are considered to be non-P65 schools. I have attended both a VT club ice hockey game and a Northern Michigan DI ice hockey game. The schools that sponsor these sports that you have deemed to be "unnecessary" will not quietly drop them down to club level. They and their fanbases have invested a lot of time and money into developing these programs.

A good percentage of these schools have even gone as far as building the facilities necessary to support the specific sport. For example Michigan built the Yost Ice Arena specifically for its ice hockey programs. When Stanford built the Avery Aquatic Center, it made sure the center could support its men's swimming & diving, women's swimming & diving, men's water polo, women's water polo, and even synchronized swimming.

Just because a sport is labelled a "non-revenue sport," doesn't mean it is a non-revenue sport. For example Michigan charges $30-$40 for a ticket to attend a home ice hockey game and will end up playing 18 home games during the 2015-2016 season. FWIW Michigan also sells tickets for men's/women's gymnastics, men's/women's lacrosse, men's/women's soccer, softball, volleyball, baseball, and wrestling in addition to football and men's/women's basketball. It wouldn't surprise me if more P65 schools operate more like Michigan than VT (i.e. free admission to non-revenue sports event) to help cover the cost associated with sponsoring the sport.

Even if a school is able to generate some extra cash, it will still be at least 5 years (minimum) before they could raise enough cash to cover the startup cost associated with sponsoring a new sport. Also, keep in mind that just because a school may have the money to sponsor a new sport, it doesn't automatically mean they will sponsor it. SEC schools can bank all the money in the world, but realistically AL-Huntsville will probably be the only DI school in the Deep South to sponsor ice hockey because very few (if any) HS in the Deep South play the sport and majority of their fanbase has no interest in the sport.

WRT to your example about club hockey at VT, it is an apples to orange comparison because VT has never sponsored ice hockey as a NCAA sport. So VT has never invested the time or money into the sport to the level of BC or Notre Dame (keeping it just within the ACC family).

[Post edited by VTHokie2000 at 02/22/2016 2:30PM]