The 2024 Baggataway Cup was hosted by Brock University and held at Kiwanis Field in St Catharines from November 1-3, 2024. The Western Mustangs defeated the Queen's Gaels in a championship final that few predicted after Super Qualifier Weekend. Along the way to winning the Baggataway Cup for a second straight year, Western played in what will be forever remembered as a CUFLA classic against the McGill Red Birds. In the 4th overtime period, Western went on to win the semi-final 12-11, and advance to the final.
The addition of a Rookie All Star Game and a Sixes showcase game to Baggataway Cup Weekend, along with an appearance in the semi-finals by the University of Guelph Gryphons, who had a perfect 10-0 regular season, helped fuel CUFLA to a great weekend for eyes on Canadian University Lacrosse.
In a post-Baggataway Cup update, CUFLA Commissioner Scott Fox says more than 48,000 people streamed some or all of Baggataway Cup Weekend. That includes more than 10,600 watching the final between Queen's and Western and an audience of over 11,250 watching the Saturday night primetime broadcast of the 1st ever CUFLA Rookie All Star game. The audience watching the University of Ottawa GeeGees first Baggataway Cup appearance in recent years had over 6,800 viewers online. The GeeGees stunned a strong Trent Excalibur team on Super Qualifier Weekend to advance to the Baggataway Cup quarter finals. Ottawa lost that game to the Western Mustangs, who went on to win the Baggataway Cup Championship.
Commissioner Fox says, "Having that many viewers watching the Canadian University Lacrosse finals is further proof that there is a demand for University lacrosse in Canada. It wasn't that long ago that professional games struggled to get that many people watching some of their streams." Fox adds, "The goal for CUFLA this year was to stream more games than ever before. Next season we will double-down on that effort and continue to grow CUFLA's profile. Part of our Stay & Play initiative is to show players (prospective and current) that when you play CUFLA lacrosse, people are watching."
In addition to a big audience watching online and near sellout crowds watching some games in-person at Kiwanis Field, the Baggataway Cup final also grew CUFLA's footprint on social media. Between Super Qualifier Weekend and Baggataway Cup weekend, social media followers on X, Instagram, and Facebook jumped an average of over 5% across all platforms in just 10-days. Impressions and engagement also touched record levels in the 10-day championship period with CUFLA reaching over 335,000 viewers on Instagram alone.
The location of the 2025 Baggataway Cup has not yet been announced. At last year's annual general meeting, the league confirmed it is open to proposals from neutral-site locations that are not on university campuses. Commissioner Fox says, "We are open to a lot of different locations, but there are some minimum requirements for a venue to host the Cup going forward. We have some exciting plans for our 40th anniversary season that will include a halftime performance, showcase games, and another primetime Rookie All Star Game. We need a location that can accommodate the extra production that will be required and hold the number of fans and alumni that we anticipate will be attending." Fox added "We are going to make a big deal out of the 40th anniversary season. Hundreds of alumni have worn a CUFLA uniform over the years. They are all welcome at Baggataway weekend as our guest and we would love the opportunity to honour them throughout the weekend".
Field venues In Ontario or Quebec that are interested in hosting the 2025 Baggataway Cup from November 7-9, 2025, they should reach out to Commissioner Fox on the CONTACT page.