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Ferris State Football HC Tony Annese and AD Steve Brockelbank chat with Forbes’ Tim Casey about the Bulldogs’ continued success as the sport continues to change. After a national championship appearance last season, Ferris State had seven players transfer to FBS programs, but was able to keep five student-athletes who had entered the portal. Annese on the portal, the success of former QB Trinidad Chambliss and the program’s culture: “(The transfer portal) is over time potentially going to be a (problem). The realization is that we either sell it (to recruits) about Trinidad and the success of our guys or we’re negligent. We’ve got to sell our success. We’ve got to sell the success of the guys that have moved on.” Brockelbank on competing to keep student-athletes: “Do I think (the Opendorse deal) helps? Yes. Is it going to stop a Power Four (conference) school from taking one of our student athletes if they want to leave? We’re never going to match the financial offers that those folks are going to make towards our student athletes. […] anytime we can help student athletes out, whether it be academically, financially, socially, character development, whatever it is, I think it all adds up. And it all helps us retain them.” As Annese and his staff work to maintain the standard of success for the Bulldogs, the consistency of his coaching staff and culture of trust will be key: “Our hope is to be so profoundly connected with young people that you get them to just want to be part of your program. Some of our better players are so loyal, and they could move on, but they're just so loyal…From my perspective, our culture is the best in the nation. That's my selling point. Some of them may not believe that, but that's just the way I approach it.” (link)

Ferris State President Bill Pink adds: “We do more than just build champions on the field. They’re at Ferris State for a reason, and we do a great job with them on the field and in the classroom. We build champions in the classroom and they go on to do great things. […] I would challenge all of those talking heads who we're hearing at the national level, who have all these ideas that (Chambliss’ success) is something out of the blue. I challenge every last one of them. Why don't you come to Big Rapids on Oct. 25 when we have what is always one of the biggest football games of the season. It's always one of the best Division II football games on the day, and in many cases, it'll be one of the best college football games across the country. Bring ESPN College GameDay. Bring all those guys. Come and see what high-quality Division II football is all about.” (link)

Earlier this month, the DII SAAC discussed questions around NIL solicited by the DII Legislation Committee. SAAC did not “express interest” in signing NIL deals with their school, citing concerns around student-athletes attending the school with the best NIL offer and “the potential risk for dividing a school's student-athletes based on the level of their NIL agreement.” Further, the group also unanimously opposed allowing schools to enter NIL agreements with high school student-athletes before enrolling in college. The group did support third parties that have an affiliation with their institution to sign NIL deals with student-athletes and the requirement to report NIL agreements worth $600+. SAAC had “mixed feedback” on an entity outside the NCAA, a school or a conference ensuring NIL compensation was fair, weighing the ability to eliminate bias with concerns of overlooking individual nuances of students or deals. (link)

Across the Athletics Universe…
➤ USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz reports “U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken has ordered that a hearing be held Nov. 6 ‘on objections to the continuation of the’ going-forward, injunctive aspects of the NCAA-House settlement, which also is on appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals. Several new objections to settlement and manner in which it is being implemented have been filed in recent weeks, including those concerning roster limits and schools' decisions on whether to give athletes a designation that would let them not count against the limits for another school.” (link)
➤ On3’s Ross Dellenger writes the NCAA’s “five-for-five” DI eligibility plan to end redshirts has been tabled for now with attorneys advising “college officials against passing such a monumental change while fighting more than two dozen lawsuits from players seeking more years of eligibility.” Dellenger continues: “So… the mounting eligibility cases are preventing a change to the eligibility rule that may prevent more eligibility cases? Maybe. Some argue that a change to the ‘five-for-five’ may trigger more lawsuits. Any ‘five-for-five’ concept would likely eliminate redshirts, waivers and other exceptions for additional seasons of eligibility. That alone could elicit more legal challenges. [...] The point is, if you expand to five years, where does it truly end? Where is the line drawn? The existing four-year eligibility rule is tethered to the traditional four-year academic calendar. Can you legally justify a change to five years by tying it, as well, to the academic calendar? These are questions with complicated answers or no answers at all, which may further prevent any change to the rule.” More. (link)
➤ U.S. Soccer has released its NextGen White Paper, authored by the NextGen College Soccer Committee (NCSC), outlining recommendations for changing college soccer. Recommendations include regional conference realignment with promotion and relegation; a full-school-year competition calendar; professional player eligibility; and enhanced commercial opportunities. From the report: “We have reached an inflection point where proactive change is required. … Without these shifts, college soccer risks dwindling relevance in the U.S. soccer ecosystem and reduced support within college athletics.” Sportico’s Luke Cyphers explains the NCSC is pushing for at least some of the proposals in the report to be in operation in men’s soccer as early as the 2026-27 academic year. “That includes competition that spans the full academic year, rather than the current lone semester. That new, longer year – with a mandated break in December and January – would allow for more months of supervised training but a less condensed playing schedule, with fewer games per week and more recovery time. It would be capped by a national tournament in the spring, which itself could be a source of revenue and attention, akin to the baseball and softball College World Series. Such a tournament could have a home, like Omaha, Nebraska, and Oklahoma City for the men’s and women’s annual CWS finals, or move around, like the NCAA basketball tourney.” (link); Tons more in the full report. (link)

Cameron has broken ground on its new turf Softball field, with the help of Mammoth Sports Construction. The renovation also includes new dugout and backstops, bullpens, sound system and more. (link)

Northwood will add Varsity Powerlifting to its portfolio. (link)

It’s Personnel…
➤ Barton promotes Asst. AD for Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer Gianna Lewis to Assoc. AD. (link)
➤ Point Park hires Clark Atlanta Director of Student-Athlete Academic Success Taylor Fulton as Asst. AD for Academic Support. (link)
➤ Auburn-Montgomery Chancellor Carl Stockton has been named President of the GSC Board of Directors. (link)

Coaches.wire…
➤ Georgian Court promotes Acrobatics & Tumbling AC Magdeline Gigliotti to HC. (link)
➤ Tuskegee Football HC Aaron James has been named to serve on the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee. (link)
➤ Basketball, baseball and swimming & diving lead the way in coaching staff changes from the past few days. Check out movement across all sports in this morning’s edition of Coaches.wire. (link)

More Higher Ed…
➤ Findlay President Katherine Fell will retire at the end of this academic year. (link)
➤ Northern Michigan names Indiana State (DI) Provost/VP for Academic Affairs Chris Olsen as its 19th president. (link)
➤ Northwood receives a $2M pledge from the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation to support financial aid for middle-income students. (link)

CRO.ticker Recap…
➤ Ally’s Cost of Fandom report finds that sports fans willingly pay for connection and identity, not just entertainment. On average, sports fans spend $1,600 annually, and that figure increases to nearly $2,200 for “fanatical” fans. Millennials are the biggest spenders at $2,050 per year vs. Gen Z’s $1,550, and about a third in both cohorts say fandom makes them feel more connected. The biggest budget categories are tickets (60%) and food & drink (54%), followed by apparel (47%) and travel (36%). Many fans don’t plan for it, with 43% of millennials and 37% of Gen Zers saying they have no firm sports budgets. Spending styles split by gender: women favor social, lower-cost community rituals (like watching at friends’ houses or hosting parties), while men skew toward higher-ticket experiences (traveling for games, premium seats/VIP). Fans think the best ways to grow a sport are watching to boost ratings (46%), attending in person (40%), and wearing team gear (38%). Women’s sports momentum shows up in wallets, too, as 67% of fans say their spending on women’s sports has increased or held steady. Just 24% say they haven’t spent on it at all. That said, outlays are still uneven – fans spend about $950 annually on men’s sports vs. $500 on women’s, and men outspend women on women’s sports ($600 vs. $400). Gen Z is particularly values-driven here with 31% indicating it’s important to show up as women’s sports fans, and 40% view supporting women’s sports as supporting equality and empowerment. Full report. (link)
➤ Talking Tickets! publisher Dave Wakeman introduces two simple models for building durable fandom. The Sustainable Fan Framework has five steps: define a winning vision, identify your core fan, create unbeatable experiences, leave them wanting more with tools that bring them back, and “shut up and play the hits” by repeating what fans love with intention. The Fans for Life Flywheel shows how to keep fans close and bring them closer in a loop: offer a warm welcome, create a sense of connection, deepen it into a bond of belonging, align around shared values, then feed that energy back into the next welcome. Wakeman illustrates the ideas with real examples: Pearl Jam’s fan club for core fans, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” for connection and community, the Raiders’ “Just Win, Baby!” as a clear vision, and Taylor Swift friendship bracelets as a symbol that blends connection, core fandom, and playing the hits. Additionally, Wakeman shares a few data points from his Talking Tickets Global Survey: 5.3% say rising costs are their top business concern, 36.8% use market research to find new opportunities, 37% have no brand strength metric, and pricing is split almost 50/50 between planned and ad hoc decisions. (link)
➤ Check out more in this morning’s CRO.ticker. (link); Sign up now if you haven’t already! (link)