Background

Following the Montana High School Association’s decision to approve baseball as an “all-class” sport, 25 schools in Montana representing 21 teams participated in the inaugural season in 2023.

During their regular public meeting November 24, 2023, the MCPS Board of Trustees voted 5-4 to approve high school baseball for our District starting in 2025, with the requirement that the entire first year’s costs be covered by fundraising that would be expected to meet certain milestones along the way. The District will then look to include baseball in the general fund as a revenue-neutral addition in 2026.

Here is a link to the baseball slideshow that was presented during the Board meeting. 

Costs

At the November 2023 Board meeting, administration shared that the cost of adding baseball amounts to approximately $50,000 per high school (for both varsity and JV), for a total of $150,000 for the District. These estimates do not include field rentals or maintenance expenses.

Fundraising

Community groups working to establish a baseball program with MCPS have to fundraise all the start-up costs and the entire cost of the first year of operating the program, including coaches, travel, equipment, uniforms, etc. These groups are working to meet specific fundraising goals and timelines.

If fundraising goals are not met, baseball will not be added.

Future

After the first year (2025), the MCPS baseball program must be budget-neutral, meaning that MCPS will likely have to reduce resources to other boys activity programs in order to fund baseball moving forward.