MAC TEAMS PLAY ONE TUESDAY NIGHT GAME PER YEAR! And it'll only be at home every other year. And on ESPN.

it could be the MAC is desperate:

https://www.wtol.com/article/sports/local-sports/toledo-mac-football-attendance-financial-impact/512-7e89288c-8e89-4e4b-b4eb-9051d4ab609a

Who knew UMASS was in the MAC?

Yikes. Hard pass.

Yahoo Sports: FCS program Sacramento State has been voted into the MAC as a football-only member starting in 2026, per Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.

The Hornets will pay a fee of $18 million to join the conference.

Where does the $18 million come from when all the Cal State Universities are facing budget problems?

It will be interesting to see the real number as $18M is insanely and seemingly unrealistically high. Originally they were talking $10M.

Channel 3 KCRA News reported tonight that the cost for Sac State to join the MAC is "expected to be $23 million."

Excerpts from the Sacramento Bee:

Sacramento State’s football program will reportedly move up to the FBS level of play this coming season, and will pay upward of $20 million in entrance fees to do so.

The Mid-American Conference will add Sac State as a football-only school following a vote by the conference’s presidents, ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported and two people with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed Saturday to The Sacramento Bee. An official announcement of the deal is expected in the coming days.

ESPN reported the expected entrance fee to the MAC at $18 million, on top of a $5 million fee to the NCAA to move from the Football Conference Subdivision of Division I football, or FCS, to the higher-level Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS.

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported earlier this month that the MAC was exploring the possibility of adding Sacramento State and that the university had offered “upwards of $10 million” in proposed entry fees to other FBS-level conferences and, that Sac State’s had surpassed $15 million.

University President Luke Wood, one week earlier in an interview with The Bee, said Sacramento State “plan(s) to play in the FBS in 2026” but declined to speak on specific dollar figures or conferences.

Sacramento State, at the end of the current academic year, is departing the Big Sky Conference. The university announced last June that all major sports would be moving to the Big West Conference, which does not field a football program, after this summer.

The university last summer requested a waiver to move up to the FBS as an independent — without any conference affiliation. The NCAA denied that request.

North Dakota State last week announced its own move from the Missouri Valley Football Conference, an FCS league, to the FBS-level Mountain West. North Dakota State is paying $12.5 million to the Mountain West as its entry fee, ESPN’s Thamel reported.

Moving to the MAC specifically would present logistical challenges, as Sacramento State would be the MAC’s only West Coast team, with more than half its universities in Michigan or Ohio.

Wood, an alumnus, took over as university president in July 2023 and has championed the sought-after promotion to FBS-level football as a boost to the entire university. Critics including Sacramento State students have at times characterized Wood as focused too closely on university athletics at the expense of academics, while Wood has repeatedly touted FBS promotion as a worthwhile investment.

Is Cal Expo stadium still on track?

With an FBS conference invitation reportedly secured, the next order of business would be to determine where the Hornets will play in 2026.

In fall 2024, Sac State announced plans to open a new, 25,000-seat football stadium on-campus. Last August, Cal Expo and Sacramento State announced they were exploring a plan that would instead see Cal Expo’s defunct horse racing track and grand stand transformed into the Hornets’ new football stadium as early as 2026.

Wood in a post to X on Wednesday said the Cal Expo stadium plan remains on track for the coming football season.

“Everything is moving forward as planned. Most analyses are now done. Looking forward to a future football stadium. The future is bright for Sac State!” he wrote. “We are readying our current stadium to be ready for FBS ambitions until new stadium is on line.”

The agreement between Cal Expo and Sacramento State last week was for an exclusive negotiating window, with few details publicly released since then.

Cal Expo hosted its first-ever football game, the 52nd annual Pig Bowl, in late January. That charity game between law enforcement and firefighters took the field at Heart Health Park, home to the Republic FC soccer club that is planning its own move to a new stadium being built at the downtown Railyards development.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article314706848.html#storylink=cpy

So Sac will fly east 5x a season?

What happens to their current 2026 schedule? Play a limited number of MAC opponents? Or cancel previously announced games (and presumably add more money to the costs of the move)?

I'm assuming that they will have to buy out many of the games they have already scheduled. So, as you said, the cost of joining the MAC will go even higher than the predicted $20-$23 million. They must have some big donor or donors behind them that they are keeping under largely wraps because, if they don't, I think Wood may have created a fire storm of criticism from the Sac State students who feel like academics and the welfare of the students takes the back seat to his obsession with moving football to the FBS at any cost.

Sac apparently has eight games scheduled leaving them with four open dates. Looks like MAC schedules eight conferfence games and teams are free to schedule four non-conference games. Unless they are going to play a limite MAC scheudle, Sac would have to get rid of four games (and those opponents will have to scramble to find games to fill their schedules.)

I assume they will be considered FBS by next season. If not and for some reason they are still classified as FCS then there may be MAC teams who do not want to add an FCS game if they already have one scheduled.

And he still plans to play at Cal Expo. Why? Is his brother involved? Dr. Wood likes the potential to expand the facility to 40,000+.

My searches reveal current grandstand seating at 5,000 to 15,000 to 20,000. Not clear. (Lots of race fans stand, watch a few races, leave.)

Sac will need to bring in modular locker rooms for 2026, along w a field. Not sure what they gain / lose as far as gate, concessions, parking, etc,

$23M while already in a $30M+ hole.
FBS or Bust could very easily become FBS and Bust.
This seems to be more about Wood’s ego than it is common sense.

Plus $5-10 million to upgrade Cal Expo? Field, lights, refresh stands, temporary locker rooms, etc.

Ain't it fun spending other people's money.

lest we not forget, from his state of the university speech, the financial premise is that FBS football will make Sac a destination university for out-of-state students who will balance his budget by paying higher tuition rates. I’m surprised the ride has lasted this long. Between irresponsible financials and possible corruption with his brother’s business interests, that the CSU president hasn’t said enough is enough.

Well, he also had some kind of dream to turn Sac into a HBCU.

Can’t wait for the Ball/Sac rivalry.

Their president will hang them with this liability then depart for greener pastures.

I have to imagine the bulk of the cash is outside money, even if the conference payment is stretched over many years.

https://www.kcra.com/article/californias-capital-is-getting-fbs-football-economics-expert-weighs-in-on-sac-states-move-to-the-mac/70372422

https://statehornet.com/2026/02/sacramento-state-football-mid-american-conference-fbs-fcs-president-luke-wood/

“It’s a $675 million media valuation, so over the five-year agreement we have, we go from where we’re at right now to that $675 million media valuation,” Wood said. “The exposure of the university on a national stage has a significant increase on the value of a Sac State degree. You have students who will graduate from Sacramento State, and their degree will be worth more in the marketplace.”

What is he talking about dude. I get the whole idea of trying to get brand recognition but..

He's just continuing his spin in order to save face on all of his messed up FBS or Bust promises. What he has actually done is place the students and academics second to his obsession with FBS football and made an incredibly bad deal financially. Unbelievable!

Where in the hell is he getting 975M from? Like that number mixed with the 600 million number doesnt seem realistic in the slightest.

Sac is basically paying to be an independent because they got rejected as an independent (paying for everyone to come to them, etc.)

Fairy tale numbers for the MAC. This dude is going to cause the collapse of Sac State football.

I doubt Cal even has that impact...