The only thing better than watching the best lacrosse players in the world is getting paid to watch them play.
The Atlas Cup brings together the men’s and women’s sixes lacrosse national teams from Canada, the Haudenosaunee Nationals, Ireland and the United States for three days of intense action this weekend from Tierney Field at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md.
Stadium seating is sold out all three days, but lawn seating and limited VIP experiences remain. The games will be streamed live on the USA Lacrosse YouTube channel, with simulcasting on iHeart Radio, and online viewers will have the opportunity to win cash just for watching.
“The sports industry keeps building paywalls. We're building reasons to watch,” said Dave Krupinski, VP of Marketing, Media and Communications at USA Lacrosse. “Last year, we flipped the traditional streaming model, paid fans to tune in, and broke viewership records with 93% of viewers new to our stream. So we're running it back. We're doubling down on rewarding fans, removing barriers, and introducing new audiences to lacrosse. We're giving fans a reason to watch. And a reason to stay.”
Stream viewers will have the opportunity win cash giveaways totaling $5,000. Each quarter during the 12-game event, USA Lacrosse will give away $100 with two $200 bonus quarters to be announced at random during the weekend. Details are available here.
Veteran broadcasters Joe Beninati and Glenn Clark will be handling the play-by-play duties for the second year in a row from the Atlas Cup. Beninati, the voice of the NHL’s Washington Capitals, has called professional lacrosse games for more than two decades and played collegiately at Bowdoin, Clark, a presence on USA Lacrosse events for several years, is a longtime fixture in the Baltimore radio scene and also does play-by-play for Loyola and Stevenson athletics.
They’ll be joined by Steven Brooks, Courtney Martinez Connor and Mitchell Pehlke as analysts over the weekend. Brooks, currently the head coach of the PLL’s Carolina Chaos, won a pair of national championships at Syracuse and played professionally in the MLL and PLL. He’s also a head coach in the USA Lacrosse National Team Development Program. Connor was the MVP of the 2001 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship, helping Maryland to the national title. A former college head coach, she is a frequent commentator in international lacrosse. Pehlke, a former Ohio State player, has developed a significant social media following on a variety of channels and is back for his second year as an analyst at the Atlas Cup.
The complete weekend schedule for the Atlas Cup:
Friday, Oct. 23
4 pm: Canada-Ireland (women)
5:30 pm: Canada-Haudenosaunee (men)
7 pm: USA-Haudenosaunee (women)
8:30 pm: USA-Ireland (men)
Saturday, Oct. 24
4 pm: Haudenosaunee-Canada (women)
5:30 pm: Ireland-Haudenosaunee (men)
7 pm: USA-Canada (men)
8:30 pm: USA-Ireland (women)
Sunday, Oct. 25
9 am: Ireland-Canada (men)
10:30 am: Ireland-Haudenosaunee (women)
12 pm: USA-Haudenosaunee (men)
1:30 pm: USA-Canada (women)
