NCAA, MLB in talks for partnership to help college baseball

The NCAA and Major League Baseball are in active discussions to develop a broad partnership that could result in a boom to the game at the collegiate level, according to a report obtained by CBSSports.com.

The partnership is aimed at expanding the importance of college baseball and is expected to result a significant investment by MLB that could include funding scholarships across the sport. The NCAA Board of Directors was briefed on the matter last week at their annual meeting.

“It’s very early,” a source said. “But we’re hopeful something meaningful will come out of the talks.”

Baseball is currently an equivalency sport at the collegiate level, with schools allotted 11.7 full scholarships to distribute how they see fit. This results in players receiving a wide range of scholarship money to attend school, from nothing to a select few getting a full scholarship depending on how the coach recruits. What form an MLB sponsorship will take is yet to be determined but it could result in a general scholarship fund or additional scholarships for each school paid by the league.

Also will be working on increasing diversity in the D1 ranks, timing the CWS and the draft, and having colleges use wood bats.