ESPN and ESPN+ will have exclusive United States coverage of the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Lacrosse Championships, beginning Thursday, July 12, through Saturday, July 21. Across 10 days of play, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise 14 matchups, with more than 160 games available on ESPN+, the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer and International group and ESPN. The event will originate from Netanya Stadium and Wingate Institute in Netanya, Israel, and will be available for fans to watch in 46 countries.
“We are thrilled to cover this world-class event once again,” said Dan Margulis, senior director of programming and acquisitions. “ESPN’s commitment to the sport of lacrosse has grown each year, and we are proud to be able to carry every game on an ESPN Platform.”
Anish Shroff and Chris Cotter will handle play-by-play duties for television games, alongside analysts Quint Kessenich and Paul Carcaterra.
“The depth of coverage ESPN is providing by carrying all 170-plus games from Israel is remarkable," said Scott Neiss, executive director of the 2018 FIL World Championships. “We're grateful for ESPN's desire to showcase every minute of action in what will stand in time as the largest-ever World Lacrosse Championships. This is an unprecedented opportunity for the entire international lacrosse community to showcase the sport globally, and we are grateful for ESPN's continued commitment and extraordinary presentation of our game.”
Nearly 2,000 players will compete in the World Championships, including several current NCAA Division I student-athletes. Duke head coach John Danowski and Albany head coach Scott Marr will serve as coaches in Israel this summer for USA and Iroquois Nationals, respectively.