CANTON, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference kicked off the 2024 season in style at the Football Kickoff Event held at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Headlined by a State of the Conference address from Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher, he addressed the rumors of a potential 14th team joining the conference, as well as the addition of a new championship sport to the conference.

“I think I said this at our press conference when we introduced UMass – my number in football in high school and college was 13,” Steinbrecher said. “So, I’m not uncomfortable with that number. We’re in the same place that we’ve been since I’ve been here. As opportunities arise, if there’s ways to make your conference better, if there are people who reach out and are interested in us, we will evaluate those. Having said that, there’s nothing imminent.”

The second big announcement of the day from Steinbrecher came in the announcement of a new championship sport in the MAC for the 2025-26 academic year: Women’s rowing.

In its inaugural season, the sport will feature three incumbent schools (Eastern Michigan, Toledo, and UMass), while adding the University of Delaware, High Point University, and Temple University as affiliate members.

The championship will be held at EMU’s brand-new Ford Lake Rowing Course in May of 2026.

Arguably the biggest news to come out of Commissioner Steinbrecher’s address is the MAC’s new partnership with Microsoft. The company will be providing all 12 conference teams with tablets that will be used both on the sidelines and in the booths.

He said, “It is gratifying to welcome Microsoft to the conference, and to be partnered with the industry leader in this technology.”

He also mentioned that the among all Group of Five conferences, the MAC had the most conference games decided by 7 points or less, with a whopping 41.5% of its games coming down to just one score.

The conference also had the fewest amount of blowouts, which can be defined as a team winning by 17+ points, of any G5 conference and the second fewest out of every FBS conference.

Finally, it was announced the conference championship game will be held in its usual home, Ford Field, on December 7 and kick off at 12:00 p.m.