MLL and lacrosse growing

[supershot666]

ok well i got into a heated debate with my uncle tonight and we came to a deal. i said that lacrosse will be as big if not bigger that than football in my uncles lifetime. seeing as he is only 51 and we are expecting atleast another good 40 years outa him i think it will happen. who do you guys think is right me or him. will lacrosse be as big or bigger than football in 40 years? it has blown up alot in the last few years.

[ItalyLaxer11]

I'm sorry but u have to look at the regions that lax is truly mainstream in, the northeast and west, however the states that are experiencing the most growth are in the south and midwest...two regions where football is deeply entrenched

[tiplax]

no, it will never be as big as football, let alone bigger

regardless of how people say "Baseball is America's past time" football is the favorite most entertaining sport in America

i wish lacrosse would be that big, and i know it is more exciting, but beacuse football got such a head start, it will always be more popular than lacrosse due to history

the only way lacrosse could win it out, would be if somehow the NFL collapsed due lack of funding(would never happen) or bad public image and people rejecting it cause it sets a bad exmple like Mike Vick, Pacman + some steriods and strippers(it will still never happen)

[spenny]

just payup now. ive watched the exponential growth of lax for close to thirty years now (i started playing in 1979), even doubling or tripling that you wont even come close, particularly since the game cant expand at the college D1 level.

[Dlaxer6]

it will be alot bigger but not bigger than football, maybee hockey or soccer

[baseballsucks]

it has the potential to be extremely large. think about it. 300 high school varsity lacrosse programs alone have developed a high school program in the past 2 years, no telling how many programs within all leagues from youth to college. This was within 2 years, just stop and think of the vast amount that really is. (how many high schools are within a 200 mile vicinity of where you live, maybe 30-35.) the sport is going to be huge, and who knows people might just get bored of football like they have baseball in the past few years, baseball ratings have dropped significantly in the past few years, this could just as easily happen to football in the next 10-20 years. football is same old, same old, to many many people, but when they see this sport, fast paced, may be new to them, hard-hitting, there very well might inherit lacrosse into their daily t.v. schedule, canceling out football, and learning more and more about this sport. eventually this will spread to friends and families across the world. this could easily be done in 20, years much less 40. this is all just what i see is happening in my entire community and many of yours and it is only getting better for us.


And besides who are all of you, to say that this could never happen, you most definitely cannot think in the future 40 years, if you can, then please pm me the link or the source or something, cause you, my friend, have something useful.(incredible amount of sarcasm)

and by the way lacrosse doesn't need to grow everywhere in the world, only the u.s., this is because football is actually only incredibly popular in the u.s.
in other countries the most popular would probably be in the range of soccer(Europe)and(South America), rugby(Australia), and cricket(India).

So supershot666, i think you made a very smart bet considering all that i have just mentioned.

[THALAX]

Even if title IX were changed, and if equipment was cheaper, there is no way that lax will be as popular as football. I do think that it could surpass baseball though.

[moondog]

A REMARKABLE proportion of United States men, ages 18-55, sit on their butts, overeat, drink, and watch all the college and pro football games on Saturday and Sunday (and MNF).

A REMARKABLE proportion of Americans are lazy, and consume too much, and football on all day Saturday and Sunday helps them perpetuate that.

I just read that JHU med. school projected that in 10 years, 3 out of 4 people in the United States will be overweight. Makes me freaking sick...

Lax will get big, but not as big as football.

[singsingallstar]

i think it will be bigger once lacrosse componies lower the prices of their pads, but thats it. really alot of people don't try to play because its so expensive.

[Midlax0223]

no way. football has been around for many decades, longer than 40 years. and with more cities getting new football teams, it will continue to grow. i wish it will, but lax will never be as big as football

[czechinthepipes]

I concur, lacrosse will most likely never be as big as football unless a few things happen. For example: get almost all young kids to play lacrosse instead of baseball, football, soccer and basketball which are all easily the most popular sports for the youth (not too expensive, fun to play, influence from family etc..). Also last time a checked baseball, soccer and basketball were still the most popular sports for younger kids overall, not lacrosse. If they would instead play lacrosse then it would grow drastically but I don't see that happening. Also the fact that baseball and football (and other sports) have so so many years on lacrosse that hurts its chances even more.
Also as moondog said more people love sitting down, eating and watching college or pro football on saturdays and sundays, unless that changes (which I dont see how it will happen) the sport will stay popular.
One last thing, not calling you out or anything Baseballsucks but you should site your sources or give proof before making drastic claims that baseballs' popularity is dropping tremendously.

I would love to see lacrosse grow to the size of football, but it probably wont happen and it definitely wont be as big in 40 years. Maybe a 100 years but no sooner.

[wolfenburg]

Well if I consider Germany and football as American football, than maybe Lacrosse will be bigger than football in 40 years.

[XxlacrossexX]

Anyone who says it will be bigger than soccer is just plain ignorant. Soccer is the biggest sport IN THE WORLD. Stop discussing this topic. Your uncle will win, football has to big of a headstart for lacrosse to come back and be bigger than football.

[LiquidMercury16]

Yah sorry bud but your lost here. One reason lacrosse truly will never beat out football is title IX. Unless that gets changed there is no hope.

[stegmakk]

Lacrosse COULD eventually take over Football (american football). I'm not sure if it could do it in 40 years. Probably longer. However some extreme series of events could propel the sport.
It could NEVER take the place of baseball unfortunately.

I think in maybe 20 years, lax could overtake hockey (in the US). At such a time I am sure sports reporters/analysts will cover it immensley (When per game attendance for lax surpasses that of hockey) as a big turning point and how Lax is now the #4 sport behind baseball/football/basketball. This in itself will have a huge positive PR effect/influx of interest, yet I still do not see it beating football in 40 years.

[baseballsucks]

i do not know what the exact source was, but i know for sure it was on a thread a few weeks ago, and i will try to search for it and when i find it i will for sure post it or pm it to you or something.

[MiddieMan05]

I think the next few year are going to be critical in lacrosse's development into a major sport. With the ESPN2 deal, lacrosse has finally been put into the national spotlight and has been given a chance to prosper. If it does well, ESPN will find it as a profitable market, and so go deeper into lacrosse, putting it on the bottomline, getting more coverage, and even maybe getting a few more ILTV shows. But, if it does poorly, ESPN might drop it, and lacrosse would sit in the basement for another few years before ESPN gives it another go.

[baseballsucks]

a can almost guarantee that no one that has posted in this thread is over 30. I think we all need to quit discussing this because absolutely no one can tell what the sports world is going to be like in 40 years, i don't care if it is a rare chance, it is possible, no matter what anyone has said, there is a chance of it becoming bigger than football. period.

[jofc]

The sport of lacrosse has been around for hundreds of years and has only gotten this far. I'd lay a good guess that the next 40 years won't be anything spectacular.

[lax@wwu21]

Well if I consider Germany and football as American football, than maybe Lacrosse will be bigger than football in 40 years.

That's like saying Lacrosse will get bigger than soccer (eurer Fussball). Won't happen.

Baseball is the American Pastime. It happens during the best weather conditions (late spring to early fall).

No one wants to go watch a game and get drenched. I barely watched my girlfriend's game because of the weather (and that it is Women's Lacrosse...)

Lacrosse doesn't really stand a chance because of its new start.

Kids grow up watching baseball and football and want to be like their favorite player. How do they become like their favorite player? They play the sport.

Lacrosse has a very high turnover rate as far as players go. Sure you might have the Powell Sisters, the Gaits, Kyle Harrison, but you don't have the players kids aspire to be. I wanted to play first base because my favorite player (Andreas Galaraga) played first base. So did Fred McGriff.

There isn't the time to sit back and relax while watching lacrosse because of the pace of the sport. Plus, the balls are really small. You don't have to worry about that in baseball or football because everything is made easy to digest and follow. Stats are given, commentators talk about the plays made in the down time etc. There just isn't the opportunity to do that because Lacrosse is, "the fastest game on two legs/feet." Its own success will be its demise as far as popularity goes.

[GoBucks]

Lacrosse will never catch football. Football is the lion, the king of the jungle, de king of de castle. Come to think of it, no sport will ever catch football.

[OldGoalie]

I am over 30, and so is spenny. Having played for 20+ years, I have also witnessed tremendous growth in the game, including the explosion of youth leagues and high school programs, as well as the (re)birth of a professional outdoor league (and now two of them!) Still, lax will not make it anywhere near football and baseball in terms of $ or audience because:

1) History/Culture: Pro football and baseball (and even basketball!) have been around way too long, and have a HUGE head start in the U.S. They are entrenched in our culture. Think about it - Sundays are essentially a cultural phenomen in the U.S. with men and women setting aside a good portion of the day to watch football, and feeder products/services all around it (TV networks, food, beer, ticket brokers, etc.) The Superbowl is a major world happening now. Baseball has even deeper roots, played across the country in sandlots and empty fields, and the arrival of spring brings the reminders of American history, the fan's youth and past experience playing. These cultural tendencies don't change easily or quickly. The Oscars are still the dominant world entertainment event 79 years later despite the presence of the MTV Music Awards, Video Awards, ESPY's, etc. etc.

2) Identification: Football and baseball are much easier sports for the layman or "everyman" to identify with, and are much more accessible. No matter what kind of shape people are in, who hasn't owned a glove and a ball, tossed a baseball or football around, played a game of sandlot football or baseball, or shot hoops? Yes lax only requires a stick, but the stick skills take work, wheras throwing a football or baseball doesn't. Football and baseball don't require large goals, and there are basketball hoops everywhere. Lax, while tremendous to play and watch for us, is still "strange" to most people, and is a niche sport.

3) Money, money and money. Broad, free-spending audiences in football and baseball drive tremendous revenues, which continue to "feed the machine" so to speak. More money = more promotion/coverage = more attention = more ticket and merchandise sales & more advertising revenue = more coverage, etc. Cities and towns go out of their way to accomodate teams in terms of economic incentives, in order to reap larger benefits (jobs, tourism revenue, etc.) This tightens the political, social and economic ties that baseball and football team owners and organizations have with major cities and states, leaving less room for smaller competitors to "own the relationship." At the college level, football drives tremendous revenue and alumni support, whereas college lax, even in big time programs, does not. This determines where the attention gets placed. Basically, the bottom line is that money talks. Unless and until lax delivers big dollars to colleges and pro teams, it will never catch up.

4) Distribution: Lax is predominant in only a few pockets in the U.S. Baseball and football are everywhere, and have been for a very long time. And in many cases, even the poorest of schools can afford to outfit a baseball or football team (football, admittedly, a bit less so) to compete. Spreading it requires expertise and money to fund programs. Title IX certainly limits that, but so does the relatively brief history of organized lax in this country, which limits the coaching talent pool.

So, in summary - I think 40 years is a bad bet for you. I think lax will equal (and maybe even surpass) the interest level and revenue of professional soccer in this country, and maybe hockey (though that has a long history as well) but it will never overtake football, baseball or basketball.

[OldGoalie]

I think the next few year are going to be critical in lacrosse's development into a major sport. With the ESPN2 deal, lacrosse has finally been put into the national spotlight and has been given a chance to prosper. If it does well, ESPN will find it as a profitable market, and so go deeper into lacrosse, putting it on the bottomline, getting more coverage, and even maybe getting a few more ILTV shows. But, if it does poorly, ESPN might drop it, and lacrosse would sit in the basement for another few years before ESPN gives it another go.

I agree the ESPN deal is helpful, and it's great to see, but the ESPN deal is really for ESPN2, and the content is put on at times that most people can't/won't watch unless they are looking for it. It has to draw decent ratings in more than just the core markets (NY, MD, etc.) before it can be considered in the national spotlight.

[baseballsucks]

I am over 30, and so is spenny. Having played for 20+ years, I have also witnessed tremendous growth in the game, including the explosion of youth leagues and high school programs, as well as the (re)birth of a professional outdoor league (and now two of them!) Still, lax will not make it anywhere near football and baseball in terms of $ or audience because:

1) History/Culture: Pro football and baseball (and even basketball!) have been around way too long, and have a HUGE head start in the U.S. They are entrenched in our culture. Think about it - Sundays are essentially a cultural phenomen in the U.S. with men and women setting aside a good portion of the day to watch football, and feeder products/services all around it (TV networks, food, beer, ticket brokers, etc.) The Superbowl is a major world happening now. Baseball has even deeper roots, played across the country in sandlots and empty fields, and the arrival of spring brings the reminders of American history, the fan's youth and past experience playing. These cultural tendencies don't change easily or quickly. The Oscars are still the dominant world entertainment event 79 years later despite the presence of the MTV Music Awards, Video Awards, ESPY's, etc. etc.

2) Identification: Football and baseball are much easier sports for the layman or "everyman" to identify with, and are much more accessible. No matter what kind of shape people are in, who hasn't owned a glove and a ball, tossed a baseball or football around, played a game of sandlot football or baseball, or shot hoops? Yes lax only requires a stick, but the stick skills take work, wheras throwing a football or baseball doesn't. Football and baseball don't require large goals, and there are basketball hoops everywhere. Lax, while tremendous to play and watch for us, is still "strange" to most people, and is a niche sport.

3) Money, money and money. Broad, free-spending audiences in football and baseball drive tremendous revenues, which continue to "feed the machine" so to speak. More money = more promotion/coverage = more attention = more ticket and merchandise sales & more advertising revenue = more coverage, etc. Cities and towns go out of their way to accomodate teams in terms of economic incentives, in order to reap larger benefits (jobs, tourism revenue, etc.) This tightens the political, social and economic ties that baseball and football team owners and organizations have with major cities and states, leaving less room for smaller competitors to "own the relationship." At the college level, football drives tremendous revenue and alumni support, whereas college lax, even in big time programs, does not. This determines where the attention gets placed. Basically, the bottom line is that money talks. Unless and until lax delivers big dollars to colleges and pro teams, it will never catch up.

4) Distribution: Lax is predominant in only a few pockets in the U.S. Baseball and football are everywhere, and have been for a very long time. And in many cases, even the poorest of schools can afford to outfit a baseball or football team (football, admittedly, a bit less so) to compete. Spreading it requires expertise and money to fund programs. Title IX certainly limits that, but so does the relatively brief history of organized lax in this country, which limits the coaching talent pool.

So, in summary - I think 40 years is a bad bet for you. I think lax will equal (and maybe even surpass) the interest level and revenue of professional soccer in this country, and maybe hockey (though that has a long history as well) but it will never overtake football, baseball or basketball.
very well put. i have changed my mind, and if anyone tries to argue with him, then you are an idiot.

[jofc]

There isn't the time to sit back and relax while watching lacrosse because of the pace of the sport. Plus, the balls are really small. You don't have to worry about that in baseball or football because everything is made easy to digest and follow. Stats are given, commentators talk about the plays made in the down time etc. There just isn't the opportunity to do that because Lacrosse is, "the fastest game on two legs/feet." Its own success will be its demise as far as popularity goes.


Another great point. Look at the big three sports in America:

Football. plays last ~10 seconds
Basketball. plays can last for a while but average ~24 seconds
Baseball. plays, if they actually happen, last ~5 seconds

Very short plays mean that the announcers have tons of time to BS about stuff that has no bearing on the game.

Now look at hockey and soccer. each are accepted sports in the US but are less popular. each also can have little stoppage in play for the announcers to talk about other things besides the game. usually when this happens in hockey, the commentator is cutoff by a scoring chance or something. I guess lacrosse is just too fast for uninterested American eyes.

[CanuckLax]

I think that lacrosse becoming more popular than football, while unlikely, is probabley still more likely to happen than your uncle making it to 91...

[emart]

i do not know if any sport will be larger than football in fourty years.

[kl3zero]

football is the biggest sport in this country and there is no way any sport could get bigger then it. don't get me wrong i love lacrosse but i say no way it will be bigger then football unless the NFL goes like bankrupt or something lol

[WinnersLacrosse]

see...its attitudes like this that keep the sport from expanding

[spenny]

see...its attitudes like this that keep the sport from expanding

I dont undertand what you mean

[Rosie411]

mabey bigger than hockey, basketball, and perhaps in 40 years baseball (whos popularity is slowly decreasing) but i think football is just a sport people can pick up.. you can go to any dicks and for 10 bucks or less buy a football... and you thts all you need

[Dlaxer6]

i really doubt that it will ever surpass football but i would be very happy if it even got as big as soccer all the way across the u.s. (not just on the east coast). But what about NASCAR will it ever beat that. i hope so

[bonebrakr12]

a quick summary: BASEBALL SUCKS AND LACROSSE WILL BECOME HUGER( pardon my grammar its summer time cumon!). well all my freinds say they h8 lacrosse...theyre all into baseball...sack(:thumbsup: ), i hope lax grows big

[kevLAXpro]

a quick summary: BASEBALL SUCKS AND LACROSSE WILL BECOME HUGER( pardon my grammar its summer time cumon!). well all my freinds say they h8 lacrosse...theyre all into baseball...sack(:thumbsup: ), i hope lax grows big

thats exactly what my baseball friends say

[moondog]

mabey bigger than hockey, basketball, and perhaps in 40 years baseball (whos popularity is slowly decreasing) but i think football is just a sport people can pick up.. you can go to any dicks and for 10 bucks or less buy a football... and you thts all you need

Baseball is currently setting record attendance numbers at ballgames.

The World Series ratings are down because the last couple teams to win (Cardinals, White Sox) are not very popular teams.

If the Red Sox (or Yankees for that matter) meet the Cubs in the World Series, it will have one of the highest Nielsen ratings EVER--without a doubt.

It all depends on what teams get to the series.

And if the Cubs win the series, there will be a global riot, and the Earth will ultimately implode, since there are Cubs fans everywhere--even Siberia...

[ron_burgundy]

yeah this is never going to happen. keep in mind there is a very distinct possibility that lacrosse is the next skateboarding and its exponential growth will slow down hard after a few years. i dont think this will happen because lacrosse has much more concrete foundations than the skateboard trend, but its highly likely that the growth of lacrosse will level off at some point.

personally i think the key to the growth of lacrosse is the MLL. right now, the premier level of lacrosse is a glorified club league. its sort of like arena football...theres not too much interest in that besides ESPN ramming it down viewers' throats. who wants to watch a bunch of dudes with day jobs play games on the weekends? oh wait, arena football fills up arenas and the MLL is lucky to get a few thousand to a game. that gives you some idea of how far ahead football is...even a BS version of football with subpar athletes far outdraws the best lacrosse there is. also consider...how many people who attend MLL games play lacrosse? its essentially a prerequisite for buying tickets. sports like football and baseball are appealing to everyone regardless of whether they play currently or played in the past.