NCAA Championship Status Approved For Women’s Wrestling in 2026. Women’s Triathlon Languishes.

In January 2025, the NCAA approved women’s wrestling as its 91st championship sport and will host its first championship in 2026. This follows the organization’s Board of Governors decision one year ago to commit $1.7 million to establish the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships. More than 1,200 women wrestlers are competing at NCAA colleges today, across 76 programs (2023-24), with 17 additional programs projected in 2024-25.  Women’s wrestling joins rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015) as sports that have made the leap from NCAA Emerging Sport to Championship status. And women’s wrestling’s rise was relatively meteoric, having only gained NCAA Emerging Sport status in 2020.

Women’s Wrestling & Women’s Triathlon Snapshot

Where is women’s triathlon? Designated as an NCAA Emerging Sport in 2014, women’s triathlon has yet to achieve the 40 program minimum, based on numbers derived from data submitted by NCAA member schools in October 2024. In 2023-2024, there were 37 triathlon programs with 305 total athletes. 

The 2024-2025 projected sports sponsorship was 40 schools. The good news is that there are currently 41 schools currently listed on USA Triathlon’s website,  USA Triathlon’s NCAA Triathlon School Programs. The bad news is that newcomer LaSalle University won’t start competition until 2025-2026 and both Greensboro College and St. Thomas Aquinas College appear to have missed the minimum roster size of three (3) eligible student-athletes in 2024-2025 with only 2 each. Consequently, it would be safe to conclude that the ceiling was 38 schools in 2024-2025.  The data are refreshed each fall and will remain static until the next annual release. Additional eligibility requirements, including team participation in at least four intercollegiate contests, could further impact the total sports sponsorship number. 

Who are the 2024-2025 athletes?  From available information, 40 programs enrolled 342 athletes, with a median roster size of eight women, ranging from two (2) to eighteen (18). Some programs have turned abroad to meet their goals, like Wagner University (100% international), St. Thomas Aquinas College (100% international), Queens University (89% international), Emmanuel College (88% international) and Wingate University (67% international). Twenty-nine percent, or 100 of 342, of varsity female triathletes are international students. 

What about the sponsoring institutions? Overwhelmingly the colleges sponsoring women’s triathlon have small endowments, are tuition dependent and maintain meager athletic budgets. There is a troubling trend of credit downgrades with schools suffering from state funding cuts, Student athletes will choose and pay to continue to compete collegiately. Consequently, these institutions seek to increase enrollment and tuition revenue without significantly increasing overhead by adding sports, almost any sport. 

The NCAA Is In Deep Trouble. 

Per the NCAA, 90% of their $800 million revenue comes from the Division I men’s basketball championship, or March Madness, television and marketing rights. Championship ticket sales provide most of the remaining revenue. The NCAA does not control the College Football Playoff (CFP) or major bowl games and football contributes minimal direct revenue to the NCAA. The Big Ten, SEC and other Power 5 conferences earn $4-$5 billion annually from massive TV deals with large media companies (e.g., ESPN, FOX, CBS, & NBC). The College Football Playoff (CFP) alone is worth $1.3 billion per year in TV revenue. 

The NCAA’s headwinds have continued since the 2024 Treading Water: The State of NCAA Women’s Triathlon article. In a move that significantly weakens the NCAA’s control over athlete compensation, a judge granted preliminary approval to the $2.8 billion legal settlement that allows schools to pay players in October 2024. The settlement includes both $2.8 billion of retroactive payments to about 14,000 current and former Division I athletes plus a revenue sharing model that allows each school to distribute up to $20.5 million annually to their athletes. The final approval hearing on April 7, 2025 will determine the settlement’s implementation.

While it might have to wait until the NCAA’s March Madness agreement with CBS/Turner expires in 2032, the Power 5 could follow the College Football Playoff (CFP) model and separate from the NCAA, securing more money for themselves and gaining more control over the March Madness tournament structure. Without the basketball money, the NCAA would likely become little more than a regulatory agency that would be unable to fund or produce NCAA Championship events, including women’s triathlon.

Summary. In 2022, there were claims that Women’s Collegiate Triathlon Now on the Doorstep to Full-Fledged NCAA Status and Triathlon Hits Mark to Become Next NCAA Sport. That has not yet come to fruition; while women’s wrestling recently gained NCAA Championship status after becoming an NCAA Emerging Sport in 2020 and achieving the 40 school mark just two years later. Assuming that the NCAA is still in a financial position to add emerging sports and currently participating schools remain in a position to sponsor the sport, a best case scenario for women’s triathlon to become an NCAA Championship Sport is three years away. It will look markedly different from women’s wrestling’s emergence, which quickly accumulated twice as many colleges and four times as many athletes. We are also keeping an eye on flag football, considering the NFL’s commitment to it, reflected in a two minute Super Bowl LIX commercial, titled “Flag 50”. Given that 30-second slots during the 2025 Super Bowl were sold for approximately $8 million each, the estimated cost for this two-minute (120-second) commercial is $32 million. 

2024-2025 Collegiate Triathlon Snapshot

Institutional Research

Recent reports have highlighted a troubling trend of credit downgrades in the higher education sector, with numerous institutions suffering from tightened funding, reduced student enrollment and an increasing debt burden. Analysts point to a combination of declining state funding, demographic shifts and a competitive marketplace as primary factors contributing to the financial distress experienced by many U.S. colleges and universities.

• Arizona State University. Arizona State to add tuition surcharge, close 1 campus after state funding cuts
• Black Hills State University. BHSU attempts to overcome historic funding deficit
• Cal Poly Humboldt. Cal Poly Humboldt Imposes ‘Temporary Hiring Chill’ in Response to Anticipated $13.3 Million Budget Deficit
• Calvin University. Budget pain ahead: The end of “invest to grow” at Calvin
• Concordia University Wisconsin. Concordia University campuses, including Mequon’s, facing financial struggles
• Delaware State University. UD and DSU seek millions after requests were largely unfulfilled by governor’s recommended budget
• Duquesne University. Pittsburgh’s smaller colleges teeter on edge of ‘enrollment cliff’ and tuition drought
• Emmanuel College. Moody’s Ratings revises Emmanuel College’s (MA) outlook to negative from stable; affirms Baa3
• Gallaudet University. Gallaudet University, DC 2021 Bond Rating Outlook Revised To Negative On Enrollment Declines And Operating Deficits
• Guilford College. Guilford College gets 1 more year of accreditation probation for ‘good cause’
• King University. King University at risk of losing accreditation
• La Salle University. La Salle University’s enrollment dropped 28% since 2019.
• Queens University. Queens University of Charlotte says it will make cuts after missing enrollment goal
• University of Arizona. Arizona Budget Woes Still Loom Large One Year Later
• University of Denver. DU makes cuts as declining enrollment creates budget deficit, drawing concern from faculty, students
• University of South Dakota. $10M base fund decrease to university funding not ‘terribly positive’ to SDBOR head
• Wagner College. Fitch Revises Wagner College, NY’s Outlook to Negative; Affirms IDR and Revs at ‘BBB-‘
• Warren Wilson College. Warren Wilson College revamps its academic offerings
• Willamette University. Decline of undergraduate enrollment results in cuts to student and staff support