11.7 College Scholarships
NCAA Division I and II give out more than $3 billion in athletic scholarships each year. The NCAA limits the number of scholarships that a team can give out. For baseball, that limit is 11.7 scholarships. They can spread those 11.7 scholarships amongst 27 players and typically carry close to 35 players on their roster.
First, I’ll ask the obvious question…11.7? Why 11.7? I’m sure there was some math behind that. Maybe I’ll write about that at a later date. More importantly, MLB is the 2nd largest grossing sports league in the United States behind football. The 30 teams take in an estimated 3–4 billion in revenue each year.
When you look at the dollars committed in scholarship at the NCAA level, it pales in comparison to many other sports, with just .33 scholarships per player on the roster. NCAA football blows baseball out of the water with 85 scholarships for teams with 100–125 players. That is about .77 scholarships per player.
I get it. NCAA football makes a lot of money. Many of these football teams can sell out 50,000 seat stadiums. But what about other sports?
Basketball gets 13 scholarships. They make money too. Cross country and Lacrosse both get 12.6. Hockey gets 18. Softball gets an even 12. They get more overall, and more per rostered player.
Why do I care? Well if you think about it, college scholarships compensate and incentivize amateur athletes to play that sport. Right now, other sports are compensating amateur athletes to a greater degree than they are to play baseball, despite MLB making much more money than these sports. I’ve heard plenty of parents say, “Have your daughter play soccer or softball. It is so easy to get it to pay for college.” It is for the same reason that Lacrosse has grown so much in popularity as a youth sport while baseball stagnates.
If MLB wants more interest in their sport, they need to find a way to raise the number of college scholarships to increase the demand for college baseball athletes. That will cause more kids to play it for longer and will create more interest in the game.
