I played in the 80's and you wore a cup because nut-shots were quite common. I know several current players and I haven't asked them about nut-shots specifically but I can tell by talking with them that the play isn't as dirty as it used to be. Not wearing all the pads and a hard cup used to void your injury insurance contract, don't know if thats still true. I did practice once in college with my pants ripped almost completely through the inseam. There were comments but no one suggested changing in the middle of practice.
In HS we used to pray for rain cause our white pants were completely see-through when wet and the girls would be crazy horned-up by the time the game was over. We joked about it all the time.
I have been in the locker room for a few games in the last couple of years and from what i could tell every guy wore a cup, but most wore compression shorts. I know from the pics there are players not wearing protection and someone's going to take them out. It's just a matter of time.
On a similar note, I wear a "soft" cup for kick boxing now. It's sufficient to protect from the "accidental" below the belt shots. They stay in place better than hard cups and a lot of times women will think it's all you and be staring at the bulge. Last year I survived a practice five rounder with a much younger guy, but I was drenched with sweat after it. A friend took our photo and my yellow shorts are transparent and my cock has slipped out of my soft cup and is clearly hanging down the left side of the shorts in the pic. My buds got a good laugh out of that one.