Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, women have fought for equal rights and representation in sports. In 1972, the federal law Title IX was passed, stating “No person, on the basis of sex, shall… be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” However, a few sports appear to have a discrepancy between the men’s and women’s teams. One of the sports appearing in this subset is rowing.
Women’s rowing is one of the earliest women’s sports developed for college athletes, with the initiation of the National Women’s Rowing Association Championships in 1971, and the induction of women’s rowing into the NCAA in 1997. Men’s rowing has historical ties even further back, with the first recorded race held in 1852 against Harvard and Yale, one of the first intercollegiate events held in the United States. However, despite this notable historical significance, Men’s Rowing is still not sanctioned by the NCAA, but rather by the American Collegiate Rowing Association (“ACRA”).
What’s the big deal, though? Who cares what four letters organize collegiate rowing? Well, teams associated with the NCAA receive significant benefits for athletes. For example, athletes in an NCAA-associated sport receive scholarships, an array of supportive programs, lifestyle coaches and nutritionists, and much more. Athletes outside of this NCAA sphere simply don’t get these opportunities. One can only imagine how many rowers lost their chance at athletic success simply because they did not have the resources to go to a top-tier school like Princeton or Harvard.
Meanwhile, colleges also benefit from men’s rowing becoming an NCAA-affiliated sport. The total revenue generated by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (“IRA”) in 2024 was around $505,000. The median total revenue for Division I (“DI”) FBS Autonomous schools, including UVA, is around 86.5 million dollars, with the lowest percentile sports still pulling in a staggering 30.4 million. Even with expenses factored in, the median net revenue for a DI FBS Autonomous school is still around 26.3 million. Introducing men’s rowing into the NCAA would increase coverage and audience for the sport, increase revenue for the schools, and increase resources for the athletes participating.
Nevertheless, every rose has its thorn. Becoming an NCAA-sanctioned sport also brings a plethora of rules and regulations. Registered sports are required to comply with a universal set of rules, commonly referred to as the “Rules of the Game,” which includes limits on financial aid, regulation regarding recruiting, and even uniforms. These rules are set in place in order to protect athletes and ensure that everyone can have a fair competition experience. Yet, these rules come at a cost.
Sometimes, NCAA rules can clash with what the athletes want, and rowing comes with an infamous example. A common tradition in men’s rowing is something called “betting shirts.” Betting shirts, a universally beloved tradition, is a fun game where, at the end of a regatta, the winners receive the shirts of the losing teams. The problem is that betting shirts falls under the NCAA-banned activity of sports betting. The NCAA defines sports betting as “putting something at risk”—by betting on a shirt, an athlete violates NCAA regulations. All of a sudden, by becoming an NCAA sport, the culture of men’s rowing can lose a piece of what makes it special.
So, are the increased resources worth the strong arm of the law? To answer this question, I asked the UVA Varsity Men’s rowers for comments, and the answers I received provided an entirely new train of thought. “Virginia Rowing’s current position provides a unique experience for students due to its inherent limitations on recruiting while maintaining a paid coaching staff,” Alex Ballinger stated, “Forcing ACRA schools to join IRA or NCAA would cause Virginia Rowing to lose its distinct qualities that make it so special.” Another rower responded, “The culture of the team would die… and the organization would be fundamentally unrecognizable.” The rowers maintain that it is the very essence of remaining external to the NCAA that keeps their team running.
It’s hard to say what the future holds for men’s rowing. The perks of being a DI sport are certainly obvious. However, there is a certain intangible culture, both of a born-and-raised team and of the sport’s traditions, that would be lost to the wind should the NCAA decide to sanction Men’s Rowing. The second rower stated it best: “We would definitely love to have preferred class selection and all the other bells and whistles of being DI, but we happily give those up for what we have right now.”
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