2014 NCAA lacrosse championships

[billhoward]

2014 lacrosse final four is in Baltimore. NCAA says weekend tickets are $79 and up, to $350. Parking at NCAA-overseen parking is $55. https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/ravens/EN/buy/details/14LAX

Quarterfinal round is weekend of May 17-18. Saturday at Hofstra or Sunday at Delaware. $37 tix according to the site.

[Beeeej]

Given how much the Frozen Four costs, I don't think this is a shocking range of price points. If they start having non-sellouts, they can certainly reconsider.

The parking price is absurd, though.

[billhoward]

Point taken. If all the seats were $79, nothing higher, that's $5.6 million in total available revenue. M&T Bank Stadium holds 71,008. You can't realize that revenue in a hockey arena with $30 seats. IIRC, the NCAA lax final four has had attendance trending down not up the last couple years. I don't believe I saw discounted student tix on the form. You can't really charge students that much for a game that will come 25,000 short of selling out Saturday.

I believe my Sweet Sixteen basketball ticket was $150 but I got to sit next to a trustee (luck of the draw) and my total lifetime outlay for Cornell sweet sixteen / final four tix will be $150, most likely.

On the poll, I should have prefaced the question with, "If you've gone to a lax final four in the past... " because it's easy to say it costs too much for an event you don't have plans on attending. Like me as an undergrad saying I'm giving up on casual dating on account of the risks.

[billhoward]

Given how much the Frozen Four costs, I don't think this is a shocking range of price points. If they start having non-sellouts, they can certainly reconsider. The parking price is absurd, though.

It's time to reconsider.

"Championship Weekend Attendance Lowest since 2002; Change Could be Coming"
[The 2012] championship weekend attendance of 79,595 (31,774 Saturday, 17,005 Sunday and 30,816 Monday) was the lowest for the Final Four since 2002 ... And at nearly 20,000 fans off [the 2011] total and more than 40,000 from the high of 123,225 (52,004 for the Semifinals) who watched in Baltimore in 2007, the downward trend — weekend attendance increased every year from 2003-2007 and has decreased every year since — is definitely alarming for a sport that has seen dramatic increases in participation over the last five years. ...

Attendance last year (2013, Phildelphia) was essentially flat: 28,144 Saturday + 22,511 Sunday (D=II / D-III final) + 28,224 Monday = 79,179.

NCAA lax attendance figures since 1992 here: http://www.laxpower.com/common/NCAA-Attendance.php
Interesting sidelight: NCAA counts the Sunday doubleheader, D-II championship and D-III championship, twice, though LaxPower halves the amount. The Saturday D-1 Semifinal only counts the people once. The best attendance ever was the 2007 semifinal game, in Baltimore: 52,004. That was Duke-Cornell, Johns Hopkins-Delaware. Total all 3 days (no double counting), 123,225.

Future NCAA lax sites:
2015  Philadelphia  
2016  TBD says NCAA http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2013-12-11/2014-18-ncaa-championship-sites

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I'll be on an island in the Bering Sea.  Even if we make it this year, count me out.

[scoop85]

I'll be on an island in the Bering Sea.  Even if we make it this year, count me out.

Will they have Wi-Fi? Also while you're there, maybe you'll have some time to look for the missing Malaysian jet ::crazy::

[Robb]

I'll be on an island in the Bering Sea.  Even if we make it this year, count me out.

Big Year?

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I'll be on an island in the Bering Sea.  Even if we make it this year, count me out.

Big Year?

Nah, just boosting the N. American list.

Besides, I couldn't afford to do a big year.  The guy who broke the record last year spent somewhere around $150,000 and took almost 200 different flights.  I'm crazy, but not that crazy.

Will they have Wi-Fi?

I'm not sure. I think we're staying in private homes, not a hotel.

[billhoward]

I'll be on an island in the Bering Sea.  Even if we make it this year, count me out.

Looking for the plane?