NCAA Look to Figure Out Attendance Decrease

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and lacrosse coaches are in the midst of trying to find a way to increase dwindling attendances for the sport’s flagship event.

Attendances have decreased from 48,970 in 2008 to 28,224, or 42 percent, in August initiating an NCAA committee that oversees championships to discuss the matter further. The Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association has appointed a committee to research the issue and report its findings to the NCAA.

The decline comes as the sport is setting records for participation. The number of high school boys’ and girls’ lacrosse programs increased 30 percent between 2007-08 and 2011-12, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations participation report. The number of men’s and women’s teams in the NCAA’s top division rose 16 percent since 2007-2008, according to the NCAA.

“We want to see if we can get back to some of the numbers we had in the past,” said Anthony Holman, the NCAA’s associate director of championships and alliances. “But we don’t want to be too quick to react, thinking something is broken.”

Attendance at the women’s championship, which draws about a third of the men’s, has risen for two years.

Among the potential reasons for the decline that will be explored are more television exposure, higher ticket prices and the tradition of holding the event Memorial Day weekend, Holman said.

“Five to 10 years ago, if you wanted to see top level lacrosse you were going to come to our championship,” Holman said. “But the things that used to be unique to our championship aren’t necessarily unique anymore.”

Broadcast Viewers Increase

Holman says fans used to look forward to one opportunity to see the best players in the nation gather on championship weekend. Now, they watch them all year at home. ESPN broadcast 35 regular-season games this past season, averaging 51,000 viewers per telecast across three ESPN channels.

The TV audience for the championship game was 496,000 U.S. households this May, up 27 percent from last year, according to the network.

“We’re not burying our heads in the sand,” Holman said in an interview. “There is an uninttended consequence to growth, broadcasts and exposure.”