The NCAA men’s lacrosse championship weekend will be held in a non-NFL venue for the first time since 2002 when the event is held at Rentschler Field (University of Connecticut football stadium) in 2021, the association announced Tuesday.

More than 600 host sites were selected for preliminary rounds and finals of predetermined NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III through 2022. After a two-year stint in New England, the men’s lacrosse final four will return to Philadelphia in 2019-20 before moving to East Hartford, Conn., in 2021-22.

Attendance at the sport’s signature event, which last year drew more than 33,000 fans to Philadelphia for the Division I semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field and nearly 27,000 for the championship game Memorial Day, has dropped since its peak in 2007. That year, Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium drew crowds of more than 52,000 and 48,000, respectively.  The 2008 final at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. — site of the 2017 and 2018 championship weekends — also set a paid attendance record of 48,970.

College coaches, event organizers and the NCAA committee overseeing championships had cited numerous factors for the decline, including ticket prices, increased TV exposure and scheduling conflicts with Memorial Day weekend. In 2013, Anthony Holman, the NCAA’s associate director of championships and alliances, said the NCAA would consider moving the event to non-NFL stadiums that meet the minimum 40,000-seat threshold.

Rentschler Field, the UConn football stadium, has a capacity of 40,642. It also will be the site of the 2019 NCAA quarterfinals, seemingly a dry run for the big show in 2021. Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium, one of the sites for this year’s quarterfinals, has been awarded quarterfinals for four consecutive years from 2019 to 2022. Also joining the quarterfinal lineup will be Brown Stadium in 2020 and then back-to-back years at historic football stadiums — Notre Dame Stadium in 2021 and Ohio Stadium in 2022.

The NCAA women’s championship weekend is set for a four-year run in Baltimore from 2019-22 with Homewood Field on the campus of Johns Hopkins University serving as host of the 2019, 2020 and 2022 and Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium hosting in 2021.

Towson was the host of the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014 NCAA women’s championships. The 2014 championship, which featured Maryland beating Syracuse, drew a championship game record crowd of 10,311.

Johns Hopkins has not hosted the championships since 2001, when a Jen Adams-led Maryland team beat Georgetown 14-13 in overtime to capture the Terps seventh consecutive national title. Hopkins also hosted the 1999 NCAA final.

2019

Division I Men’s Quarterfinals - Rentschler Field (East Hartford, Conn.)

Division I Men’s Quarterfinals - Shuart Stadium (Hempstead, N.Y.)

Men’s Championship Weekend - Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)

Division I Women’s Championship Weekend - Homewood Field (Baltimore)

Division II Women’s Championship Weekend – Grand Valley State (Allendale, Mich.)

Division III Women’s Championship Weekend – Randolph-Macon (Ashland, Va.)

2020

Division I Men’s Quarterfinals - Brown Stadium (Providence, R.I.)

Division I Men’s Quarterfinals - Shuart Stadium (Hempstead, N.Y.)

Men’s Championship Weekend - Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)

Division I, III Women’s Championship Weekend - Homewood Field (Baltimore)

Division II Women’s Championship Weekend – Lindenwood (Saint Charles, Mo.)

2021

Division I Men’s Quarterfinals - Notre Dame Stadium (Notre Dame, Ind.)

Division I Men’s Quarterfinals - Shuart Stadium (Hempstead, N.Y.)

Men’s Championship Weekend - Rentschler Field (East Hartford, Conn.)

Division I Women’s Championship Weekend - Johnny Unitas Stadium (Towson, Md.)

Division II-III Women’s Championship Weekend – Kerr Stadium (Salem, Va.)

2022

Division I Men’s Quarterfinals - Ohio Stadium (Columbus, Ohio)

Division I Men’s Quarterfinals - Shuart Stadium (Hempstead, N.Y.)

Men’s Championship Weekend - Rentschler Field (East Hartford, Conn.)

Division I Women’s Championship Weekend - Homewood Field (Baltimore)

Division II Women’s Championship Weekend – Lindenwood (Saint Charles, Mo.)

Division III Women’s Championship Weekend – Kerr Stadium (Salem, Va.)