There are more opportunities to play lacrosse than ever before. According to the 2018 US Lacrosse Participation Report, an all-time high of 829,423 players participated in the sport of lacrosse at all levels, a 0.3 percent increase from the year before and 575,492 more players than the first report from 2001.
There’s more college programs — Utah joined the men’s Division 1 ranks in the 2019 season — and professional teams (one professional men’s box league, two professional men’s field leagues and two professional women’s field leagues).
There are more opportunities to watch the game than ever before. There are more opportunities to stream lacrosse, the NCAA championships and Major League Lacrosse championships were on ESPN, and the 1-year-old Premier Lacrosse League even had several games aired on network television on NBC.
As Notorious B.I.G. said in his 1997 smash hit (Princeton won the second of its three consecutive men’s lacrosse championships that year, the MLL was still four years away, and John Grant Jr. still hadn’t played in an NLL game yet): “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.”