Illinois State to the MAC?

[StLRedbird]

Our overall budget may be in line with the MAC, but our football facilities would need a lot of work to be competitive with even lower level FBS. Mel is right for many reasons. We would need a ton of money.

Ball State team meeting room. We don't have anything like this.

View attachment 1413
Ball State IPF - Permanent structureView attachment 1414
Ball State FB stadium capacity 22,500 (Hancock 13,391)View attachment 1415

I think this is called a conundrum. Not trying to be a smartass. We obviously can't motivate our fanbase to invest significantly in facilities while we're at FCS. Can't go to FBS because we lack FBS facilities. Round 'n' round she goes, TR. The MVC criticized us for substandard facilities in 1982. In time, our facilities became as good as anyone's.

I've said it before, will say it again for the record. I love Redbird football. I get the same feeling walking into Hancock that I used get walking into Horton. I'm showin' up no matter what. Even learning about the game, despite some evidence to the contrary. See you at Iowa City. We should play them on a leveler playing field.

 

[cubird]

I am not that sure bigger payouts will offset expenditures. Can we break even? Student fees are tapped out and the pay games may dry up with Super P5 conferences playing more non-divisional games within the conference.

 

[topiarydan]

I know that if we expanded stadium to 18000 the NCAA would grant an exemption to us to jump up. They have with others like Jacksonville State
They have also made annual waivers on attendance requirements for over 25 DI programs to keep them FBS. Granted I would love to poach NIU, Ball State from MAC, Arkansas State/WKU/Tulso and Memphis and have Missouri State, ISU, SIU and UNI be DI teams. IndY State/Valpo/Drake/Murray could play in Pioneer. However if this was a no go then playing NIU, WMU, Ball State, Toledo, etc sound alot better than S Dakota, Indy State, etc.

 

[ISUBird]

The attendance rule was dropped in favor of the filing fee being 1000x more at $5,000,000.

The NCAA Made It More Expensive For FCS Schools To Join FBS. It's A Lot - FloFootball

The NCAA approved changes to the Transfer Portal window on Wednesday, but they also made more changes to football. Including the cost of doing FBS business

www.flofootball.com

 

[isuquinndog]

The MAC signed a 13 year deal in 2014 with ESPN to air all sporting events. Financials were not disclosed, however this article says:'

Financial terms were not revealed, though Steinbrecher said the deal puts the MAC in a competitive position with its peer FBS conferences - the American Athletic Conference, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Conference USA.

The American Athletic Conference has the most lucrative media rights deal of those leagues, a seven-year agreement worth about $130 million.
"We're in a totally different area code from where we've been in the past," Steinbrecher said.

The MAC's previous deal paid the conference about $1 million per season.

They have 12 teams, so assuming it is $130m, that is a little over $10m per team in TV rights.

Mid-America Conference Announces New, 13-Year TV Deal

The MAC and ESPN officially announced the new deal, which runs through the 2026-27 season.

www.10tv.com

 

[Total Red]

The MAC signed a 13 year deal in 2014 with ESPN to air all sporting events. Financials "were not disclosed, however this article says:'



They have 12 teams, so assuming it is $130m, that is a little over $10m per team in TV rights.

Mid-America Conference Announces New, 13-Year TV Deal

The MAC and ESPN officially announced the new deal, which runs through the 2026-27 season.

www.10tv.com

If so, that's worth looking at but it may not be that lucrative. "The MAC's previous deal paid the conference about $1 million per season." The new deal could now be 10 million per season, a 10X increase that the commissioner could describe as "a totally different area code from where we've been in the past," while still bringing in less than 1 million per school per year.
But like I say, worth exploring.

 

[BJJ guy]

I’m not sure there is another FBS school that doesn’t have a weight room dedicated to football or that doesn’t offer a high nutrition training table for the athletes. We would be in a huge recruiting hole in comparison to the other schools. The IPF helps but things are still split between the Football building, the IPF and the weight room in the basketball facility let alone the rehab staff etc.

 

[BJJ guy]

Plus the head coaching salaries at the FBS level are at a different stratosphere. The head coach at Liberty makes 4 million dollars a year

 

[fourthandshort]

Plus the head coaching salaries at the FBS level are at a different stratosphere. The head coach at Liberty makes 4 million dollars a year

saw this article for 2023 highest paid G5 coaches:

2.34m for former NDSU's Bohl at #5, then 2.36 for former JMU's Houston at #4 .. up to 2.84m for Fritz at Tulane.

I did see the 4m announcement for Liberty's 2023 fall season signing of Chadwell ... so maybe his 4m is prorated for 2023. In any case, Liberty is certainly an odd duck as FCS to FBS football programs go .. money was not an issue at all. it's basically a megachurch with a college .... I hear they also offer daycare during church services !!!!

The 5 Highest-Paid Coaches In G5 College Football In 2023

It's not exactly a secret in 2023 that football programs in the Group of Five typically aren't working with budgets comparable to the Power Five. However, while

www.si.com

 

[Total Red]

Plus the head coaching salaries at the FBS level are at a different stratosphere. The head coach at Liberty makes 4 million dollars a year

And don't forget NIL. The better FBS players want you to show them some love.

 

[Total Red]

I think this is called a conundrum. Not trying to be a smartass. We obviously can't motivate our fanbase to invest significantly in facilities while we're at FCS. Can't go to FBS because we lack FBS facilities. Round 'n' round she goes, TR.

I started to give this a "Like" but I didn't because it isn't always the case.

Consider James Madison. They made a massive 56 million dollar improvement to their stadium that began in 2009 and finished in 2011. JMU was a FCS program at the time and attendance averaged about 15,000 per game. JMU was the FCS National Champion in 2004 and 2016. JMU recently joined the FBS in 2022.

It is rare but it can be done. But you need either column A or B to be true

Column A - $$$Sugar Daddy (see Coastal Carolina), Column B - Fanbase and school that gets excited about FCS football and lifts it up with attendance, donations and fees. JMU would be closer to B.

It doesn't matter whether you prefer FCS or FBS football. Column B - getting excited about the FCS helps you win at the FCS level AND it can make you an attractive FBS candidate. WIN-WIN

I think I first posted the Win-Win concept 20 years ago. Is Redbird Nation excited about FCS Football yet?

Bridgeforth Stadium - JMU

 

[Birgs]

Some Monday afternoon "meh" banter regarding Mo. State and C-USA on the tail end of a thread on MVCFans...
https://www.mvcfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6138

...interesting footprint with MTSU & WKU - otherwise, wierd.

 

[Redbirdwarrior]

Honestly, one of the big reasons to not consider this in the past was the downgrade from MVC to MAC athletics outside of football. But the MVC has been significantly downgraded in the last few years and making the jump to the MAC may help hedge the NIL jumps.

 

[fourthandshort]

I’m not sure there is another FBS school that doesn’t have a weight room dedicated to football or that doesn’t offer a high nutrition training table for the athletes. We would be in a huge recruiting hole in comparison to the other schools. The IPF helps but things are still split between the Football building, the IPF and the weight room in the basketball facility let alone the rehab staff etc.

P5 for sure ... but not so much for G5, I would assume. I happen to know the strength staff at a well established AAC school helps the part-time dietician make PB & Js for their players every day. So yeah, they have a food table, but ... eh, not really. And they also share the weight room with all other sports.

 

[BirdGrad2011]

Rumor has it WKU is staying CUSA and MSU is making the jump this spring when President is officially in place. The MAC might be calling us…

 

[fourthandshort]

I don't want to be the first football program to jump from the MVFC. And I can't believe the all other sports would want same for MVC sports .. unless something attractive with good chance of success, then maybe we can be first ... otherwise, I don't think we want to be first. It has to make more sense, if we're first.

But I do think we want to be in the upper third or even upper quartile to jump. As it stands, we should keep our finger on the pulse of the Dakota's and maybe UNI in terms of who we take our lead from. If it looks like the Dakota's are looking for FBS options, we need to look at same.

 

[Redbird222]

I don't want to be the first football program to jump from the MVFC. And I can't believe the all other sports would want same for MVC sports .. unless something attractive with good chance of success, then maybe we can be first ... otherwise, I don't think we want to be first. It has to make more sense, if we're first.

But I do think we want to be in the upper third or even upper quartile to jump. As it stands, we should keep our finger on the pulse of the Dakota's and maybe UNI in terms of who we take our lead from. If it looks like the Dakota's are looking for FBS options, we need to look at same.

I think Missouri St may be the first to jump. I would be ready to go because the landscapes change very quickly. I agree that ISU better be keeping tabs with their key counterparts

 

[Birddog]

Serious questions:

If a jump is made, does anyone here have an idea of where the $5M NCAA fee comes from, how the university justifies it, and will a new president want to take that on if it happens after July 1? Would the interim president and AD be willing to go there prior to July 1?

Does anyone know where the BOT stands on this?

A move up would come in the midst of the university borrowing to renovate a facility for the new COE (I don’t believe the state is providing funds for that.)

I can’t imagine that the athletic department has that in reserves. Plus the university has already allowed the athletic department to build the IPF, much of it funding came from university reserves.

 

[SgtHulka]

I prefer conferences that don't steal play books. Sad

 

[BirdGrad2011]

Serious questions:

If a jump is made, does anyone here have an idea of where the $5M NCAA fee comes from, how the university justifies it, and will a new president want to take that on if it happens after July 1? Would the interim president and AD be willing to go there prior to July 1?

Does anyone know where the BOT stands on this?

A move up would come in the midst of the university borrowing to renovate a facility for the new COE (I don’t believe the state is providing funds for that.)

I can’t imagine that the athletic department has that in reserves. Plus the university has already allowed the athletic department to build the IPF, much of it funding came from university reserves.

I can’t specifically answer your question but you would be amazed the support of a decision were made. Some are just flat out over FCS and how it’s second tier. Is it enough to cover all of that? Idk but I’m not in the know.