The numbers of total players playing is not down but there are new leagues popping up which has hurt some. I think the Ripken league has been hurt by some attendance numbers that didn't pan out like owners thought they would so the numbers are reduced. Some thought they would get better players than they were able to get. The leagues/schools connections are pretty set in the upper D1's so it is hard to break that cycle. My son was given two choices that his school connects with for freshmen. One in Coastal and one in California. It is pretty much that way with most D1's. They have their teams and stick to those because they trust each other.