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The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship was a successful one. According to the website Awful Announcing, the semifinal doubleheader on ESPN 2 “averaged 260,000 viewers, up 26 percent from the year-ago semifinal doubleheader on ESPN2.” The championship game, according to figures on Lax Power, not only had a higher attendance than the previous year, but had its best attendance in five years.

Fans enjoyed a season that included Maryland finally breaking its 42-year championship drought, Ohio State advancing to its first national championship in program history, and Syracuse having 11 of its 16 games decided by one goal (including three in overtime). When the NCAA season ended, a number of Twitter users shared how they weren’t sure how they’d get their lacrosse fix.

Ohio Machine midfielder Peter Baum felt the answer was easy. Fans should turn to Major League Lacrosse. He knew, however, the transition of fans from the college game to the pro game would not be as seamless as he would hope. A major challenge is the primary means of watching the league are through Lax Sports Network, an online platform which requires a subscription, or one game a week streamed live on Twitter.

“Knowing my friends and family who had watched on ESPN3 in the past or caught the game on CBS Sports, they’re no longer watching because they’re not the die-hard, watch-all-the-time fan that’s going to get an account,” Baum said. “If every MLL game was on CBS Sports, I think the [awareness] would be higher.”

Through 34 games this season, the league is averaging 3,054 fans per game, down from 4,268 last season and continuing a downward trend over the last several seasons.

Baum believes Major League Lacrosse is the best version of lacrosse. Not only does a league of nine teams concentrate the talent into the best of the best, but the 2016 season saw seven teams tie for first place in the league, meaning every game in the 14-game schedule has high stakes.

“It’s a different game, because we take more chances,” he said. “A casual fan might say it’s more sloppy, but it’s to your benefit to take more chances. There’s a lot more transition, a lot more possessions. Teams aren’t stalling the ball in the corner. The goaltending is miles better. In the MLL, you have to either get right inside and stick it or the goalie is going to catch it. The product on the field has never been better. There are more guys focusing on the game year-round. That’s helped the quality.”

Florida Launch midfielder Steven Brooks also admitted Lax Sports Network won’t attract the casual fan as well as a free service would.

“Now we have LSN, and LSN you have to pay for,” Brooks said. “If you don’t have the account, it’s hard. You have to pay [$7.99] a month. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but there has to be some way, shape or form to get the public eye on it. All it takes is 10 people in a bar saying, ‘What is that?’ and boom, they’re hooked.”

For its issues, however, the players do see the positives of Lax Sports Network. Every game in the league is available live and on-demand through LSN. The network has a major presence in the social media world and consistently pushes highlights and interviews with key figures in the league, and sport, through its social media channels.

“Lax Sports Network is doing something more interesting,” Baum said, “and doing a lot to get games broadcast than when we had a CBS Sports Network deal.”

There are several other additional concerns players have brought up.

After the first week of the 2017 MLL regular season, the league's most prominent player, Paul Rabil, criticized the league for its lack of promotion on social media.

Less than a week later, Rabil was quick to praise the league when it signed its partnership with Twitter.

Another topic of conversation for several seasons has been the inaccuracy of the league’s statistics.

After the Week 9 MLL games, Atlanta Blaze defender Scott Ratliff tweeted about how Blaze rookie Jake Withers – the team’s new faceoff specialist – was credited with zero ground balls. (corrections were later made, giving Withers 13 ground balls) Rabil replied, “It’s really bad,” and Blaze attackman Kevin Rice responded by tweeting, “It’s a tough ask when goals and assists aren’t even correct.”

A believed lack of social media presence and correct statistics could hurt the perception of the league.

Major League Lacrosse Commissioner David Gross, who is in his final season with the MLL, said he is not a fan of the players expressing those concerns on social media, but he won’t deter them from doing so.

“I don’t know how it helps grow the business, but if that’s the forum the players choose to do it, that’s where they’re going to do it,” he said. “When you try to stifle thought, it’s never a good thing. I pay attention to the positives to promote the growth of their personal brand and the league itself.”

As for the individual concerns the players have brought up, Gross said they are handled behind closed doors.

“We have a players council,” Gross said. “We work tremendously with the players council. It’s pretty progressive. We’re the first sport to put in a form of free agency without a union, and that was us working with the players council. We have a great partnership with our players. It takes up a lot of their free time. It’s a 12-month commitment. They act as a great voice. We get a lot of things resolved working with them.”

For all the league’s challenges, Baum still is very happy with his experience.

“The continuity we have in Ohio is pretty special,” he said. “We’ve had a pretty consistent group since I came in with Kyle [Harrison] in our fourth year. It’s at the point we truly, truly cherish each weekend we get together. It’s easy from the outside looking in and look at participation as a drag that distracts from summer vacation, but for the players it’s a 180. It’s what we look forward to every week. Being a part of a team is not something everyone gets to do after high school. I’m 26. To still have that experience of being a part of a team is pretty special.”

Abraham Lincoln once said, “I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.” Baum believes the league is moving in the right direction – between the play on the field, the personalities off it and the increase in sponsorships. He just hopes it continues to move forward.

“There are exciting things happening with lacrosse personalities, podcasts and whatever. We just need to translate it,” he said. “The original guys in the MLL, the cities they played in being mainstream lacrosse cities, and it being new, there was great live attendance. That’s something we want to get back to and we want to capitalize on how our players are doing exciting things from the grassroots level on up. That’s the challenge moving forward.”