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World Lacrosse, ESPN sign media rights agreement

In the United States, 246 games from three foreign competitions will be broadcast solely on ESPN's cable networks or ESPN+.

World Lacrosse and ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) have signed an agreement that will provide the former with global broadcast rights to the former’s competitions until 2023.

In the United States, 246 games from three foreign competitions will be broadcast solely on ESPN’s cable networks or ESPN+, as well as in 170+ regions through ESPN International.

World Lacrosse – the sport’s worldwide governing organization as recognized by the International Olympic Committee – has signed its first multi-year, multi-event media collaboration, which includes equal rights payments for men’s and women’s championship games. Global coverage will also be provided via TSN (Canada), Star+ (Latin America and Brazil), ESPN Player (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Watch ESPN (Pacific Rim), and ESPN Play in addition to ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN+ in the United States (Caribbean).

The collaboration will involve three main major events in the near future: the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship, the 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s U21 Championship and the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship.

“This is truly a historic day for World Lacrosse, and the millions of lacrosse players and fans in all corners of the world. ESPN is the ideal partner to further showcase our great sport around the globe as we experience exponential growth and interest in the game. This unprecedented coverage also provides a significant boost to our Olympic proposal as we seek to gain inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games,” said, World Lacrosse CEO, Jim Scherr.

ESPN Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions, Dan Margulis, said, “ESPN is excited to add extensive coverage of the World Lacrosse championships to our already expansive lacrosse vertical. The men’s and women’s world championships together with our overall college coverage and recent agreements with Athletes Unlimited, NLL and PLL demonstrates our firm commitment to the sport.”

During the women’s championship, ESPN networks will broadcast 112 games, including six on cable channels. The World Lacrosse Women’s Championship (WLWC) is set to return to Towson University in Maryland for the very first time in over twenty years, where the United States will begin defending its global crown in just over a month. Following the women’s competition, ESPN networks will broadcast 22 matches from the men’s U21 championship, marking the first time that a junior-level global championship will be broadcast in a linear format. In the United States, two games – including the title – will be broadcast on ESPNU, with an extra 20 matches broadcast on ESPN+.

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