OPINION: The Big Sky needs to add more softball teams

After basketball season ends in March, most Big Sky teams and fans want a sport to watch in spring. For some teams, it’s tennis. For others, it’s golf. And for the rest, it’s softball. However, the Big Sky conference does not have very many teams as their conference consists of only six softball teams.  

The teams are Idaho State, Portland State, Montana, Northern Colorado Weber State and Sacramento State. Teams like Eastern Washington, Idaho, Northern Arizona and Montana State do not have a team. If these teams were to add a softball program, there could be huge benefits.  

Softball is on the rise as viewership numbers are up 3% from last season. The Women’s College World Series final between Oklahoma and Florida State was sold out in person and had 1.6 million viewers at home. While that type of viewership will not come to Big Sky, it would get college sports fans in the West excited for the spring.  

Another benefit is the revenue that softball brings in. Teams like Clemson, Stanford and Oklahoma made almost 2 million from softball, and the leagues make a ton of money as well.  

But one of the biggest aspects is the athletes who do not get a chance to play softball at the college level.  

Kids from Washington, Idaho and all down the pacific northwest do not have as many opportunities to play their game at the next level. The Pacific Northwest is loaded with high school talent who don’t get a chance to show what they’re made of.  

Giving kids the chance to play will not only help universities grow but will also increase their fanbase. Softball may not be football or basketball, but it brings some excitement in the spring alongside tennis and golf.  

Every good high school athlete deserves the opportunity to try and play in college, and they should be able to do so near home.  

One example would be transfer student Jordy Bahl, who was the best softball pitcher on the best team in the country, the Oklahoma Sooners. Bahl won two national championships for Oklahoma, but wanted to play close to her hometown Papillion, Nebraska, so she chose to play for her hometown Nebraska Cornhuskers.  

With so much talent in the Big Sky, areas like Montana, Idaho and Washington only having two teams in those three states means that so much talent is leaving the area and going elsewhere.  

The Big Sky has the opportunity and the willpower to expand the conference and give kids a shot to play close to home. The revenue exposure and getting a chance to play at home is a huge opportunity that both the Big Sky Conference, and its schools, should take.  

For the fans, players, schools, and the conference, it would be another exciting spring sport. Once teams leave the Big Sky basketball championship in Boise, there isn’t much to be excited about. By adding softball, the Big Sky can hold fan’s attention practically year-round.  

Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10