WVU Softball? Not Likely to Happen on Wren Baker's Watch

The financials don't check out for WVU to add a softball program.

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

West Virginia University has 18 varsity sports and although there seems to be interest from the fan base to add softball, it doesn't seem likely to happen.

A little over a decade ago, the WVU baseball program was on the verge of being shutdown. Then-athletic director Oliver Luck met with several people around the industry seeking advice and ultimately decided to push forward, making a commitment to enhance the facilities all while hiring a new head coach in Randy Mazey.

That decision turned out to be a big home run as WVU built one of the best ballparks in the Big 12 and has reached heights the program had never seen such as hosting a regional, winning a Big 12 title, and reaching a super regional. Fan interest has grown year over year, but is barely profitable. With the ever-changing landscape of college athletics in the NIL era, it makes it incredibly difficult to add softball, or any other sport for that matter. The university need to put its focus on the 18 sports they do have and find a way to remain competitive.

Earlier this week, WVU AD Wren Baker discussed the topic briefly during an appearance on 3 Guys Before the Game.

“We do pay the bill for our scholarships, so when you look at the brand and region in this day and time…I tell people all the time you take out football and men’s basketball and look at the rest of our sports. This comes up when people push me about adding softball. They’re like you’d make money. There’s a difference between bringing in revenue and be profitable. Yes, we would bring in revenue. We would be nowhere near profitable because there’s no profitable softball program in the country. So to assume that we would be would be a fallacy.”

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