COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, USA –?World Lacrosse today announced the launch of its host city bidding process for four world championships from 2025 to 2027.
The men’s U20 championship will take place in 2025, while the women’s championship will be held in 2026. In 2026/27, World Lacrosse will also stage its inaugural sixes championships for men and women, followed by the men’s championship in 2027. These world championships feature teams from among the 85 member nations in the World Lacrosse community.
Bid guidelines for these events, as well as all six World Lacrosse championships, can be found here.
The 2026 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship will feature the pinnacle of women’s field lacrosse. The most recent championship in 2022 featured a record-setting field of 30 teams and unprecedented growth and exposure driven by a historic broadcast partnership with ESPN.
The 2025 Men’s U20 Championship will showcase the continued growth of the game, with countries from across the globe demonstrating their increased investment in development. The 2022 championship saw top-10 finishes from Puerto Rico, Ireland, Jamaica and Israel, all countries with five or less appearances at the senior men’s championship.
The first World Lacrosse Sixes Championships will provide a global stage for the rapidly growing discipline of lacrosse, built on speed, skill, excitement and accessibility. Sixes made its international debut with a splash at The World Games 2022 and is at the core of World Lacrosse’s Olympic vision.
The 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship will spotlight the elite teams in men’s field lacrosse in a competition dating back to 1967. The last men’s championship was held in 2018 in Israel with another blockbuster event set to be broadcast globally this June from San Diego.
In 2022, a total of 10.7 million minutes (>178K hours) of lacrosse were streamed across three events on ESPN+ (U.S. metrics only), the Olympic Channel and Lax Sports Network, totaling 417K unique viewers across the platforms, while ESPN linear television audiences for coverage of key matchups totaled 433K. The 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship, combined with the last men’s event in 2018, had a total economic impact of more than US$95M.
World Lacrosse is seeking to partner with host cities to stage world class events that deliver fair competition for athletes, enjoyable experiences for fans, and a positive impact to the host city and country.
World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr said: “Cities or organizations interested in hosting a world championship have an opportunity to partner with World Lacrosse and write their own special chapter in the continued growth of our game. Cities can further their reputation as premier destinations for international sport and business, while inspiring the next generation of sport participants around the world and in their community.”
The bid guidelines contain information on host city benefits including economic impact, media exposure and community growth. Bidding requirements, processes and timelines are also included in the guide.
