MAC becomes the first FBS conference to cancel its football season

Facing significant financial losses without the ability to play more than a handful of non-conference games against Power Five opponents this season, the Mid-American Conference became the first Football Bowl Subdivision conference to cancel its fall season on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the league had not yet made an announcement. 

Stadium was the first to report the decision following a meeting of the league’s presidents on Saturday morning. 

MAC schools have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the majority of their revenues for athletics come from university subsidies and student fees. Central Michigan and Akron have dropped multiple sports already, and Bowling Green reversed its decision to shut down the baseball program only after a grassroots fundraising effort. 

Besides a small slice of television revenue, MAC schools make the rest of their money on football game guarantees, which amount to appearance fees to play big conference schools. MAC schools stood to make $10.5 million alone this season from non-conference games against the Big Ten. 

But with the SEC and notably the Big Ten deciding to play only within their conference, the only MAC games left on the schedule against the Power Five were Buffalo at Kansas State, Ball State at Iowa State, Miami at Pitt, Ohio at Boston College and Western Michigan at Notre Dame. 

According to the person with knowledge of the situation, the numbers no longer added up for the majority of schools to try to play football this fall. The situation could be revisited later in the year to try a spring season, though there are significant obstacles for that option as well. 

Though Power Five leagues have different financial incentives to continue on the path toward a fall season, the question over the next few weeks is whether the MAC is an anomaly or the first indication that the college season simply was not feasible under these circumstances.