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The Big schools' grip on the NCAA and its distribution of money is having more effect on the smaller schools. Now the trend of schools trying to move up to Division I to share in the greater revenues is starting to turn around, and we may start seeing more schools dropping down to lower divisions.
Savannah State moved up to D1 for 17 seasons, but then in 2019 they dropped back down to Division II because of large financial losses. A couple years ago, Evansville did a study to see if dropping down to Division II or III would help solve some of their financial problems, but they have remained D1.
Now University of Hartford, a private university in Hartford, Connecticut with about the same enrollment as Bradley (5,019 undergrads, 1,773 grad students) is considering dropping down to D3. They did a study that found the school loses about $13 million per year on athletics. The UHart men's basketball team just made the NCAA Tournament this year for the first time in its history. But they claim they did not make 1 cent from playing in the tournament.
“Everyone thinks you make tournament you hit the jackpot. We didn’t get a cent from the tournament and congratulations to our great kids but we are losing money doing this,” said university president Gregory Woodward. “I don’t think what the world understands is that everyone who plays Division One sports loses money, except for about 22 schools.”
Savannah State moved up to D1 for 17 seasons, but then in 2019 they dropped back down to Division II because of large financial losses. A couple years ago, Evansville did a study to see if dropping down to Division II or III would help solve some of their financial problems, but they have remained D1.
Now University of Hartford, a private university in Hartford, Connecticut with about the same enrollment as Bradley (5,019 undergrads, 1,773 grad students) is considering dropping down to D3. They did a study that found the school loses about $13 million per year on athletics. The UHart men's basketball team just made the NCAA Tournament this year for the first time in its history. But they claim they did not make 1 cent from playing in the tournament.
“Everyone thinks you make tournament you hit the jackpot. We didn’t get a cent from the tournament and congratulations to our great kids but we are losing money doing this,” said university president Gregory Woodward. “I don’t think what the world understands is that everyone who plays Division One sports loses money, except for about 22 schools.”
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