103: Sixes is a Start

On this week’s episode of Going Offsides the guys celebrate the NLL television deal and give their honest opinions about Olympic Sixes lacrosse. When the push for the Olympics was discussed we, like the rest of the lacrosse world, were excited about the prospect of having our sport displayed on the worlds biggest stage. https://twitter.com/NLL/status/1452998628591734785 NLL Deal: Earlier this year the National Lacrosse League (NLL) obtained what appeared to be the strongest television broadcast deal in the leagues history, partnering with famous Canadian program, TSN. The only issue with the deal was that it was limited to Canadian distribution leaving the rest of the world waiting for a viewing solution. Tuesday the league announced the newest and presumably biggest deal in the NLL history securing ESPN as a distribution partner for the entire globe outside of Canada. Ten games will be broadcast on linear television (ESPN/ESPN2) while over 150 additional games will be available on ESPN+. With media and sponsorships accounting for over 60% of the leagues revenue, I’m sure that this deal will add to the bottom line nicely, especially when you consider that the league has never had this kind of meaningful income from broadcast partners. The question now becomes where does Lacrosse pro field league, the PLL, hitch its cart for their new streaming deal. Unless something crazy happens, we all assume its NBC or ESPN. Sixes: The long and short of it is that while it looks fun to play, we didn’t particularly enjoy watching it. The product lacks some of the mechanics we feel are necessary to make the game more enjoyable to watch, broadcast, and officiate. We give our suggestions in the show, take a listen to hear our plan. At the end of the day we love the idea of making lacrosse more accessible, getting it into the Olympics, but we’re not going to blindly accept sixes in its current form. With a few tweaks the game can be even better, lets see what they come up with over the next few years, but a solid start. https://twitter.com/LacrosseNetwork/status/1451976444163284994 Last Week: On the previous week’s episode of Going Offsides, the guys discussed the LSU football situation and how DI football coaching contracts have gotten out of control. Later in the show, they discussed the success of Tewaaraton Award winner and now-DII football quarterback Jared Bernhardt.