Championships & Sport Sponsorship

20% of NAIA student-athletes have the opportunity to participate in postseason

 
Championship Sports
The NAIA sponsors 29 national championship sports for men and women. Championship sports require 30 sponsoring institutions after two years of invitational status. National Championships are administered by the NAIA National Office. 

 
Teams directly qualify for the national championship through their conference. The number of automatic berths from a specific conference is determined by the total number of conference schools participating in the sport. Direct qualification gives every conference an opportunity to have representation at the national championship. The remainder of the championship field is made up of at-large selections, typically the top-ranked teams that did not qualify through automatic qualification.

Soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball all have opening rounds as part of the national championship. These events are usually held at campus sites. Any NAIA institution can bid to host an opening round, with preference given to the top-ranked teams.

Sports Sponsorship Opportunities
For NAIA member schools, adding new varsity and junior varsity sports means opportunities to attract more students to campus. In addition to offering 29 national championship sports, the NAIA works to identify new sports for their potential to become widely adopted by membership and to establish a national championship in that sport.

Women's Beach Volleyball is an invitational sports in preparation for becoming a championship sport, while Women’s Flag Football has emerging sport status.

At the campus level, the NAIA National Office provides customized resources for members to investigate the potential for adding sports not currently sponsored by the institution. The program includes support from a network of peer experts within membership.