Future of Division III

[Ralph Turner]

Sponsorship rates increase for male and female sports

Sponsorship rates increase for male and female sports
February 16, 2009
By Leilana McKindra
The NCAA News

The recently released 2007-08 NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report reveals that participation levels continued to surge for both male and female student-athletes. After total participation surpassed 400,000 last year, that number grew to 412,768 NCAA student-athletes who participated in championship sports in 2007-08. The average institution had about 400 student-athletes, an increase of 16 over last year's figures.

The number of championship sports teams for men and women also jumped by 91 and 100, respectively, from the previous year. Overall for 2007-08, member institutions sponsored 9,380 women's teams and 8,302 men's teams for a total of 17,682 championship sport teams.

The largest gains for both men and women came from Division III, which increased by 49 women's championship sport teams and 63 men's teams in 2007-08, followed by Division I, which increased by 42 and 23 women's and men's championship sports teams, respectively.

The number of women's championship sport teams sponsored has increased annually for the past 26 years, including in 2007-08. This year's report also continued a 12-year trend of institutions sponsoring more championship sport teams for women than for men. In comparison, the number of men's championship sport teams sponsored has decreased four of the past 10 years. That number, however, has been on an upswing since 2003-04, hitting a record high in 2007-08.

Basketball was again the most commonly sponsored championship sport for men and women, a trend that has continued since 1981-82. Volleyball, cross country, soccer, softball, tennis and track and field were the next most frequently sponsored sports for women. Behind basketball, the most commonly sponsored sports for men were cross country, baseball, golf, soccer, tennis, track and field, and football.

The same general trends were seen divisionally. Basketball was the most common for women, although in Division I, cross country was sponsored nearly as much. Although the same top eight sports for men were reflected in each division, there was some variation in order. For instance, men's soccer was sponsored nearly as often as basketball in Division III, while men's soccer is the fifth most sponsored sport in Division II.

In 2007-08, the sport with the highest number of women's teams added was lacrosse, with 17, followed by outdoor track and field, and indoor track and field. Meanwhile, the sport with the highest number of men's teams added was outdoor track and field, also with 17 new programs, followed by indoor track and field, lacrosse, and cross country.

Indoor track and field topped the list of sports registering the highest number of men's and women's programs that were dropped, 15 and 10 teams, respectively.

The result of schools adding and dropping teams in 2007-08 was a net increase of 32 men's teams and 50 women's teams. Since 1988-89, when this figure was first included in the report, there has been a net gain of 234 men's teams and 2,342 women's teams.

Most of the net losses in men's sports are from Division I. In 2007-08, the division lost of 14 teams and since 1988-89 has lost nearly 300 squads. Comparatively, there has been a net gain of 700 women's teams in Division I over the same period, with just two years in which there was a net loss (1988-89 and 2007-08).

In the most recent report, lacrosse was the women's sport with the largest net gain (15), while lacrosse and outdoor track were the men's sports that produced the greatest net gain (11 each). With a loss of three teams, rifle was the women's sport with the biggest net loss. Meanwhile, rifle and wrestling lost three programs each in 2007-08 to generate the largest net loss for men's sports.

Although historically, the average number of female student-athletes has increased and the average number of male student-athletes has decreased since 1981-82, the latest report revealed a significant jump in the average number of male student-athletes per institution. Compared to the 1981-82 academic year, on average, each NCAA institution had about 69 more females and seven more males in the 2007-08 totals.

Continuing a 26-year trend, football had the most participants of any men's sport, registering more than twice as many participants as baseball, the sport with the second highest number of participants, followed by track and field, soccer, basketball, and cross country. That trend is apparent by division as well.

Soccer tops the list of sports with the most female student-athletes, followed by track and field, softball, basketball, volleyball, cross country, swimming and diving, and tennis. The same was true divisionally, except in Division I, in which track and field still has the highest number of female participants.

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[Ralph Turner]

The largest gains for both men and women came from Division III, which increased by 49 women's championship sport teams and 63 men's teams in 2007-08.

It is not clear how many of those additional teams came from new D-III members and how many were existing members adding new sports.

[Ralph Turner]

Three part series by Jason Dannelly in his column in Victory Sports Network,

Future of the NAIA

Part I

Part II

[HSCTiger74]

How about one of these institutions having the political courage to engage in the indicated shut down of one of their very expensive sacred cows rather than solely to pick at the margins with closure of inexpensive but vulnerable minor programs? In the case of Johns Hopkins how about elimination of lacrosse?

From someone who spent a good portion of his high school and college years as a resident of the Baltimore area, trust me Frank ... Hopkins will eliminate lacrosse at about the same time Alabama eliminates football.

[ADL70]

Malone and Walsh in the Canton, Ohio area are seeking to move from NAIA to D2.  They are joining Ohio Dominican and Urbana who have begun the process already and Lake Erie moving up from D3.  Should be a new D2 conference in the making.  I'd bet Mercyhurst and Gannon in NW PA could be lured away from the conference with all the Pa state schools that they just joined.  Findlay and Ashland have had success in the conference they are both in, but I could see Tiffin joining as well.  Central State, St Josephs (IN), Indianapolis, and Kentucky Wesleyan could also be interested.  They could also join the Great Lakes Valley Conference that several of the mentioned teams belong to that doesn't sponsor football and get it to start.  It could have East and West divisions for most sports and one for the football schools.

[smedindy]

In looking at the trends, there is not a state of equilibrium between the NCAA and the NAIA. Is it the trickle down of the D-1 Hoops tourney that is doing that (as well as the bucketload of caysh money dollars once they decide to do the right thing and have a D-1A football playoff)?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

In looking at the trends, there is not a state of equilibrium between the NCAA and the NAIA. Is it the trickle down of the D-1 Hoops tourney that is doing that (as well as the bucketload of caysh money dollars once they decide to do the right thing and have a D-1A football playoff)?

The NCAA is never going to see money from D1 football, even if they agree to a playoff.

[Warren Thompson]

How about one of these institutions having the political courage to engage in the indicated shut down of one of their very expensive sacred cows rather than solely to pick at the margins with closure of inexpensive but vulnerable minor programs? In the case of Johns Hopkins how about elimination of lacrosse?

From someone who spent a good portion of his high school and college years as a resident of the Baltimore area, trust me Frank ... Hopkins will eliminate lacrosse at about the same time Alabama eliminates football.

I suspect the university would rather sell its medical school and hospital to a bunch of well-heeled faith-healer quacks than eliminate lacrosse. 

[hickory_cornhusker]

In looking at the trends, there is not a state of equilibrium between the NCAA and the NAIA. Is it the trickle down of the D-1 Hoops tourney that is doing that (as well as the bucketload of caysh money dollars once they decide to do the right thing and have a D-1A football playoff)?

The NCAA is never going to see money from D1 football, even if they agree to a playoff.

Unless the NCAA starts it up. I think they should start it and whoever wants to join can join. The NCAA eventually killed the NIT which was the more high profile tournament in the beginning. No reason they can't do it again.

[Knightstalker]

In looking at the trends, there is not a state of equilibrium between the NCAA and the NAIA. Is it the trickle down of the D-1 Hoops tourney that is doing that (as well as the bucketload of caysh money dollars once they decide to do the right thing and have a D-1A football playoff)?

The NCAA is never going to see money from D1 football, even if they agree to a playoff.

Unless the NCAA starts it up. I think they should start it and whoever wants to join can join. The NCAA eventually killed the NIT which was the more high profile tournament in the beginning. No reason they can't do it again.

I remember in the 70's when winning the NIT was a bigger deal than winning the NCAA tournament, but that may have had to do with living in broadcast range of NY radio and TV stations, pre cable era.

[Knightstalker]

Malone and Walsh in the Canton, Ohio area are seeking to move from NAIA to D2.  They are joining Ohio Dominican and Urbana who have begun the process already and Lake Erie moving up from D3.  Should be a new D2 conference in the making.  I'd bet Mercyhurst and Gannon in NW PA could be lured away from the conference with all the Pa state schools that they just joined.  Findlay and Ashland have had success in the conference they are both in, but I could see Tiffin joining as well.  Central State, St Josephs (IN), Indianapolis, and Kentucky Wesleyan could also be interested.  They could also join the Great Lakes Valley Conference that several of the mentioned teams belong to that doesn't sponsor football and get it to start.  It could have East and West divisions for most sports and one for the football schools.

The PSAC is a tough DII conference, I could see Mercyhurst and Gannon moving out if they can, but staying in the PSAC would or should make them stronger teams.

[Warren Thompson]

In looking at the trends, there is not a state of equilibrium between the NCAA and the NAIA. Is it the trickle down of the D-1 Hoops tourney that is doing that (as well as the bucketload of caysh money dollars once they decide to do the right thing and have a D-1A football playoff)?

The NCAA is never going to see money from D1 football, even if they agree to a playoff.

Unless the NCAA starts it up. I think they should start it and whoever wants to join can join. The NCAA eventually killed the NIT which was the more high profile tournament in the beginning. No reason they can't do it again.

I remember in the 70's when winning the NIT was a bigger deal than winning the NCAA tournament, but that may have had to do with living in broadcast range of NY radio and TV stations, pre cable era.

'Stalker:

I don't know about the 1970s, but in the 1950s winning the NIT was certainly at least the equal of -- if not seen as better than -- an NCAA championship. Recall that in 1950 CCNY won them both v. Bradley, though it turns out that both teams were shaving points at the behest of high-stakes gamblers. (I believe some LIU players were also involved.) It took a goodly number of years for collegiate basketball, especially in New York City, to recover from the scandal.

[frank uible]

In 1951 dozens of college players from at least seven colleges (Long Island University, Manhattan College, City College of New York, New York University, Bradley University, University of Kentucky and University of Toledo) were implicated in a point shaving scandal. At that time Madison Square Garden, NYC, the four aforesaid NYC area colleges and the National Invitation Tournament were at the epicenter of college basketball. After the scandal no more. Never again did those four colleges have their prior basketball prestige. Dragged down and losing prestige in the scandal was the NIT, all of whose games at the time were played at Madison Square Garden.

[smedindy]

In the early days (late 30's up through the CCNY and Kentucky scandals) the NIT was more prestigious than the NCAA. Before the NCAA opened up their tourney to at-large teams the NIT was still a big deal. But as the NCAA tourney grew the NIT became less and less important, until now it's for the mediocre BCS and the good mid-majors.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

In looking at the trends, there is not a state of equilibrium between the NCAA and the NAIA. Is it the trickle down of the D-1 Hoops tourney that is doing that (as well as the bucketload of caysh money dollars once they decide to do the right thing and have a D-1A football playoff)?

The NCAA is never going to see money from D1 football, even if they agree to a playoff.

Unless the NCAA starts it up. I think they should start it and whoever wants to join can join. The NCAA eventually killed the NIT which was the more high profile tournament in the beginning. No reason they can't do it again.

Because the top schools in the country don't need the NCAA.  They could just split off and do their own thing with sports.  The schools whose athletic departments are industries unto themselves can run a lot of things.  An AD friend of mine expects it will happen in the next decade, faster if the NCAA wants to hone in on football money.

I have to admit, it makes sense.  48 schools in four leagues of two divisions - eight team playoff in football, 16 or 32 for basketball.  We'd all watch.