This PDF summarizes our analysis of the financial data and gender equity concerns related to the January 9 decision to eliminate the UC Davis Division I women’s equestrian team.

Economic analysis

Economic analysis by Andy Schwarz of OSKR shows that UC Davis Athletics inflated the equestrian team’s expenses by 120%.

What happened to the UC Davis Equestrian team?

UC Davis Athletics announced the discontinuation of the Division I women’s equestrian program during the middle of the competitive season. Student-athletes were notified in a mandatory team meeting approximately 30 minutes before the public press release was issued.

The decision affects more than 30 student-athletes, including recruits for 2026–2027 who had already committed to the team and students who relocated to attend UC Davis specifically for the program.

What was the timeline of events?

• 2018–2019: UC Davis launches Division I women’s equestrian competition.
• 2021: Rocko DeLuca becomes Athletic Director. Reported team expenses were approximately $504,000.
• 2022: Reported expenses increased to approximately $912,000, without a public breakdown explaining the change.
• July–December 2025: Equestrian coaches continued to actively recruit incoming students for the 2026–2027 season including campus visits and signing day activities.
• December 2025: The equestrian team held a fundraising event (Festival of Trees) soliciting donations from parents “in support of the UC Davis D1 Equestrian Team,” with approval from UCD Athletics.
• January 5–9: Donation payments continued to be solicited by Athletics from Festival of Trees event.
• January 9, 3pm: Student-athletes were called into a mandatory meeting and informed the program would be discontinued.
• January 9, 4pm: A public announcement was posted by UC Davis Athletics announcing the discontinuation of the equestrian team.

How successful was the UC Davis Equestrian team?

The program has been one of the most successful women’s teams at UC Davis.

Achievements include:

• Back-to-back ECAC Conference Championships (2023 and 2024)
• The only team in NCEA history to win a conference championship in its fifth season
• National ranking of #7
• Academic and athletic All-Americans produced annually
• Team GPA approximately 3.5, among the highest in UC Davis Athletics
• Named UC Davis Women’s Team of the Year (2024)

Have women’s sports been treated equally at Davis?

Our analysis of social media shows a clear bias toward men’s sports in coverage and publicity. The following graphic shows the number of posts on UC Davis Athletics’ Facebook page this academic year. Prior to the announcement that they had decided to terminate the equestrian team (and the Title IX concerns that became apparent), men’s sports were featured in THREE TIMES as many posts as women’s sports. Immediately after the announcement, it appears that the Athletics department tried to mask this pattern of behavior with posts featuring softball, gymnastics, and women’s water polo.

Is this really a pattern? Athletic Director Rocko DeLuca’s personal Facebook page showed an even more egregious bias. Interestingly, posts on his page are all now deleted or hidden.

What about facilities?

This is the state of the bathroom that the Equestrian team was provided:

Is equestrian really an expensive sport?

Public athletics reporting and comparisons with other NCAA equestrian programs suggest women’s equestrian is not among the most expensive Division I women’s sports.

Across NCAA equestrian programs:

• Equestrian often ranks among the lowest cost per student-athlete women’s sports.
• Many programs rely heavily on donated horses and community partnerships, reducing capital costs.
• Early UC Davis financial documents reported operating costs near $500,000 annually, consistent with peer programs despite the team incurring internal UC Davis expenses to Campus Recreation for use of the Equestrian Center.

While UC Davis Athletics has not released statements of revenues and expenses since 2021 (the year that Rocko DeLuca took over as Athletic Director), the Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act provides data on expenses by sport as reported by the athletics department. These numbers show a dramatic increase in reported expenses as soon as Rocko DeLuca took over as Athletic Director, with no transparency on where this money went.

At the same time, UC Davis massively underreported men’s sport operating expenses. Somehow, the total men’s sport expenses ended up less than what was reported for football alone. Again, just those two years when Rocko DeLuca was in charge.

The Equestrian team’s away meets have been penny-pinched, with 3am wakeups and multi-leg connecting flights on SouthWest to get to an afternoon meet that same day. The hotels booked for the team are often low-cost locations rather than the partner hotels of their hosts’ athletic departments.

We have requested clarification regarding:

• The reported increase in expenses between 2021 and 2022
• Facility charges allocated to the equestrian program
• How donor-funded improvements were accounted for

These financial details have not yet been publicly released.

What are we asking for now?

Supporters are asking the university to:

• Pause implementation of the decision
• Release the financial analysis and consultant report
• Meet with student-athletes, parents, and donors
• Explore sustainable alternatives to discontinuing the program

The goal is to ensure decisions affecting student-athletes and women’s athletics are made transparently and collaboratively.