"Is Lacrosse on the Cusp of a Division I Sponsorship Explosion?"

From Athletic Business

Review by Meryssa Wacholder in KIN 501

Could men’s college lacrosse ever be on the same page as college football or college basketball? Is men’s lacrosse going to be the next big thing for Division I college athletic departments? The University of Michigan has realized the potential impact men’s lacrosse can have and has added a men’s Division I varsity lacrosse program to their athletic department. The article, “Is lacrosse on the Cusp of a Division I Sponsorship Explosion?”, discusses the University of Michigan’s decision to add a Division I men’s lacrosse program last year and what this decision will mean in terms of sponsorship for both the university and the sport. 

Men’s lacrosse is by no means a new concept for the University of Michigan. The wolverines have had a very successful men’s club lacrosse team for several years. In fact, the club team was considered by many to be the best in the nation, winning three consecutive club national championships since 2008. By making this jump from a club program to a Division I program, Michigan became the first BCS school to add a varsity program in 31 years. The last school to make this addition was Notre Dame in 1981. Although Michigan only won one game in their first season as a Division I team, the impact it has had on the school and the sport itself has not gone unnoticed. The article discusses how the University of Michigan is a high profile school athletically and by them making this addition, it may spark other BCS schools to do the same (Steinbach, 2012). By having such a well-known name or brand associated with men’s lacrosse, it helps promote the sport and likely help increase its popularity. Unlike football or basketball, college lacrosse is the highest level of play for a lacrosse player. The MLL (Major League Lacrosse) and the PLL (Professional Lacrosse League), the two professional leagues for lacrosse, lack the attention and popularity the collegiate game receives. Since 2003, the Division I men’s championship game has averaged an attendance of 40,000, ranking it in the top three for NCAA championship games in terms of attendance. The article stated that lacrosse is the NCAA’s fastest growing sport with participation numbers up 7,278 between 2006 and 2011 (Steinbach, 2012). This is huge for college athletic departments because as the sport continues to grow in popularity and becomes more of a demand, lacrosse is something athletic departments are going to have to consider adding if they have not already.

Men’s lacrosse has the power to change a school’s profile. This has been proven successful at the Division III level. Baldwin-Wallace College was mentioned in the article for this exact reason. They plan to add both a men’s and a women’s program in 2014. The school’s athletic spokesperson stated, “It is natural for us, not only from the standpoint of diversifying the options for students, but as a trend for growing admission.” (Steinbach, 2012). For schools like Baldwin-Wallace who may be hurting for students in the local geographic area, having these new options helps greatly, they are able to reach other areas of the country where lacrosse is well known and established. As far as large DI schools are concerned, lacrosse has the opportunity to change their image drastically especially if they do not have a BCS football team. School’s with a BCS football team may not need a new profile because they are already well established and recognized, their brand is already out there. However for big schools without football, having a men’s Division I lacrosse program can help the school reach a new demographic, play big-name schools like Ohio State or Notre Dame who they would not normally get to play, and possibly get the chance to have their school and team televised on national television. This is all huge in terms of promoting your school and your athletic department.

Men’s lacrosse at the Division I level is something that could take effect in the near future. With Syracuse leaving the Big East Conference and joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC has expanded its four-team dominant program. This creates the opportunity to establish a six-team ACC lacrosse conference, allowing for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. This provides a great opportunity for a Virginia Tech or a Florida State to seriously consider adding a program; they would be part of a conference with some of the best lacrosse schools in the country all of whom would be visiting their campus. Expansion in the West is also a high probability according to the article (Steinbach, 2012). The women’s game is very popular there already. For the University of Michigan, adding a men’s lacrosse program seemed to be a no brainer for their athletic department. The school’s athletic director claims, “The sport will afford us the ability to travel to places the maize and blue have not typically gone.” He believes it will help their brand (Steinbach, 2012).

I really liked the article and thought it did a good job of identifying the potential benefits a school could gain by adding a Division I men’s lacrosse program. I could relate to the article because in the Northeast lacrosse is very big and it was very popular at my college, so I was shocked to learn so few BCS schools had a Division I team. I found this article to be very applicable to my field of interest, college athletic administration, because this could be a situation I am faced with in the future. The only thing I wish the article addressed more was the actual sponsorship opportunities that were being created or established with the University of Michigan and their new program. Are they going to use the same sponsors as their football program and if not, how are they going to market their new program to gain sponsors? I felt like the article talked more about how Michigan was being a sponsor for the sport. All in all, I felt it was a very interesting and well-written article and a must read for anyone interested in working in college athletics.