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The NCAA caused a stir when it announced last month during the week the name of the football subdivision that would open the host venue contract to bidding. This has embarrassed the online FCS network by speculating that the game could leave Frisco, its former home, Texas. and launch it in conceivable places in the long run. Orlando!Phoenix! San Diego!
We’re going to tell you: relax.
The championship, first hosted through Frisco in January 2011, will remain 100 percent in the North Texas city until the Names Game in January 2027 (after the 2026 season). Ty Halpin, the NCAA’s director of championships and partnerships, said the existing contract runs through the January 2026 game with an NCAA option for the 2027 game.
“I don’t think I’m giving any news here saying we’re going to pass to pass with that option, so the next 3 FCS championship games will be in Frisco,” Halpin said in the tip sheet.
The NCAA will open bidding for the January 2028 game of names, to align the FCS game auction cycle with that of all other NCAA championships and to gauge interest from other cities. The auction portal closes on February 8.
At this point, it’s a bid for one game. Halpin, though, said there is nothing that stops anybody from including multiple years beyond 2028 in their bid.
We’ll get to that in a moment.
Frisco is incredibly interested in continuing to host the game, as the city and Toyota Stadium have done a great job over the past 14 years. That hospitality, combined with the North Dakota state enthusiasts who flocked to the South starting in 2011, made Frisco the destination for FCS names hopefuls. Fans from the state of South Dakota and Montana packed the city and stadium last month, following the trend.
As Halpin said, it’s like Omaha and the NCAA baseball tournament. Frisco and the FCS title game are married.
“We’d like to keep playing here,” said John Wagner, chairman of the Team Frisco committee that organizes the game. “We’re very interested in him staying here in Frisco. “
Halpin said he met in Indianapolis last summer with teams from several cities interested in starting the FCS naming game. He added that many of them had no intention of making an offer because, for example, they did not yet have a suitable stadium. others appeared to be in a position to apply.
However, as of early in the week, no one had submitted an offer.
We know Frisco will. Halpin said he doesn’t know for sure of any other cities that might do so. Sam Herder of Hero Sports posted on social media that Tampa was interested in the game. Other than that, who knows?
While the concept of the FCS naming game being played in an increasingly warm and sunny place than Frisco is appealing (gee, tip sheet has advocated for it in the past, at least on an experimental basis), the fact remains that the machines and relationships Frisco has are unrivaled and can be matched through any other bidder.
Wagner is just the chairman of the committee, he’s the chairman of the tough Hunt Sports Group and has close ties to Toyota Stadium, entities that the NCAA works with more than any other in Frisco. The Southland Conference, based in Frisco, helped bring the game to town and continues to host the conference.
“That’s something those who would like to see the game move need to think about,” said former Southland commissioner Tom Burnett, who no longer is involved with the title game but was for more than a dozen years. “If you move the game to Tampa or Orlando, who is going to be the local partner? Same with Phoenix. Who is the local FCS partner? Florida and Arizona are places without a big FCS presence.”
The NCAA has tactics around this. Men’s ice hockey Frozen Four is “celebrated” through an entity far from the venue: North Dakota is the NCAA home for the Frozen Four in Las Vegas in 2026. But Burnett’s point is fair to the FCS. name matching. If it ain’t broke, don’t risk fixing it.
Halpin says the NCAA hopes to have a decision on the 2028 bid by mid-summer.
In his conversation with the Tip Sheet, he also dropped this tantalizing teaser when asked if the bid was just for the single game.
“Yes, but there’s nothing that stops anybody from saying, ‘We’d like the 2028 game and the games for four years after that,'” Halpin said.
Asked if that means a bidder — Treasury, Tampa or anyone else — could reach a five-year deal, Halpin reiterated, “There’s nothing to stop them from doing so. “
Halpin wouldn’t need to go any more detailed than that, however, it seems that Frisco would be the prime candidate to do so. And it’s unlikely the NCAA will award a multi-year contract to a city that didn’t host the FCS Championship. What if it’s a disaster? The NCAA and football would be stuck in a bad position for years to come.
The hot item on the tip sheet recently was that Frisco would eventually receive the game for several years beyond 2028. We’ll leave it at that.
Something that probably won’t happen, but if it does, I’ll look like a genius:
– The Minnesota Timberwolves would finish the normal NBA season with the most productive record in the Western Conference, but they would lose in the first round of the playoffs because they were too sloppy and inconsistent in the fourth quarter, which was fatal in the playoffs.
How enthusiastic fans will be to watch the Minnesota Twins on television this season is still up in the air. The team’s contract with Bally Sports North expired after last season, BSN’s owner, Diamond Sports Group, filed for bankruptcy and the Twins have yet to sign a few other deals.
Team president Dave St. Peter told the Tip Sheet that no matter where the Twins end up, fans outside the Twin Cities metro area will have access to the games.
“We hope to have more clarity on the TV front soon. All the functions will come with the guarantee of accessibility to our television territory. More to come,” St. Peter said in the tip sheet.
Frankly, the Twins’ TV stage is a mess right now. They’re TV free agents, but it looks like their duties wouldn’t generate the $54 million in rights they earned Bally in 2023.
Making the situation more complicated is that Amazon recently infused $115 million into Diamond Sports Group to keep it afloat, likely keeping Diamond out of bankruptcy and pushing back the opportunity for the Twins to finalize a deal. Minnesota opens the regular season March 28 at Kansas City. The 2024 home opener is April 4 against the Cleveland Guardians.
“I remain incredibly positive that we will soon be able to announce that we will be making sure of the accessibility of our screens in 2024,” said St. S. Jones. John’s. Peter at TwinsFest last weekend, according to multiple media outlets. And despite the unknowns and short-term challenges, the long-term predictions for local media and baseball are good. We have wonderful content and there’s a lot of interest in that content. “
A much quieter departure from the NDSU football coaching staff was that of Ean Deno, director of football recruiting and player staff under former head coach Matt Entz. Deno is now the director of scouting at Northwestern under David Braun, the former Bison defensive coordinator. In the past, Deno worked with Steve Laqua at Minnesota State Moorhead and is a graduate of MSUM. Array. Quite a rise for Fargo South and NDSU graduate Bobby Babich. The Buffalo Bills linebackers coach was promoted this week to the team’s new defensive coordinator. He is the son of former Bisons head coach Bob Babich. Bobby played cornerback for NDSU from 2002 to 2005. Array. . Former Mayville State basketball player Aaron Fearne is having a wonderful first year as head coach of the CharlotteArray men’s basketball team. The 49ers are 7-1 and tied for first place in the American Athletic Conference. with seven direct victories. Fearne played two seasons at Mayville in the mid-1990s under former coach Tim Miles. Array. Luke Yoder is having a strong senior crusade after returning to Division III Illinois Wesleyan for his final season of basketball. The guard, who transferred to NDSU from Illinois Wesleyan for one season before returning, has a 9. 9 trouble average. Illinois Wesleyan is 10-1 in the Illinois-Wisconsin Collegiate Conference. Array. Former Bismarck Century star Lauren Ware is having a wonderful season for Texas A&M in women’s basketball. She started every single game for the Aggies after moving from Arizona, averaging 10. 2 points. Ware scored a game-high 22 numbers last week at Missouri. Array. . John Wagner, president of Hunt Sports Group and veteran FCS player in Frisco, is a South Dakota local (near Watertown) and earned his degree college at the University of South Dakota. Array. . Former NDSU defensive lineman Spencer Waege is on the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad heading to the Super Bowl. He will practice, compete and with the 49ers in the lead-up to the big game in Las Vegas. Waege was signed in November.