Does the NCAA Need to Attract More College Students?

College sports are huge throughout the US. They have a significant cultural presence and make major contributions to both local economies and the national one. Events attract huge numbers of spectators and a large amount of media attention, with many millions of fans supporting their favorite teams and keeping up to date with their progress.

While lots of college sports fans regularly attend matches, others take things a step further by placing bets on the matches. People who are old enough to gamble back their favorites and hope to make a few bucks from their bets. As well as betting in person, there’s the option of betting online, which makes placing wagers even more convenient.

There’s no denying that college sports are going nowhere fast. But do they need to attract greater numbers of college students in order to keep running? Or will they manage with the numbers they have now?

Key Stats About College Sports in the US

The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) oversees college-level sports and provides data on the industry. According to its figures for the 2022-23 academic year, there are roughly eight million students in the US who participate in high school athletics. The number of students competing in NCAA programs is much lower at roughly 530,000. With around 19 million college students in 2022-23, this means that about 1 in 35 college students plays college-level sports.

This is to be expected as not all high school students go to college. The number of college students, and by extension the number of students competing in college-level sports, is naturally going to be lower. There’s also the fact that many who go to college concentrate on their degree program and don’t necessarily want to make a major commitment to sports in addition to that. Some students who wish to play college sports might simply not have the time to do so.

Of course, the number of college student players varies from one sport to the next. In men’s sports, football is by far the most common with 77,000 players, while the next most popular sport is baseball, which has close to 39,000 players. As for women’s sports, track and field is the most played sport with 31,000 participants and next is soccer with 29,000. Water polo is the least popular college-level sport for both men and women, with just over 1,000 players for both genders. 

High School vs College Sports Participation Rates

The fact of the matter is that the number of high school students competing in sports is far greater than the number of college students who do the same. However, college sports have a much greater following and, it can be argued, much more cultural relevance. Part of what’s helped them become so big is the fact that in quite a few major cities, there’s a lack of professional sports teams. People in these cities support the local college teams instead.

The current number of NCAA athletes for the 2022-23 academic year - 530,000 - is a record. This alone suggests that college sports are growing in popularity and that the NCAA is doing a great job of recruiting new athletes. While the number is on the rise, what is important to point out is that some sports attract more college students than others.

For nearly all sports, the number of college players is less than 10% of the number of high school players. The only expectations are ice hockey and lacrosse (both men’s and women’s). For ice hockey, 13.3% of men continue playing it at college, while 33.6% of women players do the same. As for lacrosse, the figures are 14.4% for men and 13.8% for women. 

Some very popular sports such as football, soccer, track and field, and baseball have surprisingly low retention rates from high school to college. However, the overall number of players at both education levels is still high. The problem is with sports that have a low high school-college retention rate and don’t have too many players to begin with. Going back to water polo, the least played college sport for men and women, the retention rate from high school is 5.4% for men and 7.1% for women. 

Do College Sports Need More Players?

College sports as a whole aren’t going anywhere fast. They continue to grow in popularity and attract large numbers of both athletes and spectators. The industry is in a great place right now and isn’t in desperate need of more athletes, though having more college students take part in NCAA sports certainly wouldn’t hurt. Some of the less popular sports would benefit from greater numbers of players. Thankfully, the programs of these sports don’t seem to be in danger of closing down.