[Sly Fox]

Media Center
6/28/2023 2:30:00 PM
Meghan Durham Wright

DI Council proposes changes to membership requirements for FBS schools
Additional health and safety, rules compliance requirements approved for all DI members

The Division I Council introduced legislative proposals that would change membership requirements for Football Bowl Subdivision schools. The council met this week in Indianapolis.

The proposals introduced into the legislative cycle will be voted on by the council at a future meeting after membership feedback is considered.

If adopted, all FBS schools would be required to provide 90% of the total number of allowable scholarships over a two-year rolling period across at least 16 sports, including football. Schools also would be required to offer at least 210 scholarships each year, amounting to no less than $6 million in athletics scholarships offered.

These requirements would take effect Aug. 1, 2027, for existing FBS members and for schools already transitioning to FBS membership. Moving forward, for schools applying to transition to FBS beginning in 2024-25 and thereafter, the requirements would have to be met by the end of the two-year transition process.

If these requirements are adopted, previously existing requirements for football attendance at FBS schools would be removed, effective immediately.

"These requirements will directly benefit college athletes competing in Division I sports by requiring significant investment in scholarship opportunities," said Jon Steinbrecher, commissioner of the Mid-American Conference and vice chair of the Division I Council. "Over the past several years, the NCAA's collected data about spending at FBS schools indicate that these requirements are reasonable and attainable for the majority of impacted athletics programs."

The council also introduced new legislation that would increase the fee to transition from FCS to FBS from $5,000 to $5 million. If adopted, the change would be effective immediately for schools initiating the transition process from that point forward. The fee would be reassessed regularly.

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Bottom line, the cost on entrance into the FBS ranks is going up and the ignored attendance requirements are likely to go away. Will this lead to a race to get in while the getting is good for schools like Delaware, Missouri State the Dakota States? It certainly will lead for those on the fence to decide one way or the other.

It all still has to be approved later this year.

[lynchburgwildcats]

Increasing the entry fee from 5k to 5 million is going to prevent a lot of schools from ever even giving a thought to potentially moving up. Especially from outside of the D1 universe.

[JK37]

And the problem with a fee too low is schools squeak in with no means for being competitive, thereby diluting the pool. There’s nothing wrong with FCS, Division II and Division III. Great schools there, who can carve out their niche just fine. Everyone doesn’t need to be FBS.

[ballcoach15]

JMU

[ATrain]

Increasing the entry fee from 5k to 5 million is going to prevent a lot of schools from ever even giving a thought to potentially moving up. Especially from outside of the D1 universe.

If inflation keeps up at its current pace, it won't be long until $5 million is basically worth as much as $5K is today.