It was announced last week that Baltimore, Denver, New Jersey and Boston are the finalists for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 NCAA men’s lacrosse championships. Presentations were given on Dec. 11 to the NCAA Championship Committee, which included members from Division I, II and III as well as NCAA staff. The committee will advise the NCAA, which will make a decision and award the championships or at least the 2010 event in February 2009.
The bids are for any or all of the three lacrosse championships from 2010 through 2012. The NCAA lacrosse final four event is played annually over Memorial Day weekend and includes the Division I semifinals and finals Saturday and Monday, and the Division II and Division III championships on Sunday.
I spoke to Terry Hasseltine, director of the Maryland Office of Sports Marketing, who led the effort to bring the event back to Charm City. Hasseltine was instrumental in bringing the Ryder Cup to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., during his time as the Kentucky Sports Authority deputy executive director. The Ryder Cup brought in over $100 million to the local community while the NCAA lacrosse event is reportedly in the $18-20 million dollar range.
Hasseltine had help. He credits members of the Ravens with taking a lead role on the project. Ravens president Dick Cass, vice president of corporate sales and development Mark Burdett, and senior director of ticket operations and sales Baker Koppelman were the principles in a one-hour presentation to the NCAA selection committee Dec. 11 at the Marriott Waterfront in Baltimore. The Ravens are the main tenant at the state-owned M&T Bank Stadium, the proposed venue for the Memorial Day lacrosse event. The university hosts of the event would be Loyola, Johns Hopkins, UMBC and Towson.
