The path to a varsity women’s ice hockey at Michigan is becoming more clear, but huge roadblocks remain

When the Title IX Act was passed in 1972, many new opportunities were created for women in all facets of the United States. While the landmark legislation did not mention sports explicitly in any capacity, colleges and universities around the country took the opportunity to create women’s varsity sports.

At the University of Michigan, then-president Robben Fleming established a committee to study women’s intercollegiate sports in 1973. A year later, then-athletic director Donald Canham reluctantly allowed for six women’s varsity sports in Ann Arbor — basketball, field hockey, swimming and diving, synchronized swimming, tennis and volleyball.

Fifty years later, the Michigan Wolverines tout 15 NCAA-sanctioned women’s varsity sports, but there is still one hugely popular sport that has yet to earn the title of varsity.

For years, University of Michigan regent Denise Ilitch has been advocating for a varsity women’s hockey program to her colleagues on the board. In addition, regent Jordan Acker echoed Ilitch’s support for adding a women’s program, urging president Santa Ono and athletic director Warde Manuel to authorize a third-party organization to conduct a feasibility study to “help officials assess the practicality and costs of the proposed move.”

Hockey in the state of Michigan has always been popular. From the days of the Huron Hockey Club on the Huron River, to starting one of the nation’s first-ever collegiate hockey programs, to creating the first-ever college hockey postseason tournament, Michigan has been the heart and soul of hockey in the United States.

As it pertains to women, the state is still without a Division I women’s hockey program, despite producing the fourth-most NCAA Division I women’s hockey players in the United States behind Minnesota, Massachusetts and New York. Those three states have 20 varsity women’s programs combined, while women’s college hockey in Michigan consists of one Division III program at Adrian College and a handful of club teams, including at U-M.

However, there has been a ton of traction within the last year looking into the possibility of adding a women’s program at Michigan, and this past week, another tea leaf fell.

According to College Hockey News, the results of the feasibility study about adding women’s hockey at Michigan were recently released, assessing the costs and impacts of adding a women’s team. The study outlined what it would take to add a varsity women’s team, analyzing the cost of possibly expanding Yost Ice Arena, potentially building a new ice hockey arena, and calculating costs for team maintenance.

Per the report, the most feasible option would be to add a new arena that would be big enough to accommodate both hockey programs. The new building — projected to cost around $300 million — would consist of a seating capacity of 8,000-10,000 and would improve other amenities that Yost does not provide. For context, Yost currently holds 6,000 seats and is consistently sold out every weekend.

Another option would be to add two rinks, much like what the University of Minnesota has. There would be a larger rink for the men’s team and a smaller rink for the women’s team. That project would be the most expensive option, estimated at $330 million.

The cheapest option would be to expand Yost, building into the parking lot of Yost and Schembechler Hall. That project would cost roughly $50 million, but could potentially take away all the parking for Michigan hockey, baseball and softball, while overflowing parking for football.

Finally, Michigan could take a page from Boston University’s book and allow the women’s program to stay in Yost while the university builds a new stadium for the men’s program.

If one of the proposals is approved soon, the women’s team could be given varsity status as soon as the fall of 2026, which would mean the construction of new facilities could follow shortly thereafter.

There is one giant factor the study does not mention, however.

Michigan is currently expected to dish out $23 million to varsity athletes this fall as part of the House vs. NCAA Settlement that would pave the way for revenue sharing across Division I athletics. Michigan’s Athletic Department is already considering its options of how to divide and share that money, and adding another varsity sport before anyone knows what that would look like will be a very difficult task.

Across the country, we are seeing Division I programs cut to allow for revenue sharing to begin. This includes at Ohio State with men’s gymnastics, as well as at Texas Tech, which decided to not add any more athletic scholarships. Additionally, the entire Ivy League has opted out of the House Settlement to avoid revenue sharing.

Because of the upcoming landscape overhaul, it is still unlikely a women’s hockey program will be added in Ann Arbor in the immediate future. However, the feasibility survey gives the regents and the Athletic Department a starting point for preliminary discussions.

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