adds offensive & defensive complexity, the running clock speeds the game, and once the numbnuts at PLL seat teams back into cities/regions it will be a great step forward.
My negatives are the shorter field, I think it's an unnecessary bastardization, and the I-don't-know-what, adolescent focus-group picked team names? Waterdogs? Whipsnakes? And (pedant alert), no "The"??? It's The Cannons. The Archers. The Whipsnakes (yech).
And the barnstorming format.

[FannOLax]

The PLL product is 1000X what the MLL ever was. It is fantastic lacrosse. If you haven't given it a shot yet, I really do recommend it. The speed, skill, and intensity is excellent...
....
if you haven't tried it, give it a shot! I was skeptical, but I have had a lot of fun watching it!

I've given it a shot. I find it watchable.

On the down side, I don't know which team to root for in any PLL game, so I don't care who wins. Sometimes, watching some sports, the same is true, but in college lacrosse I always end up pulling for one of the two teams and against the other. Plus, I have some idea of of the the history and tradition (or sometimes, lack thereof) of the college teams and their programs, which adds to the viewing experience; maybe some day the PLL will get there, but for now it seems conspicuously absent. I also disagree about the intensity; to me, there simply appears to be more in the college game.

So, I care about college games, and find them far more entertaining and absorbing, from February through to Memorial Day weekend. It's possible that people said similar things about college football relative to the NFL back in the 1960s and before; I don't know.

[Chousnake]

Sports is about winning and losing and emotional attachment to a team. I can't remember which team is which (is Jeff Teat on the Atlas or Chrome? - is it Waterdogs or Whipsnakes?). While I appreciate the uptempo pace, the PLL is too frantic and the short field changes the game too much. Lastly, the barnstorming and lack of geographic tie ins is a complete failure. Without a rooting interest and emotional investment in a team, there is no point in watching. We watch to see OUR teams win or a team we don't like lose. Without that, it's like going to see a play or an opera.

[DukeSilver410]

This is exactly the same as how I feel about professional lacrosse. Happy it exists. May watch for a bit if I'm surfing through the channels. Glad it seems to be growing, young kids like it, and that ambitious lacrosse people are leading it but memorial day weekend is still it for me as well.

I just can’t get into professional lacrosse; not in person nor on television.

I’ve got friends who have played it, now I know parents with sons playing, but I simply don’t feel it. I’m happy for the leagues; am I the only lacrosse junkie who has zero feeling about the professional leagues?

Memorial Day championship weekend is it for me. I don’t really care about summer club ball for high school kids either. Crown the D1-2-3 champs, and I exhale for three to four months.

For me, the entire lacrosse schedule ends on Memorial Day. It begins again, tepidly, with Fall ball.

I’m interested in anyone’s thoughts. If you’ve found a way to get into professional lacrosse, let me know what I’m missing. There are good people playing and managing, and I feel some remorse I’m not supporting these folks.

[thatsmell]

How is PLL attendance? My guess is not great. The PLL was begging for people to be in the stands last week in Baltimore. The emails flying from the PLL HQ office asking rec/club teams and programs to attend were plentiful.
The best thing I can say about the PLL is that I like having lax on tv in the background on weekends during the summer. A lot better than golf.

[mdk01]

How is PLL attendance? My guess is not great. The PLL was begging for people to be in the stands last week in Baltimore. The emails flying from the PLL HQ office asking rec/club teams and programs to attend were plentiful.
The best thing I can say about the PLL is that I like having lax on tv in the background on weekends during the summer. A lot better than golf.

Attendance doesn't hold a candle to MDW, nor a decent number of ACC and B1G regular season games. But PLL does beat the hell out of watching the Yankees this summer.

I think the barnstorming actually holds down attendance as even if you liked the games you will not see any of the teams live against until next summer.

[Unknown Participant]

How is PLL attendance? My guess is not great. The PLL was begging for people to be in the stands last week in Baltimore. The emails flying from the PLL HQ office asking rec/club teams and programs to attend were plentiful.
The best thing I can say about the PLL is that I like having lax on tv in the background on weekends during the summer. A lot better than golf.

Maybe, I don't know. I went w/a son to Fairfield on Saturday and the Friday games had sold out. Saturday was pretty full I would say 80-85% capacity. I heard (and saw) that the games at Hopkins had good attendance and Denver this past weekend seemed pretty packed. Maybe you are just a hater?

[thatsmell]

How is PLL attendance? My guess is not great. The PLL was begging for people to be in the stands last week in Baltimore. The emails flying from the PLL HQ office asking rec/club teams and programs to attend were plentiful.
The best thing I can say about the PLL is that I like having lax on tv in the background on weekends during the summer. A lot better than golf.

Maybe, I don't know. I went w/a son to Fairfield on Saturday and the Friday games had sold out. Saturday was pretty full I would say 80-85% capacity. I heard (and saw) that the games at Hopkins had good attendance and Denver this past weekend seemed pretty packed. Maybe you are just a hater?

It's been a regular topic of discussion since the league's inception. And the PLL has been very cagy with attendance numbers throughout it's lifespan. The big stadiums with empty stands were regularly shown via attendee pictures and TV screen caps up until this year.

I know the league went to smaller venues this year, and it looks much better. I personally like lax in stadiums of this size. Fairfield seats what 3k, 3500? Columbus/Ohio State 2300? Hopkins probably the largest at 8200?

Reporting 10-16K per "weekend" attendance is no better than what the MLL was doing with a "home team" model in their "bad" years, averaging 5.6K. The media deals with the PLL are obviously better than MLL, which is good for the game.

It's not hating, just discussion.

All the backup info below:

PLL fights for fans: https://frontofficesports.com/the-premi ... -for-fans/

MLL Attendance History: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/D ... s/MLL.aspx

CT (Fairfiald): https://laxallstars.com/pll-sells-out-in-connecticut/

https://fairfieldstags.com/facilities/c ... ing%20room.

Columbus (OH St) : https://laxallstars.com/quint-kessenich ... takeaways/

https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/ ... on-stadium

[renault]

I just can’t get into professional lacrosse; not in person nor on television.

I’ve got friends who have played it, now I know parents with sons playing, but I simply don’t feel it. I’m happy for the leagues; am I the only lacrosse junkie who has zero feeling about the professional leagues?

Memorial Day championship weekend is it for me. I don’t really care about summer club ball for high school kids either. Crown the D1-2-3 champs, and I exhale for three to four months.

For me, the entire lacrosse schedule ends on Memorial Day. It begins again, tepidly, with Fall ball.

I’m interested in anyone’s thoughts. If you’ve found a way to get into professional lacrosse, let me know what I’m missing. There are good people playing and managing, and I feel some remorse I’m not supporting these folks.

If you want to watch some great, highly skilled and compelling lacrosse games, watch this past weekend's games.

I was a long-time Boston Cannons ticket holder, so no hater of the pro game. And before anyone badmouths the MLL, and I realize it had issues, let's see the PLL survive two major recessions like the MLL did- 2001's short but very sharp drop, and 2007 etc, the worst economy since the great depression.

The skill level is great, the 2pt arc keeps games competitive and adds offensive & defensive complexity, the running clock speeds the game, and once the numbnuts at PLL seat teams back into cities/regions it will be a great step forward.
My negatives are the shorter field, I think it's an unnecessary bastardization, and the I-don't-know-what, adolescent focus-group picked team names? Waterdogs? Whipsnakes? And (pedant alert), no "The"??? It's The Cannons. The Archers. The Whipsnakes (yech).
And the barnstorming format.

This drives me absolutely bonkers, this and the whole "lacrosse club" thing. And hell, just naming it "Premier." American sports are too pedestrian for Rabil?

The entire thing is just unbelievably cringe-worthy.

[Farfromgeneva]

I just can’t get into professional lacrosse; not in person nor on television.

I’ve got friends who have played it, now I know parents with sons playing, but I simply don’t feel it. I’m happy for the leagues; am I the only lacrosse junkie who has zero feeling about the professional leagues?

Memorial Day championship weekend is it for me. I don’t really care about summer club ball for high school kids either. Crown the D1-2-3 champs, and I exhale for three to four months.

For me, the entire lacrosse schedule ends on Memorial Day. It begins again, tepidly, with Fall ball.

I’m interested in anyone’s thoughts. If you’ve found a way to get into professional lacrosse, let me know what I’m missing. There are good people playing and managing, and I feel some remorse I’m not supporting these folks.

If you want to watch some great, highly skilled and compelling lacrosse games, watch this past weekend's games.

I was a long-time Boston Cannons ticket holder, so no hater of the pro game. And before anyone badmouths the MLL, and I realize it had issues, let's see the PLL survive two major recessions like the MLL did- 2001's short but very sharp drop, and 2007 etc, the worst economy since the great depression.

The skill level is great, the 2pt arc keeps games competitive and adds offensive & defensive complexity, the running clock speeds the game, and once the numbnuts at PLL seat teams back into cities/regions it will be a great step forward.
My negatives are the shorter field, I think it's an unnecessary bastardization, and the I-don't-know-what, adolescent focus-group picked team names? Waterdogs? Whipsnakes? And (pedant alert), no "The"??? It's The Cannons. The Archers. The Whipsnakes (yech).
And the barnstorming format.

The major point being this was dreamed up by a guy who has no professional experience of note pre financial crisis, only in a 0% interest rate world with 3-4% the money supply. Feels like something that will get hammered in a cycle