Missouri State University announced its intentions to join the Football Bowl
Subdivision and Conference USA beginning in the 2025-26 season. Collegiate
Consulting assisted Missouri State with a comprehensive FBS Feasibility Study
and updated benchmarking analysis.
Collegiate Consulting has a long history working with Missouri State. From 2011-
to-2016, Collegiate Consulting was the ticket rights holder for MSU, with a three-person staff selling tickets for all Bear athletic events. In 2014 and in 2021, Collegiate Consulting completed a comprehensive FBS Feasibility Study for MSU. For the most recent project, Collegiate Consulting provided updated benchmarking comparisons to Conference USA in November 2023.
Now, and perhaps more than ever, the country has been engaged in
conversations revolving around college sports. Through court cases,
congressional bills, studies, reports and the inevitable op-eds, college athletics
have been the center of several discussions and perspectives.
And, they are all inter-connected. HBO’s John Oliver focused on student
debt and rising student fees, sometimes three times higher for out-of-state
students, while Collegiate Consulting’s own Robin Capehart had a thoughtful,
correlating deep dive on declining enrollment and higher education financial
depression. Less enrollment undoubtedly equals less student fees – an
important variable for athletic departments.
When the 2024 Deloitte Center for Government Insights Higher Education Trends
report urged presidents to be more involved in guiding their athletic programs’
future, we also saw more conversations concerning a need for course
correction for head coaches.
There are myriad moving parts in this machine, but if an athletic department
does its due diligence with feasibility studies, operational reviews,
benchmarking and strategic planning, it can adjust and be malleable for the
sake of the student-athletes and the longevity of the program.
Spring shows several avenues for teams to compete with a novel mindset, and
a new collective game strategy.
As Collegiate Consulting continues to partner with institutions of varying size
and conference competition level, we are excited to explore opportunities for
each new and existing client. There are several moving pieces to research and
analyze that give our university partners an expanded perspective for potential
excellence.
We thrive on connection with our college athletic community, and we seek to
champion their notable actions and achievements.
Please follow us so we can celebrate and elevate each other together.
