KC Smurthwaite is a consultant for Athletics Admin, specializing in revenue generation, licensing, marketing, and higher education. He has almost two decades of experience in collegiate athletics and the sports and entertainment industry. Smurthwaite is a fractional employee of several athletic departments across the country. He also teaches sports management and journalism as an adjunct professor. Follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn. Smurthwaite can also be reached at [email protected].
With the news that Grand Canyon University is cutting its men’s volleyball program after this season, it’s time to take a closer look at the financial landscape of Division I men’s volleyball while also keeping an eye on the future of cuts.
While GCU is a private institution and exact numbers are hard to come by, several sitting head coaches estimate the Lopes’ budget was at least $1 million.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a program that was scraping by competitively. GCU has reached the NCAA Tournament twice in the past three years, including a Final Four run that left them just one game away from a national title. And this is a program that hasn’t even turned 18 years old yet.
In its official statement, the university cited the “evolving college athletics landscape” as the reason for the cut. The release also noted, “Men’s volleyball is currently sponsored by 27 of more than 360 Division I institutions and no current members of the Mountain West Conference.”
That number is a bit misleading. Because D1 and D2 men’s volleyball are essentially combined into a single championship, the actual number of programs is more than 60. But “27” sounds better when you are trying to make a case for cutting a program—especially when you’re positioning and preparing your school to join the Mountain West, which doesn’t sponsor men’s volleyball.
Still, that doesn’t make men’s volleyball a necessary casualty. GCU currently competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), a conference home for many Olympic sports like water polo, gymnastics, and men’s volleyball.
So let’s take a look at some numbers…
Here’s a snapshot of annual men’s volleyball budgets at comparable Division I programs:
- Ball State: $688,000
- UC Irvine: $683,000
- CSUN: $627,000
- UCSB: $895,000
- Long Beach State: $1,870,000
It’s a wide range, but it helps contextualize the potential savings. In its statement, GCU said it would “focus on supporting its remaining 20 athletic programs at the highest levels in their respective conferences.” (Yes—plural. GCU knows not all its sports will be in the Mountain West; swimming and diving, for example, will remain in the MPSF.)
Let’s drill down the budget further. At CSUN, the $627,000 annual cost includes:
- Staffing: ~$274,000
- Student Aid: ~$167,000
- Ticket Sales Revenue: ~$9,000
- Donations: ~$18,000
That’s about one-third of the budget for staffing—consistent with other D1 programs. And while GCU has slightly higher attendance (averaging about 300 more fans per match than CSUN), most matches don’t crack 1,000 fans. The ticket sales don’t make up the operating losses.
So does GCU now free up $1 million? Not exactly.
In most cases, staffing expenses revert to the university, and the remaining funds get redistributed within athletics. I’ve seen this firsthand when a program I worked with was cut—some funds stayed in athletics, some didn’t. So, only part of that $1 million may directly support the other 20 varsity sports.
One source close to the situation at GCU put it bluntly: “The money’ savings’ is going to expenses and rising costs of funding a competitive Division I program.”
And those costs are going up. Transitioning from the WAC to the Mountain West comes with an uptick in operational demands—not to mention upcoming house settlement costs and revenue-sharing changes. Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said all schools are opting into those changes. Don’t expect GCU to be the lone exception.
So what’s next for Grand Canyon and other schools considering cuts?
It’s no secret in the industry that GCU may join the Mountain West a year earlier than initially announced. They were originally slated to join the West Coast Conference this summer before announcing a future move to the Mountain West in 2026. But with the WAC reportedly declining to take them back for a “gap year,” expect an updated timeline soon.
As for the volleyball program, it’s hard to mount a strong comeback campaign without deep-pocketed donors. With just 17 years of history, GCU men’s volleyball doesn’t have an established alumni base in a position to fundraise or launch a reinstatement effort.
This is the new normal in college athletics. One athletic director told me, “We are lining up items right now to protect ourselves from the impending pushback or lawsuits when we announce upcoming cuts. It’s not if, it’s when.”
It’s happening—and it’s becoming increasingly business-driven.
If programs aren’t being outright cut, look for micro-cuts elsewhere. Don’t be surprised if non-conference schedules start shrinking across non-revenue sports. Take softball, for instance: 56 games are allowed, but only 20–30 are conference games. That leaves around 30 non-conference games. Internally, some schools may begin capping that number significantly on both the men’s and women’s sides to manage costs.
Change is coming—and in many places, it’s already here.
