NCAA ice hockey more lucrative than women's basketball, softball,...

[Gnashville]

The only real surprise that I have is that I was under the firm impression that college baseball was the #3 highest revenue generating sport for the NCAA thanks to the big crowds that Southern and Western schools often bring in and from their TV deals for the college world series (which I would assume is a bigger deal than the Frozen Four TV contract). Even with that in mind, I figured that hockey was #4 at "worst."

I would assume that "average" is the key word there, as there are significantly more very small schools with baseball programs that barely draw compared to a much smaller number of hockey schools. So, if you compare 300 baseball programs with 60 hockey programs, a few big moneymakers in the latter can warp the average significantly.

College Baseball starts in January and February and even in the most Southern places it’s still bitter cold during half the season and doesn’t really get warm enough to draw crowds until April. Outside of top programs the games are free or very cheap. Even at some SEC schools it’s less than $10. Plus college baseball also completes with minor league baseball in most places and minor league teams can sell beer, have better promotions, and most scouts and fans say that college baseball is less than single A ball developmental wise.
College Hockey has very few programs, is better than it’s minor league counterpart, has no weather issues, and is concentrated to a few places where travel is not a major issue.