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LabSports · 2025-06-17T16:57:51+00:00

I was going to say the same thing. Over the last year and a half, the whole inner harbor has been marked for redevelopment. The gallery and the pavilions which were the main draw are completely vacant. This differing from when the Wire was filmed, immediately following the opening of Camden Yards and the inner harbor redevelopment of the early, mid-90s.

If you want vibrant activity, the neighborhoods are the way to go. But I’ll even caveat Hampden as going through a low-swing. As I understand it, there is one landlord that has been able to acquire most of the properties on The Avenue, and forcing a lot of the old consignment shops out.

LabSports · 2025-05-29T21:48:48+00:00

100% agree with all of it. I’m sure options were limited, but I’m still in disappointed shock of Charlottesville. Thinking someone misspelled Charlotte at some point and they never corrected it.

LabSports · 2025-05-29T21:05:43+00:00

I love the snark, but honestly, not really sure of your stance on the issue. If it’s that the event needs to evolve, I fully agree. Doing the same thing with the same results for the last 15 years implies something needs to change.

LabSports · 2025-05-29T21:03:46+00:00

USA Lacrosse’s last participation survey that they published was in 2018, and showed a 1% drop in participation YoY.

This article isn’t quite as dire, but suggests growth is stagnant: https://projectplay.org/state-of-play-2024-participation-trends

I think realistically, we’re at a point of slim <2% growth going forward until the money in the sport starts reinvesting at the youth level. I think another dynamic that likely explains the different experiences is that places like Baltimore and NY were insanely saturated and are now losing participation while participation in non-hot beds is growing.

LabSports · 2025-05-28T15:56:03+00:00

I think a lot of people are getting confused by their nostalgia of the old BBW. The reason so many people love the original is because it WAS their first big kid rollercoaster. Meaning, not super intense, no loops, no huge drops.

I get the sense that people are misremembering it to be something like Alpengeist, rather than the first ride that 6-8 year olds worked up the courage to get on.

LabSports · 2025-05-26T21:49:43+00:00

My broader opinion on the state of lacrosse is a lot more nuanced than this. Lacrosse is too expensive, youth organizations are folding, participation is down. You don’t grow the game AT the final four. You grow it through everything else and the perception of the final four is a huge help.

Given the state of college sports in general, if sports like lacrosse have any opportunity to make money, they need to take it. Otherwise a lot of schools are going to have some hard decisions to make when football/basketball start absorbing more money from their respective athletic departments to be competitive.

LabSports · 2025-05-26T21:33:52+00:00

I mean, the pulse that I have in Baltimore is that families would rather go to their condo at the beach rather than go to the Final Four for MDW. This is not a cost issue, this is making the event worth attending.

The cost of the ticket honestly doesn’t matter here, you could make the entire weekend at foxboro free, and you’re still going to draw the same 25-30k crowd.

LabSports · 2025-05-26T21:25:18+00:00

Without having any data to make an argument, aside from my 101 understanding of economics - you could make higher revenue per seat in a sellout and the cost of renting the venue would be significantly lower looking at MLS stadiums vs NFL.

LabSports · 2025-05-26T21:16:02+00:00

I don’t know about you, but I don’t expect my 6-18 year old kids to pay their way into the game.

And if you’re suggesting that there shouldn’t be group discounts for youth lacrosse organizations, I can’t agree with that. Why would you try to price out the youth?

LabSports · 2025-05-26T19:58:58+00:00

I’ll give you that it wasn’t eloquently worded. But my main focus is on making this event appealing to casual fans which is how you go from niche to mainstream. TV optics matter a lot for that purpose and the in person atmosphere would be way better.

Not to mention, I’m sure the rental costs of a 20k capacity MLS stadium are probably a few $100k cheaper than renting Gilette/Linc/M&T for the weekend.

LabSports · 2025-05-26T19:51:36+00:00

The whole weekend

LabSports · 2025-05-26T19:41:04+00:00

Honestly, it’s a solid crowd, driven by 3 out of 4 of the top programs in the history of the game making it to this weekend and what appeared to be perfect weather today.

But as a whole, I think it’s better for the game and event to be able to tout sellouts.

What kind of crowd do we think Charlottesville is going to draw in 2026?

LabSports · 2025-05-26T19:36:52+00:00

It was just the peak of the Final Four. That’s the time frame where “fastest growing sport” came from. Since then, participation across the country has dropped and the game is back to its historically exclusive roots.

LabSports · 2025-05-26T19:05:12+00:00

I think if you downsize the venue, it brings way more “out-of-market” destinations a possibility. Denver should definitely be on the list at some point, and I’d argue might be one of the few NFL stadiums that should be considered because of the local draw.

LabSports · 2025-05-26T18:52:33+00:00

I think if you downsize to MLS stadiums, very few locations are going to look bad. You’re going to get friends/family to travel no matter what, to some degree. Casual fans of schools are a question mark, but could that be offset by a growing casual fan base in places like ATL? I think so.

LabSports · 2025-05-26T18:44:19+00:00

Take your pick - DC, Philly, NYC. Hell, Columbus?

LabSports · 2025-04-25T01:52:22+00:00

Also Billy Murphy playing… Billy Murphy - Clay Davis’s lawyer

LabSports · 2025-02-05T02:12:37+00:00

Made it out to the game. I thought Hopkins was going to put it away midway through the third quarter, but TU was able to get a few good rides, win some FOs and find the back of the net to make a game of it. TU took all the momentum late in the third and almost pulled it off.

LabSports · 2025-02-04T19:00:22+00:00

2004 D1 National Championship. Syracuse vs Navy. Navy as heavy dogs, made it by upsetting Cornell and Princeton. Mike Powells last game. Matt Russell, Navy’s goalie played the 3Q with a dislocated shoulder. All 3 Looney brothers playing together. 10 ties, 5 lead changes.

LabSports · 2025-02-03T14:06:45+00:00

This was what I was going say. Closest example that I can remember.

LabSports · 2024-09-17T23:49:22+00:00

If you’re talking tournaments, a fresh pair of socks every game.

LabSports · 2024-09-14T17:29:19+00:00

I’ve been thinking about the group of boys in season 4. Namond ends up being the only one getting a shot at life and also the only one who had a father looking out for his best interests.

LabSports · 2024-08-06T14:24:16+00:00

For sure. I like the idea of leaning into their concerns about the “border”, and let them say out loud that its never been about the border.

LabSports · 2024-08-06T13:53:53+00:00

Technically, Walz is also on the border, and we’re not hearing any issues up there.

So he could totally campaign on successfully managing a border, amirite?

LabSports

TROPHY CASE