USA Lacrosse CEO Mark Riccio sits down with Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship, the growth of the sport, innovations to the game to bring more fan engagement and media coverage, and the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

Video Transcript

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SEANA SMITH: USA lacrosse reaching a three-year partnership with Gatorade, announcing the deal ahead of the World Lacrosse Women's Championships next week. Now we want to bring in Mark Riccio. He's the CEO of USA Lacrosse along with Yahoo Finance sports reporter Josh Schafer. Mark, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.

We know lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports in the US. When you take a look at the NCAA championships this past season back in May for women's, at least, we saw record viewership. Now we have the World Championship coming to the US. What does this do for the growth and the popularity of lacrosse?

MARK RICCIO: Yeah, we're coming off some great momentum with the NCAA men's and women's championships getting 500,000, 600,000 viewers, sold out crowds. And having the World Championships in Towson, Maryland, you have 30 nations coming in. It's just building off the momentum from the NCAAs. And with anything in sport, if you see it, you can be it. So having some of the best women athletes in the world come play lacrosse in front of great crowds really continues that momentum of growth for the sport.

JOSH SCHAFER: And Mark, when we talk about those women athletes and those great women athletes, one that I think sticks out to a lot of folks nowadays is Charlotte North and what she's been able to do, the Boston College player, really attracting a lot of new eyes to the game, I think. Have you sort of seen that? And how has that sort of appeared tangibly you think, that Charlotte North effect in women's lacrosse?

MARK RICCIO: You bring up two really important points there, new eyes. You know, lacrosse we do a very good job of speaking to ourselves. I think one of the things that we've really been able to do over the last year and two years in particular speak to new audiences. And athletes like Charlotte North enable us to do that. You know, the great athletes transcend the sport. They become cultural or pop icons, if you will.