ROA Research Briefs

RESEARCH BRIEF SPOTLIGHT:

Retention and Roster Size: Finding the “Sweet Spot” for Football

In 2022, an ROA Research Brief examined the relationship between roster size and retention across all NAIA championship sports. That research found sports with smaller roster sizes (e.g., swimming & diving, tennis, and lacrosse) tended to have higher retention rates than sports with larger roster sizes (e.g., baseball and football). However, the overall conclusion suggested by that research brief was the lack of a significant relationship between roster size and retention. Given this inconclusive finding, questions remained regarding roster sizes that tend to produce higher retention rates. The current research brief attempts to clarify this issue by examining a larger dataset to isolate the “sweet spot” for roster sizes that tend to provide higher retention rates for the largest roster sport in the NAIA: football.