The NCAA’s promotional refrain of “there are more than 360,000 student-athletes and just about all of them are going pro in something other than sports” is going to need some revision.

According to the most recent NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, there are almost 385,000 NCAA student-athletes participating in championship sports. Indeed, since 2002 when the NCAA commercials began running, member schools have added about 21,000 student-athletes — about 11,000 women and 10,000 men — to the fields and courts.

The 2004-05 report shows a jump in total student-athlete participation of almost 9,000 from the previous year, about three times the size of the increase from 2003 to 2004. Totals have increased in eight of the last 10 years.

The grand total continues to be composed of males more than females. In 2004-05, a total of 219,744 male student-athletes (57.1 percent of the total) participated in championship sports, while 164,998 women competed on NCAA teams. That means the average NCAA school had about 373 student-athletes, of which 213 were male and 160 were female.

By division, those proportions are relatively similar. In Division I, for example, there were 86,378 male student-athletes participating and 70,042 females. That trend has been consistent since the NCAA began tracking participation rates annually in 1981-82. However, while the average number of female student-athletes has increased since 1981-82, the average number of male student-athletes on campus has decreased. Compared to 1981-82, the average NCAA institution now has about 61 more women student-athletes and about 13 fewer men.

As might be expected, football draws more participants (60,117) than any other men’s sport. The next highest participation levels for men are in baseball (28.009), outdoor track and field (21,686), soccer (19,291), indoor track and field (18.866), basketball (16,271) and cross country (11,638).

In women’s sports, soccer continued its five-year reign as the most populated. The 2004-05 report shows 21,126 women played on the pitch, while 20,388 participated in outdoor track and field. Soccer’s growth spurt has been sustained since 1981-82, having increased overall from 1,855 participants that year to the record total in 2004-05. Interestingly, soccer was the only one of four women’s sports to survive an override vote at the 2006 NCAA Convention calling for increased scholarship allocations. The Division I membership rejected increases in gymnastics, volleyball and track.

Other sports with high totals for women in the 2004-05 report are indoor track and field (18,533), softball (16,324), basketball (14,686) and volleyball (13,634).

Sports sponsorship

While there are more male participants, the 2004-05 report again shows more women’s teams. The addition of 43 teams from 2003-04 boosted the total number of women’s teams to 8,991, an all-time high. The total for women’s teams has increased annually for 23 years.

Basketball is the most commonly sponsored women’s sport, followed by volleyball, cross country, soccer and softball.

Sponsorship in men’s sports reveals a different picture, as totals have decreased slightly in two of the last five years. This year’s report, though, shows an aggregate gain of seven teams and a total of 8,016. The all-time high for men’s sponsorship was 8,057 in 2000-01. In the two years that followed, however, the men’s total dipped to its five-year low of 8,002.

Overall, the total number of teams eclipsed 17,000 for the first time. Women’s teams compose almost 53 percent of that total. The average NCAA institution in 2004-05 sponsored about 17 teams, nine for women and eight for men. Compared to 1981-82, the average institution now sponsors about two more women’s teams and one fewer men’s team.

As with reports in the last few years, the 2004-05 edition includes a “teams added and dropped” category to provide a different sponsorship perspective. That calculation does not include schools that began or dropped NCAA membership in a given year. NCAA researchers added the added/dropped calculation to gain a clearer picture of sponsorship in various sports over time. The participation-rates and sponsorship report is used primarily as a real-time measure of sports sponsorship, and while that serves a valuable purpose, it is not meant to be used as a way to measure changes in a “core membership” over time while also trying to account for membership fluctuation.

The report also does not attempt to suggest why member schools decide to add or eliminate teams. Any number of factors affect sports participation and sponsorship trends, including changes in high school and college student populations, budget fluctuations, changes in the value of private institution endowments, insurance costs, and the reclassification of NCAA schools from one division to another.

A look at the data from the 2004-05 report shows that NCAA schools added 159 women’s teams and 143 men’s teams, and they dropped 115 men’s teams and 28 women’s teams since 2003-04. The result was a net increase of 81 women’s teams and 28 men’s teams.

Since 1988-89, there has been a net gain of 2,052 women’s teams and 70 men’s teams. In eight of the last 17 years, there was a net loss of men’s teams, while in all but one year (1988-89) there was a net gain of women’s teams.

In 2004-05, the women’s sport with the highest number of teams added was golf with 22. The women’s sport that has been added most over time, however, is soccer with 565 new programs since 1988-89.

Ironically, golf also was the sport with the highest number of women’s teams dropped with 13.

Golf also was the most frequently dropped sport last year for men, with a decrease of 17 teams. The sport most often added was indoor track and field (21 new programs). Indoor track also is the most frequently added sport over time, with 310 new programs since 1988-89. But indoor track also is the men’s sport most frequently dropped since that time (223 programs discontinued).

In net gain, indoor track is the highest for men with an overall jump of 87 teams. The men’s sport with the greatest net loss since 1988-89 is wrestling (105 teams).

Soccer leads women’s sports in net gain with 537 since 1988-89. Only three women’s sports saw a net loss from last year, and those casualties are slight. Skiing lost a net of three teams, and rifle and fencing lost one apiece.

The participation report is available in PDF format in the sports library section of NCAA Online. Users will need Adobe Acrobat software to view PDF files. A limited number of hard copies will be made available for sale. No hard copies will be mailed to the membership.