LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Everybody’s asking the wrong question.
After Louisville baseball’s sixth trip to the College World Series, the immediate chatter is: Can they get back?
I’ve seen the early roster projections. The returnee wish lists. The transfer portal speculation.
But college sports in 2025 aren’t like college sports in 2015 — or even 2024.
This isn’t about poring over the roster.
It’s about combing through the budget.
If you want to know whether Louisville baseball can keep competing at the highest level, the real question is: Who’s going to pay for it?
And the answer can’t just be the athletic department.
Dan McDonnell’s program just proved — again — that it can win on the national stage, even without top-tier funding. I’d bet some donors climbed back on the bandwagon during this postseason run. They should. If you’re a business, supporter or fan who sees Louisville baseball as a city asset — one that presents the city’s best face to a national audience — this is the moment to call McDonnell and invest.
Because if outside money doesn’t step up, I’m not sure how much more the department can do.
Some upgrades are coming. McDonnell told Drew Deener on ESPN Radio this week that the Shad Mason “Hack Shack” will be converted into a pitching lab. Former Cardinal Will Smith has stepped up with a lead gift toward a badly needed indoor hitting facility.
But that’s the baseline. That’s playing catch-up, not pulling ahead.
A look at the budget shows that Louisville doesn’t appear positioned to fund many more baseball scholarships than the longtime NCAA minimum — 11.7. And perhaps no more than that. Starting next season, schools are allowed to fund up to 34. Some, including Kentucky and Florida State, are expected to come close.
If Louisville can’t even reach half that number? That’s the ballgame.
This isn’t about blame. Plenty of fans will say, “Louisville baseball deserves more.” I agree. But deserve is a moving target now.
Is it about winning?
Or revenue?
And what happens if you need the former to produce the latter — but the former no longer guarantees it?
Louisville athletics is in a tough spot. The upcoming budget shows a $12.5 million deficit — and that’s after nearly $17.4 million in projected university support. That’s a $30 million problem — the distance between where Louisville stands now and simply breaking even.
And that’s just to survive — not grow. Not move toward full baseball scholarship funding. Not add marketing. Not expand seating. Not raise revenue.
Football remains a major moneymaker and could earn $1.7 more with a Top 25 finishe — and $8 million more with a playoff run. Basketball, even without the old lucrative Yum Center deal, still has upside, but less room to boom. A deep NCAA run will help. But you can’t count on playoffs and deep runs every year.
The programs with the most growth potential? Women’s basketball. Volleyball. Baseball. But growth requires winning. And visibility. And a serious marketing investment.
Social and in-house media are fine. But how do you amplify them? Can you scale them to reach new audiences? And even if you do — is it enough?
All of it takes dollars.
From where?
That’s the question we should be asking.
“We know who makes the money,” McDonnell said. “Like I’ve always said, you cannot be a college coach in any sport and not understand where the money comes from. … The way I read the legislation — the way I’m trying to understand this — there’s no guarantee for all the other sports. None. And I’ve prepared myself — I think we’re going to look up, and they’re not going to get more scholarships. Blows my mind.”
It’s like, if you’ll forgive the Biblical reference, reaching the edge of the Promised Land but not being allowed to enter.
McDonnell and his team worked a little magic this season.
But you can’t ask them to replicate that every year.
Not if you’re sending them to the high-stakes table with little more than a handful of Card tricks.
Quick sips
Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm and his new general manager Vince Marrow, formerly of UK, are set to meet the media this morning. Watch for a story at WDRB.com later.
Rick Bozich and his son Alex Bozich, of Inside the Hall, got to sit down with new Indiana coach Darien DeVries on Thursday. Watch for his story on the website later this morning.
The Last Drop
“I hate to say it, but I think there's a lot of schools that are still going to be, whether that's 11.7 or close to that, and that saddens me because as much as we act like we're doing these great things for athletes, it's a small percentage that we're doing great things for. That small percentage, hey, good for you, it's a Quicken number. It’s another 0, another 0. I just hope we didn't kill off a bunch of sports.”
Louisville baseball coach Dan McDonnell
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