Originally Posted by
CDu
I don't think the Lacrosse Final Four regularly outdraws the basketball Final Four, but I believe it has happened and wouldn't be surprised if it has happened a few times. They hold the Final Four of both events in football stadiums.
Lacrosse has three big attendance boosts for their Final Four. First, the field of teams that make the Final Four is generally less diverse (i.e., your favorite great lacrosse team is more likely to make the Final Four than your favorite great bball team). Also, the event is almost exclusively held in an Atlantic coast venue, and almost all of the really great teams are from or are near the Atlantic coast. So the travel distance for the fanbases is rather short. And finally, I believe that they hold the Division I, II, and III championships at the same location, which would boost the attendance counts by roughly triple.
Lacrosse has a very rabid fanbase, but it is still fairly concentrated to the East Coast (and predominantly in the Northeast/Atlantic states at that). And the Lacrosse Final Four does a good job of catering to this concentrated, rabid fanbase by holding all of their tournaments within (relatively) driving distance.