Participation Fee Numbers Hold Steady
June 27, 2012
Although the use of participation fees to help fund interscholastic athletics in Michigan high schools has doubled during the last nine years, the percentage of schools assessing them has held steady over the last two, according to surveys taken by the Michigan High School Athletic Association of its member institutions.
The most recently completed survey indicates that of 514 member schools participating, 260 schools – 50.5 percent – charged participation fees during the 2011-12 school year. In the 2010-11 survey, fees were being used at 50.4 percent of schools participating.
There were 763 senior high schools in the MHSAA membership this school year – the survey generated a response rate of 68 percent. This was the ninth survey of schools since the 2003-04, when members reported that fees were being used in 24 percent of schools.
The most recent survey also showed that fees incurred by students who paid once for an entire year of participation increased slightly from 2010-11 to 2011-12 – although the maximum fee per family decreased slightly.
The most popular method of assessing participation fees continues to be a payment for each sport an athlete goes out for, used by 41.5 percent of schools in 2011-12. That median fee among schools in the survey has increased only $5, to $75, since 2009-10.
A standardized annual fee per student was used by 24.5 percent of schools in the past year. Since Fall 2003, that fee has increased from $75 to $120 – a 60 percent increase – with the fee increasing $20 per athlete from 2010-11 to 2011-12.
Beginning with the 2004-05 survey, schools were asked in the survey if they had a cap on what individual student-athletes and families could be charged. Caps on student fees have been used by the majority of schools, but that number has dropped from 71.3 percent in 2004-05 to 55 percent in 2011-12. However, the number of schools instituting a cap on what a family pays has increased from 41 percent having a limit in 2004-05 to 49 percent in 2011-12.
Other data from the 2011-12 survey shows 64.5 percent of schools with participation fees have some kind of fee reduction or waiver program in place based on existing programs for subsidized lunch and milk (down from 68 percent in 2010-11); that 14 percent of schools using fees report a drop in participation; and that slightly more than one percent of schools report losing students to other school districts because they are charging fees. Five percent of schools not assessing fees in 2011-12 report transfers to their districts because of the absence of fees. Also, seven percent of schools not assessing fees had done so previously.
The survey for 2011-12 and surveys from previous years can be found on the MHSAA Website by clicking on Schools – Administrators – Pay-To-Play Resources.
MHSAA 2025-26 Attendance Figures Show Increases in 10 Sports, Nearly Offsetting Early Deficit
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 25, 2026
Increased attendance in 10 sports nearly made up for a likely Halloween-driven deficit during the first week of last season’s football playoffs as Michigan High School Athletic Association postseason tournament attendance approached 1.4 million spectators again for the 2025-26 school year.
Total, MHSAA Tournament events drew 1,381,218 spectators at competitions for which admission is charged – which counts all MHSAA-sponsored sports except golf, skiing and tennis, as single tickets are not sold for those postseason events. The total of just under 1.4 million spectators was a decrease of 16,356 tickets sold across all sports (1.2 percent) from 2024-25 – but notable increases in other sports helped make up for a year-to-year decrease of 37,617 tickets (29 percent) for the District Semifinal round of the MHSAA 11-Player Football Playoffs, which along with 8-Player Regional Semifinals coincided with Halloween in 2025.
The Boys Lacrosse Tournament saw record attendance during its Semifinals and overall with 18,067 tickets sold across all rounds – that total representing an 18-percent increase from the previous season. Girls Volleyball Tournament attendance approached its overall record, with 118,332 tickets sold an increase of 6.7 percent from the 2025 postseason and just 99 tickets shy of tying the record set during the 2019 season. Girls volleyball did set records at the District (78,307) and Regional (26,793) levels.
Girls attendance as a whole rebounded in 2025-26, up to 460,730 tickets sold, an increase of 1.6 percent over the previous year. Girls basketball (146,322), competitive cheer (29,491), lacrosse (5,573) and individual wrestling (5,539) all joined volleyball as showing attendance jumps. Overall attendance for cross country (girls and boys combined) also saw an increase (17,778), as did boys basketball (262,338), boys swimming & diving (5,831) and individual wrestling (47,903). The Individual Wrestling Finals, specifically, enjoyed their largest audience since 2016-17.
Football did receive good news, despite the lower attendance that first week and also slightly lower attendance year-to-year for the 11-Player District Finals. The Regional rounds of the playoffs, 11 and 8-player combined, saw their highest attendance (68,469) since the 2012 season, and despite 8-Player Regional Semifinals coinciding with Halloween. The Semifinals attendance (33,085) saw their highest attendance also since 2012, and Finals attendance (44,708) was its highest since 2019.
The MHSAA also sponsored postseasons for the first time for field hockey and boys volleyball, adding overall ticket sales of 2,084 and 8,158, respectively.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.