A new proposal for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs could affect any HBCU team invited to the party.
According to a report from Sam Herder of HERO Sports, venture capitalists and private equity groups are interested in taking ownership of the FCS playoffs, reasoning that “the FCS playoffs as an undervalued sports property with proven metrics (TV audiences, strong brands, etc.) but with underachieving monetization.”
What this means is the groups in question would own and operate the FCS playoffs, pouring more resources into a product that one venture capitalist calls “an undervalued product that needs a jumpstart badly.”
There are numbers to back up that assertion. FCS schools have long complained about losing money playing in the playoffs as the NCAA charges potential host schools minimum bids for homefield advantage as well as taking around 85% of the ticket revenue.
There are currently 21 HBCUs who play football at the FCS level – the entirety of the SWAC and the MEAC, as well as Tennessee State (Big South-OVC) and Hampton and North Carolina A&T (both CAA schools).
The MEAC and SWAC are currently in a partnership with ESPN to send their champions to the Celebration Bowl, but MEAC and SWAC teams have earned at-large bids to the FCS playoffs in the past. Tennessee State, partial winners of the Big South-OVC last year, was a 2024 participant.
