Eastern Michigan: We have no plans on dropping out of FBS
Eastern Michigan issued an open letter response to the student and faculty recommendation that the school cease to play in the Football Bowl Subdivision, college football’s top level.
And the Eagles have no plans on going anywhere.
In the past several days, there has been considerable media coverage of reports that indicate that Eastern Michigan University is considering eliminating football, or reducing support for football by dropping down to a lower division of the NCAA and by dropping out of the Mid-American Conference. These reports are not based on any solid factual information. We have absolutely no plans to eliminate football or move into any other division or conference.
We are pleased to be a member of an outstanding conference, the Mid-American Conference, where all of our sports and our talented student athletes have the opportunity to compete at the highest levels with neighboring institutions in the Midwest. Any headlines or claims that Eastern is considering dropping football, or reducing our support of the program in any way, are false.
The letter goes on to say the school was completely supportive of the athletic department, fundraising was up $430,000 year-to-date from last year and that “We will remain proud members of the Mid-American Conference football family for a long, long time.“
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The faculty and student plan was pitched to the university’s board of regents on Friday. The report presented to the board said athletic expenses were at $33 million in 2015 while revenue was at $7 million.
The school was also part of an HBO Real Sports report on the financial situations of athletic departments and how they can affect the school at large.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
