It is an issue that we can no longer run from and finally needs to be addressed. Saturday, February 22nd, featured some incredible early-season lacrosse matchups. With seven top-ranked games and many other household names competing, there were numerous must-watch TV games. Saturday was special, featuring many out-of-conference matchups between the Big Ten, Ivy League, and ACC. Having this many highly ranked games is great for Division 1 lacrosse, as established programs compete against the best in late February. It is the perfect time for young fans to start tuning into the college lacrosse season before starting their own high school seasons in a couple of weeks.
The main issue Division 1 college lacrosse has faced for years now is the time slot problem. During Saturday’s slate of games, 29 of the 34 matchups took place at either noon or 1:00 p.m. From a fan’s perspective, this is just dreadful. Not being able to catch multiple games in the same day solely because they are played at the same time is extremely frustrating, especially considering how difficult it can be to find ways to watch Division 1 lacrosse and how hard it is to switch between games happening simultaneously.
For those of you who watch college football, there’s no better feeling than having four distinct time slots throughout Saturday. You know going into the weekend what games you’re going to be watching in each slot, from the early action to the late-night West Coast games. Division 1 lacrosse is so close to creating that same experience, yet we are still scheduling 90% of our games within a two-hour window. I understand that travel, hotels, and availability play a major part in scheduling, but we can certainly do better than this.
Why doesn’t any team rise above the pack and consistently play at 3:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., or even 7:00 p.m.? These are great time slots that do not interfere with the existing noon and 1:00 p.m. starts. Playing later would mean you are one of the only D1 lacrosse games on TV, so when fans finish watching the early games and still want more lacrosse, you can provide it as one of the few teams in that time slot. This is a great promotional opportunity for both up-and-coming programs and traditional blue bloods.
I know travel is a major consideration, but so many highly ranked teams are just down the road from one another. I don’t understand why we aren’t creating a better viewing experience for lacrosse fans. Princeton and Maryland are just three hours apart, so a 3:00 p.m. start with a 5:00 p.m. finish followed by a three-hour drive home seems very manageable. Penn and Delaware are merely 40 minutes from one another—are you telling me these players wouldn’t enjoy playing a night game? There are so many instances where it seems like teams would jump at the chance to be the only ones playing in a specific time slot, yet no one steps up.
Maybe there are regulations against this, but I have not heard of any in all my years covering Division 1 lacrosse. These big-name programs have to do better, not just for their fans but for the growth of the game. Starting nearly every game at noon or 1:00 p.m. is a disservice to the many fans who want to watch college lacrosse all day long. Why deprive them of that experience?
