In late May, Drexel will play host to one of the most popular—and most heavily attended—events in the NCAA calendar year.
In partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles, Drexel will host the 2013 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships, the second-most attended event sanctioned by the NCAA.
The three-day event will include the Division 1 Semifinals and Championship game and the Division II and III title games.
“It’s very exciting. Two other cities and schools had put in bids to host, but Drexel was awarded the bid,” says Nick Gannon, deputy director of athletics. “The NCAA knows we are a player. This puts us at the forefront of the sport.”
The championships, which will consist of eight teams over five games, will be held at Lincoln Financial Field during the event’s traditional Memorial Day weekend schedule, May 25-27.
“Anyone who is a lacrosse fanatic for sure is looking to Memorial Day weekend, and [in 2013] that will mean looking to Philadelphia and Drexel,” Gannon says.
Organizers are expecting an influx of as many as 40,000 spectators—many of whom will be traveling to Philadelphia from all over the country for the event, Gannon says.
“A bid like this legitimizes what you’re doing on and off the field,” Gannon says. “It gives you a notch up of respect in athletics. There are certain schools who host a ton of events, and you wonder how and why they do it. Drexel is becoming one of those schools in that conversation, and it can only lead to more.”
Gannon says Drexel will handle much of the event’s logistics, such as communications, marketing, volunteer coordinating and revenue planning, while the Eagles will manage facilities and game planning.
“It’s nice to be in a partnership with a professional organization such as the Eagles that has so much influence,” says Gannon, who previously worked as the coordinator of football administration with the team before joining Drexel in 1998. “The Eagles are very good at organizing these special events, and it’s big for us to work alongside them.”
“It does put stress on Athletics from an infrastructure perspective because it really is a huge yearlong process,” Gannon adds. He says the department began holding monthly planning meetings in September and will continue to have bimonthly meetings in January as the event nears.
“We’ve carried the wave of how successful the University has been, and we’ve tried to match that as an individual department [in Athletics],” Gannon says. “Hosting the [Lacrosse Championships], partnering with the Eagles—this is pretty big.”
The 2013 Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be hosted by Drexel and played at Lincoln Financial Field from May 25-27. For more information about the event, including ticket sales, visit the NCAA men’s lacrosse site at ncaa.com/championships/lacrosse-men/d1
“The NCAA knows we are a player. This puts us at the forefront of the sport.”