Harvard’s Sees Steepest Drop in Varsity Participants in More Than a Decade

Harvard’s varsity teams lost more than 100 athletes in the past year — the steepest one-year drop since at least 2012 — pushing participation to its lowest level in over a decade, according to federal data released Monday.

The decline cut across the majority of Harvard’s programs: 22 of Harvard’s 36 reported sports lost participants. Harvard now fields nearly a fifth fewer athletes than it did in 2022.

The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act requires colleges to report detailed information on athletic participation, staffing, revenues, and expenses for men’s and women’s sports programs.

The decline follows a modest rebound last year. Men’s teams lost 70 participants and women’s teams lost 44. Since 2022, men’s teams have shed 140 participants and women’s teams 104.

Men’s rowing saw the steepest drop, losing 29 athletes just a year after adding 25 athletes to the team in 2025. Football lost 10 players, while fencing lost seven.

On the women’s side, track and field and cross country fell the most, by 24 participants, followed by soccer and swimming and diving, which each lost six. Women’s rowing was a rare exception, growing from 81 to 89.

Harvard Athletics spokesperson Imry Halevi wrote in a statement that 2026 is the first reporting year without the lingering effects of “Covid-era eligibility,” which had contributed to higher participation in prior years.

“Participation varies from year to year as student-athletes make decisions about their involvement in athletics,” Halevi wrote.

Overall spending on teams fell 1.5 percent to $33.8 million, with the entire decline on the men’s side. Spending on men’s teams fell by about $616,000, or 3.1 percent, while spending on women’s teams rose by about $94,000.

Women’s teams now account for 43.3 percent of team expenses, the highest share in the past five years, up from about 41.1 percent in 2022. Expenses not tied to any sport rose again, to $13.7 million, bringing Harvard’s grand total to $47.6 million, roughly flat from last year. With more money spread across fewer athletes, team spending per participant climbed from roughly $18,300 in 2022 to about $31,000.

Spending on women’s basketball rose 12 percent to $1.98 million, passing men’s basketball at $1.8 million, the first time since at least 2012 that Harvard spent more on its women’s team. Game-day spending on women’s basketball — the operating costs of competing, such as travel, lodging, and officials — surged to more than $614,000, a 70 percent increase from last year and two and half times its 2022 level.

Game-day spending for men’s basketball has risen about 64 percent since 2022 to roughly $393,000.

Football and rowing, last year’s biggest spenders, both pulled back. Football’s spending fell by about $169,000 to $4.77 million, and rowing’s, across both teams, fell by about $145,000 to just under $4 million. Football’s game-day spending , however, rose 64 percent, from about $502,000 to $826,000. Sailing spending rose 38 percent overall. Lacrosse and golf, which both saw cuts last year, rebounded by about $158,000 and $103,000, respectively.

Other programs saw steep cuts. Tennis spending fell by about $274,000 across both teams, a 17 percent drop, and soccer fell about $252,000. Fencing declined by about $153,000, and men’s ice hockey by about $165,000.

Overall game-day spending rose about 3 percent for both men’s and women’s teams to $9.5 million. That figure has climbed nearly 50 percent since 2022, when it was $6.4 million.

As a recipient of federal funding, Harvard is also bound by Title IX, which mandates equal treatment and opportunities for male and female athletes, including access to facilities, equipment, participation, and support services.

Head coach pay moved in opposite directions. The average salary for men’s team head coaches rose by $1,133 to $175,991, while the average for women’s team head coaches fell by $1,788 to $141,947. The gap between the two averages widened to about $34,000, from about $31,100 last year.

While the total salary pool for men’s head coaches rose by $20,394, returning to roughly its 2024 level of $3.17 million, the pool for women’s head coaches fell by $32,184.

Athletics Director Erin McDermott has previously said coaching pay is set using “gender-neutral” factors in line with the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act.

Assistant coaches saw smaller changes. The average salary for assistant coaches on men’s teams rose by $748 to $56,255, and the average for assistants on women’s teams rose by $670 to $46,930.

But the pools moved differently: the total for men’s assistants fell by $5,391 as Harvard reported 67 positions, down from 68 last year, while the pool for women’s assistants grew by $41,540, driven by slightly higher pay across a steady 62 positions.

—Staff writer Julia A. Karabolli can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Tanya J. Vidhun can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @tanyavidhun.