BREAKING: CAA ops into House Settlement

[WestCoastAggie]

https://twitter.com/CAASports/status/1884692999734485343

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Shall I start counting down the days that Villanova and, eventually, W&M join the Patriot League?

[DFW HOYA]

What is to be gained by this?

Put another way, what is 22% of the CAA media contract per school per year? $150,000? If it is, the House breakdown would be as follows:

75% to football ($1,071.42 per player)
15% to men's basketball ($1,500 per player)
5% to women's basketball ($500 per player)
5% to everyone else ($30 per player)

[Outsider1]

It also gives schools more flexibility with their rosters and the ability to offer more scholarships. Now, yes, that takes more money but the opportunity is there.

[Sitting Bull]

Shall I start counting down the days that Villanova and, eventually, W&M join the Patriot League?

I think you have been yet nothing is happening. Reading the announcement, the members - to include W&M and presumed Villanova - were in support. If anything, I think it does the opposite.

It might better answer the question on why Richmond left.

[RichH2]

Shall I start counting down the days that Villanova and, eventually, W&M join the Patriot League?
Yup. Puzzled. What benefits accrue to the CAA by joining?

[Professor Chaos]

Yup. Puzzled. What benefits accrue to the CAA by joining?
Opting in allows schools to have up to 105 scholarship players (used to be 85). I'd assume FCS schools are still bound by the 63 full scholarship limit but now they can divvy that up amongst 105 players instead of 85 (my assumption could be wrong there). It also allows schools to share up to 22% of revenue from sources like media deals, ticket sales, donations, and other sponsorships with the players although I'd assume most FCS schools won't be doing much of that.

The downside to opting in is you now have a 105 player roster limit and I'm pretty sure most FCS schools are north of 110 on their roster most years. It also means all revenue distributed to athletes must be reported (and subject to oversight from various entities) whereas payments to players from private entities like collectives are not.

[KPSUL]

I'm wondering if this agreement applies to CAA-Football. I'm thinking no. Maine and UNH are distinctly different than the CAA all sport members because hockey is surely the 2nd biggest program from both the cost and revenue standpoint, In fact it may generate more revenue than football.

[caribbeanhen]

Opting in allows schools to have up to 105 scholarship players (used to be 85). I'd assume FCS schools are still bound by the 63 full scholarship limit but now they can divvy that up amongst 105 players instead of 85 (my assumption could be wrong there). It also allows schools to share up to 22% of revenue from sources like media deals, ticket sales, donations, and other sponsorships with the players although I'd assume most FCS schools won't be doing much of that.

The downside to opting in is you now have a 105 player roster limit and I'm pretty sure most FCS schools are north of 110 on their roster most years. It also means all revenue distributed to athletes must be reported (and subject to oversight from various entities) whereas payments to players from private entities like collectives are not.

Where are all these players going to come from? More clearly stated, will they be good enough to make a difference..

declining birth rates
declining participation in High School football
declining college enrollment… I guess if enough colleges shutter up the windows and the football programs it might help

[DFW HOYA]

Where are all these players going to come from? More clearly stated, will they be good enough to make a difference..

declining birth rates
declining participation in High School football
declining college enrollment… I guess if enough colleges shutter up the windows and the football programs it might help

Supply is not a problem: there are over 1 million high school football athletes in the US. About 77,000 of these will play NCAA-level football.

[Bill]

Look, I have no idea what some CAA schools are thinking / how are they going to do this - but I think we're missing one possible scenario. The House settlement has one of two choices if schools opt in. We've only mentioned the 22% revenue sharing...which as noted, is not a lot in the CAA. However, the other choice is to distribute up to $22 million/school, increasing to up to $32 million/school by year 10. Maybe the Villanovas of the world think they can get enough donor money to help fund those payments....which as noted, does not have to be equal by sport.
Just spitballing...

[Professor Chaos]

According to Sam Herder the CAA is not setting a scholarship cap so this will apparently allow an FCS school to offer up to 105 full rides and maintain FCS status (of course none of them will get close to that but they can at least go above 63 full ride equivalents).

Really makes me wonder what kind of bookkeeping wizardry will need to happen in order for schools that get 75%+ of their athletic departnent revenue from school funds and student fees (which aren't eligible to be shared with players under the House settlement) to try to fund additional scholarships and/or payments to players.

[DFW HOYA]

According to Sam Herder the CAA is not setting a scholarship cap so this will apparently allow an FCS school to offer up to 105 full rides and maintain FCS status (of course none of them will get close to that but they can at least go above 63 full ride equivalents).

Which of these schools can legitimately afford up to 42 more FB scholarships plus comparable Title IX grants in aid, and for what, an extra at-large bid?

Elon?
Bryant?
Hampton?
Monmouth?
Campbell?
Villanova?
NC A&T?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Which of these schools can legitimately afford up to 42 more FB scholarships plus comparable Title IX grants in aid, and for what, an extra at-large bid?

Elon?
Bryant?
Hampton?
Monmouth?
Campbell?
Villanova?
NC A&T?

Villanova could announce their departure by March and not be subject to any of this. It wouldn't affect basketball, and they would simply continue with their existing football model, just in the Patriot League.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Villanova could announce their departure by March and not be subject to any of this. It wouldn't affect basketball, and they would simply continue with their existing football model, just in the Patriot League.

Did the Patriot League officially opt out yet or is that just assumed?

[caribbeanhen]

Supply is not a problem: there are over 1 million high school football athletes in the US. About 77,000 of these will play NCAA-level football.

Ok thanks

what about the quality? It’s challenging for FCS teams to find 63 that can play right now.

I just don’t necessarily believe that allowing 105 scholarships is going to change the level of play for the better, if it all. The answer might be who said it would…

So much competition for the available talent and good players getting paid to sit the bench at FBS level.

[Sitting Bull]

Which of these schools can legitimately afford up to 42 more FB scholarships plus comparable Title IX grants in aid, and for what, an extra at-large bid?

Elon?
Bryant?
Hampton?
Monmouth?
Campbell?
Villanova?
NC A&T?

Surely you understand that the opt in doesn’t require that - it simply allows flexibility. And the decision is not football exclusive.

Again, every member supported this. It’s strange that the responses to this are overwhelmingly Patriot League fans/posters who can’t get past their obsession with the CAA. You should be more interested in what your own league is going to do and what the ramifications may be.

There’s more going on than scholarships here. My hunch tells me the CAA is trying to avoid being downgraded in a basketball split off which will be one of the next shoes to drop.

[Sitting Bull]

Another takeaway on this is that the CAA was able to pull together a united decision on this among all members. See below on the issues in the A10.


UNIFIED FRONT? In Richmond, John O’Connor writes how the Atlantic 10 schools decide to "handle revenue sharing as a unified group will be intriguing, and very challenging, because of the variety among membership.” Some A-10 schools sponsor football, which “will be in line for a portion of an athletic department's revenue-sharing budget,” and many others do not. There is also a “dramatic variance” in terms of investments in men’s basketball. Dayton leads the conference with a men’s basketball budget of $9.4M. O’Connor: "Would La Salle, with an annual men’s basketball budget of $3.6 million, and Davidson, with a budget of $3.5 million, or other schools be interested in staying in the A-10 if the league establishes a minimum investment for revenue sharing with the goal of securing its place in the competitive college basketball hierarchy?" Univ. of Richmond men’s basketball coach Chris Mooney said the conference is “trying to guide schools into what they think will be an appropriate figure” for men's basketball, but there is "not a final answer right now or an estimate" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 1/22 (https://richmond.com/sports/college/schools/university-richmond/university-of-richmond-atlantic-10-conference/article_6550062a-d7fb-11ef-9280-5722ce8a315b.html#tncms-source=login)).

[Outsider1]

According to Sam Herder the CAA is not setting a scholarship cap so this will apparently allow an FCS school to offer up to 105 full rides and maintain FCS status (of course none of them will get close to that but they can at least go above 63 full ride equivalents).

Really makes me wonder what kind of bookkeeping wizardry will need to happen in order for schools that get 75%+ of their athletic departnent revenue from school funds and student fees (which aren't eligible to be shared with players under the House settlement) to try to fund additional scholarships and/or payments to players.

I mentioned flexibility with rosters and it was crickets...

[mainejeff]

I know it won't happen but.....what would it take for the CAA to move up from FCS to FBS football as a conference?

$5 million per school?

What other requirements now that they have opted in?

[WestCoastAggie]

Which of these schools can legitimately afford up to 42 more FB scholarships plus comparable Title IX grants in aid, and for what, an extra at-large bid?

Elon?
Bryant?
Hampton?
Monmouth?
Campbell?
Villanova?
NC A&T?

I can't speak for the rest of this lot but A&T's tuition affordability will help tremendously here, in addition to the state law which allows us to "charge" out-of-state student athletes in-state tuition.

To go to 85 equivalents, it potentially could cost us between $260k - $330k in additional costs. To be frank, that's covered by the UCF game check. The issue will be to balance that money with the potential to increase scholarships for Baseball, Bowling, Softball, and Track.

Honestly, I doubt we go the full 85 but we're definitely increasing our scholarship number. However, our AD said we're increasing the amount of money spent on athletics.

The biggest cost, IMHO for these schools will be their tuition.

[ccd494]

Shall I start counting down the days that Villanova and, eventually, W&M join the Patriot League?

What? Schools are either all the way in or all the way out. You can't opt in for one sport but not another. It is all or nothing.

Villanova basketball is driving the bus, the Big East is 10000000% opting in from top to bottom.

[nodak651]

According to Sam Herder the CAA is not setting a scholarship cap so this will apparently allow an FCS school to offer up to 105 full rides and maintain FCS status (of course none of them will get close to that but they can at least go above 63 full ride equivalents).

Really makes me wonder what kind of bookkeeping wizardry will need to happen in order for schools that get 75%+ of their athletic departnent revenue from school funds and student fees (which aren't eligible to be shared with players under the House settlement) to try to fund additional scholarships and/or payments to players.

Thats not how it works. The revenue catagories only matter for setting the cap, which is determined by avg p4 generated rev. A school can opt in and pay 20 mil from student fees if the wanted.

[ccd494]

Opting in is going to mean different things to different schools. As stated, a lot of schools aren't going to have $22,000,000 in revenue to divvy up. Some will fuzzy math it and include scholarships. Others won't. Some schools are doing this for one particular sport (and a title IX opposite), so if you are say, Villanova you could spend $10M in rev share on basketball and a bunch on women's sports and none on football.

As far as CAA Football, in addition to Villanova, there were some other obvious yeses: Rhode Island (basketball), Maine (hockey), UNH (hockey). I have a TON of questions if the Patriot League decides not to Opt In as regards Richmond basketball.

Here's some info from the NCAA FAQ:

Question No. 3: Under the proposed settlement, does every Division I institution have to provide additional benefits to student-athletes?
Answer: No. Each Division I institution may decide whether and how much of any new benefit to provide to student-athletes, up to the Pool limitations. Additionally, each Division I conference may set rules or guidelines for its members on the provision of additional benefits as long as those rules or guidelines are set independently and not by agreement with any other conference.
However, if a Division I institution provides additional payments or benefits to student-athletes beyond what is currently permitted, the institution is subject to all obligations and limitations of the settlement including, but not limited to roster limits, reporting and the Pool.

Question No. 4: Can an institution opt into the settlement on a team-by-team basis?
Answer: No. For institutions providing additional payments or benefits to student-athletes beyond what is currently permitted, the terms of the settlement apply to all programs at an institution and may not apply on a team-by-team basis.

[ccd494]

I think a lot of people are missing the point here. Is the new roster limit 105? Yes! Does every school need to give 105 football scholarships? No! Could they? To be determined! There can still be an FCS wide scholarship limit.

A number of FCS schools are going to opt in because they have a sport that needs this in order to remain nationally competitive. Georgetown is going to be an opt in for basketball purposes. Does this mean that Georgetown football sees an extra red cent? No! They don't need to give football scholarships at all.

Ohio State is absolutely opting in. Ohio State recently announced that a number of sports are transitioning to non-scholarship. And none of those athletes are going to see a penny in revenue sharing.

Your whole ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT opts in or out. The athletic department still makes decisions (bound by Title IX) on what sports to spend money on. If you don't have much money, and you opt in, you spend what you have where you want and the rest of your teams can pound sand.

In fact, some of the roster limits are harsher than they were before. Hockey is dropping to 26. That's MORE scholarships. But, it's fewer players than most schools had on the roster this year.

[DFW HOYA]

A number of FCS schools are going to opt in because they have a sport that needs this in order to remain nationally competitive. Georgetown is going to be an opt in for basketball purposes. Does this mean that Georgetown football sees an extra red cent? No! They don't need to give football scholarships at all.

For a number of reasons, I am not in favor of opting in. It's not on a sport by sport basis, it's all in.

Whether Georgetown "needs" to give football scholarships is another question entirely.

[mainejeff]

It's almost like they are weeding out who is not really committed to D1 athletics.....a litmus test.

[ccd494]

For a number of reasons, I am not in favor of opting in. It's not on a sport by sport basis, it's all in.

Whether Georgetown "needs" to give football scholarships is another question entirely.

That's fine, but Georgetown's conference mates are going to say to recruits "Hey, you can go to Georgetown and have to get your money from an amorphous NIL collective and pay agent's fees and stuff, or you can come to Xavier and we'll just give you $300,000 directly."

[FUBeAR]

That's fine, but Georgetown's conference mates are going to say to recruits "Hey, you can go to Georgetown and have to get your money from an amorphous NIL collective and pay agent's fees and stuff, or you can come to Xavier and we'll just give you $300,000 directly."
FUBeAR doesn’t think they’ll say “amorphous”

[caribbeanhen]

FUBeAR doesn’t think they’ll say “amorphous”

hey FUBeAR, do any of the administrators on this thread know how to pick games? xcoffeex

[DFW HOYA]

That's fine, but Georgetown's conference mates are going to say to recruits "Hey, you can go to Georgetown and have to get your money from an amorphous NIL collective and pay agent's fees and stuff, or you can come to Xavier and we'll just give you $300,000 directly."

To opt-in does not give Xavier a free ride. With a revenue base of about $10 million from men's basketball (media plus tickets, but donations are not revenue), a 22% revenue share is $2.2 million across all House-eligible sports, and that's not just men's basketball. Putting Title IX aside for a moment, that's $2.2 million that Xavier is currently spending that it now has to distribute elsewhere: what programs, coaches, and staff gets cut to account for that $2.2 million?

[ccd494]

To opt-in does not give Xavier a free ride. With a revenue base of about $10 million from men's basketball (media plus tickets, but donations are not revenue), a 22% revenue share is $2.2 million across all House-eligible sports, and that's not just men's basketball. Putting Title IX aside for a moment, that's $2.2 million that Xavier is currently spending that it now has to distribute elsewhere: what programs, coaches, and staff gets cut to account for that $2.2 million?

Except you aren't required to use 22% as your revenue share. It's a permissive share up to $22M. You can give whatever percentage you want- some schools will give more, some less, which depends on the amount of revenues (however calculated). You're also strictly tying this to direct revenue- you don't need to do that, either. Like, if Xavier athletics brought in $22M in media, tickets, sponsorships, concessions, etc., and $40M in donations, they aren't limited to giving a percentage of that $22M. They could give $22M.

[DFW HOYA]

I understood it to be the following:

"More significantly, going forward, the settlement provides a 10-year revenue-sharing plan for current and future college athletes where up to 22% of the revenue earned from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships (with a cap of $22 million) can be shared with the athletes."

https://universitybusiness.com/revenue-sharing-some-guidance-as-new-ncaa-era-approaches/

[nodak651]

There is not scholarship limit for FCS schools that opt in - just the roster limit. The NCAA can not cap FCS scholarship limits below the 105 roster limit, only conferences can do that.

[nodak651]

To opt-in does not give Xavier a free ride. With a revenue base of about $10 million from men's basketball (media plus tickets, but donations are not revenue), a 22% revenue share is $2.2 million across all House-eligible sports, and that's not just men's basketball. Putting Title IX aside for a moment, that's $2.2 million that Xavier is currently spending that it now has to distribute elsewhere: what programs, coaches, and staff gets cut to account for that $2.2 million?

The revenue share is only applicable to setting the cap, and everyone in the NCAA all has the same cap unless a conference creates it's own lower cap. The cap is determined based on a percentage of certain P5 revenues. Any school can give the full 22 million or whatever it is, whether they actually generate any revenue or not. Chicago State could give 20 mil if they want and pay for it by using university funds and additional student fees if they wanted.

[mainejeff]

This could seemingly benefit programs with big fish donors.

[DFW HOYA]

Chicago State could give 20 mil if they want and pay for it by using university funds and additional student fees if they wanted.

Chicago State brings in a total of $20 million in tuition. Imagine that conversation...

[nodak651]

Chicago State brings in a total of $20 million in tuition. Imagine that conversation...

Thats a crazy low number... wow.

[ccd494]

I do want to say that I agree with DFW HOYA on a personal level- the purpose of intercollegiate athletics should be to provide opportunity for as broad a swath of students as possible, and resources should not be allocated based upon FOX or ESPN's willingness to pay to air certain games.

I just think the ship has completely sailed on that being a standard that athletic administrators hold themselves to. The point is now the money.

[nodak651]

I do want to say that I agree with DFW HOYA on a personal level- the purpose of intercollegiate athletics should be to provide opportunity for as broad a swath of students as possible, and resources should not be allocated based upon FOX or ESPN's willingness to pay to air certain games.

I just think the ship has completely sailed on that being a standard that athletic administrators hold themselves to. The point is now the money.

Well said! The unfettered greed is sickening and it may literally destroy the NCAA if it hasn't already.

[Sandlapper Spike]

Schools opting in will have roster limits that could lead to cuts, not only in football (as mentioned) but also in plenty of other sports. Many FCS schools rely on athletes in the Olympic sports in order to boost enrollment. That is going to be an issue for a lot of schools over and above the allocation of money (or Title IX considerations).

I also wonder about the long-term viability of FCS as a sub-division hosting a separate championship, because I could see a de facto 63-scholarship limit challenged in court as an arbitrary restraint.

[mainejeff]

63 ship limit should be gonzo. Let schools give as many as they want to within the roster limits! If you can't hang....drop out of D1 sports.

[DFW HOYA]

63 ship limit should be gonzo. Let schools give as many as they want to within the roster limits! If you can't hang....drop out of D1 sports.

Cost of attendance, University of Maine (in-state): $30,972
Cost of attendance, Colgate: $91,222

[nodak651]

63 ship limit should be gonzo. Let schools give as many as they want to within the roster limits! If you can't hang....drop out of D1 sports.
If an FCS school opts in the NCAA will allow that.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Frankly I see the CAA opting into the settlement the same way I would see a school attempt to leave FCS for FBS - trying to buy their way into a system where they pretend to be peers but instead are seen as being useful idiots soaked for money so they can pretend they are in the same social group.

What "opting in" practically means is: 1) schools opting in have to pay the Power 5 for damages to their 2016 lawsuits, while getting nothing in return, and 2) schools are paying into a highly uncertain risk/reward scheme where they are able to buy their way (ostensibly) over the other "poorer/those less willing to pay into a money losing proposition schools". It's not so much of a test as a way to try to remove the schools they don't want to be with them, or at least to try to corrupt the ones that try.

The fact that by doing this ill-advised settlement, without consulting the broader membership or putting it to the public for any sort of debate, the NCAA has ****ed up the scholarship limits and the rules of fair play of all its sports. It's ample enough reason for the Big East and 90% of the membership to leave the NCAA and create a brand new athletics organization that actually is willing to center things around education, based on the traditional scholarship limits that have governed college sports for the last 35+ years, perhaps with some sort of non-unionized NIL stuff around it. The NCAA wouldn't last long without 90% of its membership, and it's death would be brought on a hell of a lot quicker if the Big East leaves them in the dust, and I honestly believe Val Ackerman is contemplating this right now. She was pissed about having to pay most of the NCAA's lawsuit for zero return and I do not for one second believe she has forgotten about that.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

But don't take my word for it...

https://sports.yahoo.com/creating-havoc-everywhere--house-ncaa-settlement-causing-crunch-for-olympic-sports-as-roster-limits-come-into-focus-234825869.html


The new roster limits, imposed on schools that opt into the House settlement’s revenue-sharing concept, are expected to lead to the elimination of thousands of Division I roster spots, most notably impacting walk-ons and partial scholarship earners in swimming, football, track and cross country, as detailed in this October story at Yahoo Sports (https://bit.ly/3ULGREr).

The roster limits make up most of the formal objections that athletes are filing with the court as part of the settlement’s objection process. The deadline for objections is Friday. Already, dozens have been filed and several more dozens — perhaps more than 100 — are expected to drop on Friday.

At Auburn, Heather Rice fears that her son, Keaton, will see his five-year SEC grant-in-aid agreement — which she thought was guaranteed — evaporate if he doesn’t make the cut from the current 42-man swimming roster to the new SEC roster limit of 22, something that could cost the family an unexpected $45,000 annually in out-of-state tuition, board and meals.

“For my son, this was a lock deal,” she said, “and now they are saying because they want to pay a bunch of football and basketball players, we are the ones screwed.”

“We have a very robust objection,” said Steve Molo, an attorney with MoloLamken, a national litigation boutique firm. “The standard of a settlement is that it needs to be fair, adequate and reasonable. This is not.”



Oh yeah, and also:


there are many other loud and influential voices against the immediate elimination of roster spots.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, a former walk-on, has called for the creation of, at the very least, a practice squad. Big East commissioner Val Ackerman penned a letter to the NCAA requesting the issue be reexamined. And Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports in November that he hopes the NCAA and power conference commissioners would phase in the roster structure.

[mainejeff]

Definitely seeing a lot of sour grapes from
fans of schools that might not opt in.

[nodak651]

Definitely seeing a lot of sour grapes from
fans of schools that might not opt in.

CAA opting in doesnt really mean much if they didnt announce any minimums requirements.

[mainejeff]

CAA opting in doesnt really mean much if they didnt announce any minimums requirements.

The CAA opting in doesn't mean much? Did North Dakota opt in or out?

[Professor Chaos]

63 ship limit should be gonzo. Let schools give as many as they want to within the roster limits! If you can't hang....drop out of D1 sports.
What's your definition of hanging? Maine got 75%+ of their athletic department revenue from school funds before opting in to this (link (https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/161253)). If nodak651 is right and schools can divert subsidies from school funds and student fees to pay athletes as part of this settlement they're literally robbing Peter to pay Paul.

[mainejeff]

What's your definition of hanging? Maine got 75%+ of their athletic department revenue from school funds before opting in to this (link (https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/161253)). If nodak651 is right and schools can divert subsidies from school funds and student fees to pay athletes as part of this settlement they're literally robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Why you be worried about Maine? They have plenty of big donors behind them that would jump at the chance to raise some $$$ for more/better recruits. Maine has always been limited by geography, poor facilities and not being able to pay recruits/student-athletes. 2 out of 3 of those are being eliminated.

Is North Dakota State opting in or out?

[POD Knows]

Why you be worried about Maine? They have plenty of big donors behind them that would jump at the chance to raise some $$$ for more/better recruits. Maine has always been limited by geography, poor facilities and not being able to pay recruits/student-athletes. 2 out of 3 of those are being eliminated.

Is North Dakota State opting in or out?As far as I know NDSU has opted out.

[Professor Chaos]

Why you be worried about Maine? They have plenty of big donors behind them that would jump at the chance to raise some $$$ for more/better recruits. Maine has always been limited by geography, poor facilities and not being able to pay recruits/student-athletes. 2 out of 3 of those are being eliminated.

Is North Dakota State opting in or out?
Opting out most likely. The reason I've heard is that they'd have to cut about 65 athletes across all sports if they opted in. NDSU will be just fine - we've got a collective handling NIL money and payments to players so the university doesn't have to.

I'm picking out Maine because that's your team and you made the comment about schools who opt out not being able to hang in D1. That's pretty ironic considering Maine's athletic department, along with most of the CAA, is highly subsidized with schools funds and/or student fees. I'm skeptical that opting in is going to bring an influx of donations so I think any extra money going to players will most likely be coming from the same sources athletic department revenue has come from in the past. Nothing has stopped those big donors from starting a collective of their own to lure recruits but I think it's delusions of grandeur to think that opting into the House settlement is going to give schools money to go after big recruits. If your school is wise they'll use any extra money to retain their own athletes who are being courted (aka tampered with) by the bigger fish.

[mainejeff]

Opting out most likely. The reason I've heard is that they'd have to cut about 65 athletes across all sports if they opted in. NDSU will be just fine - we've got a collective handling NIL money and payments to players so the university doesn't have to.

I'm picking out Maine because that's your team and you made the comment about schools who opt out not being able to hang in D1. That's pretty ironic considering Maine's athletic department, along with most of the CAA, is highly subsidized with schools funds and/or student fees. I'm skeptical that opting in is going to bring an influx of donations so I think any extra money going to players will most likely be coming from the same sources athletic department revenue has come from in the past. Nothing has stopped those big donors from starting a collective of their own to lure recruits but I think it's delusions of grandeur to think that opting into the House settlement is going to give schools money to go after big recruits. If your school is wise they'll use any extra money to retain their own athletes who are being courted (aka tampered with) by the bigger fish.

Maine might be the only school in the CAA that doesn't use student fees to fund their athletic dept....so far. Maine has a collective (https://beardowncollective.org/)....not sure how that will be dealt with after the opt in.

[SDFS]

I think NDSU is in safe position, they have a $100+ million endowment dedicated to athletics that will take care of many problems. I believe UND has a $50 million athletic department endowment which is currently in the middle of a funding raising campaign. It will be interesting to see how MVFC handles this.. Is this going to be another fault line in an already fragile MVFC which balances three conferences - MVC/Summit League/Horizon, football/nonfootball, and private/nonprivate. Plus, you have the implending WAC destruction that could play into all of this also.

[DFW HOYA]

I think NDSU is in safe position, they have a $100+ million endowment dedicated to athletics that will take care of many problems. .

NDSU's entire endowment is $439 million (2023), so restricted funds for athletics is a quarter of the total? Are specific endowment gifts coming in for athletics?

[SDFS]

NDSU's entire endowment is $439 million (2023), so restricted funds for athletics is a quarter of the total? Are specific endowment gifts coming in for athletics?

I am not sure how that is reported. UND generaly reports it's endowment as $422.1 (2024). But, they have a separate Avaitation school endowment that is not included that is over $100 million. So, that could be the case with NDSU that it is seperate,

[Professor Chaos]

NDSU's entire endowment is $439 million (2023), so restricted funds for athletics is a quarter of the total? Are specific endowment gifts coming in for athletics?
That's correct - the combined endowment at NDSU is now north of $500M with a little over $100M of that as part of the athletic endowment. There's a paywalled article here that gets into the details: https://www.inforum.com/sports/bison-media-zone/mens-sports/bison-athletic-endowment-tops-100-million. Basically they've got about $65M in a athletic scholarships endowment and the remaining ~$40M is an athletic operations endowment. Roughly 4% of that annually goes towards the athletic budget to allow it to continue to grow while still offsetting increases in the athletic department expenses due to inflation and increased spending otherwise.

[WWII]

It takes over 1 million to fund 1 full scholarship at Albany so 100 million isn't that much if you're using the income to fund scholarships

[NY Crusader 2010]

Why you be worried about Maine? They have plenty of big donors behind them that would jump at the chance to raise some $$$ for more/better recruits. Maine has always been limited by geography, poor facilities and not being able to pay recruits/student-athletes. 2 out of 3 of those are being eliminated.

Is North Dakota State opting in or out?

I've always thought that Maine athletics would be a lot stronger if the school were in Portland. They'd have Montana-like potential IMO.

[Dane96]

I've always thought that Maine athletics would be a lot stronger if the school were in Portland. They'd have Montana-like potential IMO.

Absolutely agree.

And here's the thing about Maine...if they really want to make a splash as a State, they have the Alfond Foundation that is just a big ol' fat piggy bank. With brand new facilities or really beautifully upgraded ones (both are currently happening), they can endow their athletic program to a level that would barely be matched in the CAA (maybe 'Nova and W&M from a football perspective if either decided to get serious). The Alfond money is literally an open piggy bank. Between the two brothers alone we are talking almost 8 billion in net worth. They still own a ton of woodlands in Maine.

And don't think the Cooper Flagg effect isn't real.

If a kid can play in Moscow, Bozeman, Missoula, Brookings, Fargo, etc....a kid can play in Maine. I sent a couple of kids to play football at Maine, and they loved it.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

Absolutely agree.

And here's the thing about Maine...if they really want to make a splash as a State, they have the Alfond Foundation that is just a big ol' fat piggy bank. With brand new facilities or really beautifully upgraded ones (both are currently happening), they can endow their athletic program to a level that would barely be matched in the CAA (maybe 'Nova and W&M from a football perspective if either decided to get serious). The Alfond money is literally an open piggy bank. Between the two brothers alone we are talking almost 8 billion in net worth. They still own a ton of woodlands in Maine.

And don't think the Cooper Flagg effect isn't real.

If a kid can play in Moscow, Bozeman, Missoula, Brookings, Fargo, etc....a kid can play in Maine. I sent a couple of kids to play football at Maine, and they loved it.

The Black Bears could be a Maine-stay in FCS Football! :D

[ccd494]

Maine might be the only school in the CAA that doesn't use student fees to fund their athletic dept....so far. Maine has a collective (https://beardowncollective.org/)....not sure how that will be dealt with after the opt in.

Well, Maine does build its athletics funding on the backs of the students but accounts for it differently.

As mentioned above about 3/4 of funding for UMaine athletics comes from institutional transfers from the academic side to the athletic side- about $23M in 2023. There's no direct transfer as a line item in the bill students see- the $78 activity fee is expressly not for athletics. But that $23M that moves from academics to athletics has to come from somewhere. It's also $23M less that the University has to spend on faculty salaries or building maintenance or forks in the dining hall or whatever. So, tuition probably stays a bit higher than it would otherwise.

[ccd494]

I've always thought that Maine athletics would be a lot stronger if the school were in Portland. They'd have Montana-like potential IMO.

Sure, but at least nominally the primary purpose of a University isn't to field the best intercollegiate athletics teams. The school is where it should be for the rest of it.

[mainejeff]

This is very timely....

https://twitter.com/ByBerkowitz/status/1886439571937792397 (https://x.com/ByBerkowitz/status/1886439571937792397)