What is the "#4" sport at Michigan?
Been meaning to ask this question for awhile now. What is the #4 sport on campus?
Football is obviously and always will be #1. Basketball and hockey are interchangable at 2&3 depending on who you ask. #4 is pretty much a free-for-all.
Obviously winning boosts your attendance. Softball? Baseball was pretty popular in the 80s with the Middaugh teams just looking at attendance figures.
February 11th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
I did an article in 2012 using the data submitted to NCAA for Title IX compliance. Most recent data are available here.
Fortunately for our purposes, Michigan is one of the few teams that doesn't outright lie on these things. Unfortunately, once the NCAA realized journalists had found this stuff they started making it harder to get at; you need to download their database and match codes on a Word doc to the spreadsheets, etc.
Revenue-wise, M's fourth biggest sport is....drumrolll...Lacrosse:
| Rk | Sport | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Football | $81,475,191 |
| 2 | M Basketball | $14,799,440 |
| 3 | Ice Hockey | $3,248,026 |
| 4 | Lacrosse | $2,378,900 |
| 5 | W Basketball | $440,353 |
| 6 | Baseball | $312,388 |
| 7 | Softball | $300,721 |
| 8 | Volleyball | $151,635 |
| 9 | W All Track Combined | $141,452 |
| 10 | W Gymnastics | $100,723 |
| 11 | M Swimming and Diving | $75,302 |
| 12 | M Soccer | $72,622 |
| 13 | Field Hockey | $64,657 |
| 14 | W Tennis | $62,831 |
| 15 | M All Track Combined | $49,629 |
| 16 | W Swimming and Diving | $49,097 |
| 17 | M Gymnastics | $48,403 |
| 18 | W Golf | $45,360 |
| 19 | W Soccer | $45,000 |
| 20 | Wrestling | $43,512 |
| 21 | M Golf | $32,305 |
| 22 | Rowing | $32,098 |
| 23 | M Tennis | $18,579 |
| 24 | Water Polo | $2,798 |
... but I bet a lot of that comes from sharing ticket sales at other teams' stadiums. Ditto women's basketball and to a lesser degree, men's baseball and women's basketball (which gets on TV more often).
I can compare to the rest of the country and list the rankings, but the rest of the country lies their asses off regarding womens' sports revenues so they can blow tons of money on men's sports and still comply with Title IX (e.g., West Virginia claims they took in almost $3 million on their unranked women's track and field team; that's what Michigan hockey makes.)
I'd guess it's softball.
February 11th, 2014 at 4:41 PM ^
Growing sport, fun to watch, pleeennnty of Michigan students from the east coast, etc, etc. It'll soon be the 4th revenue sport ime (maybe it is now?)
February 11th, 2014 at 6:38 PM ^
February 11th, 2014 at 8:24 PM ^
February 11th, 2014 at 5:25 PM ^
In terms of an actual fourth, I could see lacrosse just because it plays in the Big House. 4th sport really depends on what you enjoy.
February 11th, 2014 at 5:31 PM ^
February 11th, 2014 at 6:07 PM ^
Volleyball for me. Real fun to watch. Non stop action.
February 11th, 2014 at 6:07 PM ^
I'm guessing softball because it won a NC recently, though I guess don't sleep on wrestling.
February 11th, 2014 at 7:26 PM ^
For me it is 1. football 2. basketball 3. hockey 4. every other sport is basically tie here, i care about all but not on the level of 1-3.
February 11th, 2014 at 7:28 PM ^
It's Marching Band.
February 11th, 2014 at 7:42 PM ^
I know what the #4 sport was when you could see Jim Abbott, Barry Larkin, Greg Brock, Chris Sabo, Hal Morris and Scott Kamieniecki, all of who made the majors, for around $2 a game in the 1980's. Another good player during that era: agent Casey Close.
February 11th, 2014 at 7:48 PM ^
February 11th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
From afar, as an adult alumnus, mind you, here is my perception:
1. American Football
2. Basketball
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Hockey
5. Soccer
February 11th, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^
February 11th, 2014 at 10:28 PM ^
Based on facebook followers, it appears that Baseball is #4. (The top three being 1. Football 2. Basketball 3. Hockey). As a member of the Solar Car team I appreciate the mention! Solar Car is up there with women's soccer and gymnastics.
February 14th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
This actually seems like an okay metric to judge this (assuming the same amount of outreach is put into the FB page for each team). I can't believe I just wrote that.
February 12th, 2014 at 12:08 AM ^
Basketball and hockey are not interchangeable. The vast majority of Michigan fans would say basketball is #2. If you think hockey is #2, you are probably a hockey cultist. And in terms of national recognition, they are galaxies apart.
Hell, for me basketball is #1 and has been from the day Beilein took over.
February 12th, 2014 at 12:12 AM ^
Intertube water polo. Duh.