Experts Split Over Private-Equity Pitch Reshaping FCS Playoffs, Realignment

Sequence Equity told a group of FCS commissioners in Chicago it could help turn the 24-team postseason into a cash-generating product, offering to take a minority stake and inject "tens of millions of dollars" into a new playoff-operating entity, Front Office Sports reported. The pitch arrived as FCS TV metrics climbed — the 2025 quarterfinals were the most-viewed since 2011, the semifinals the most-viewed since 2009, and the championship drew 2.3 million viewers — yet officials say most of the 24 playoff teams still lose money or break even.

Under the current system, FCS schools bid to host playoff games and, according to HeroSports, return around 85 percent of ticket revenue back to the NCAA when hosting. That structure leaves programs like Montana State, which reached the 2025 title game but still "lost tens of thousands of dollars," facing a stark mismatch between audience demand and institutional returns, Yahoo Finance and AP reporting note. The AP photo file from the Jan. 6, 2025 championship in Frisco, Texas, showed North Dakota State quarterback Cam Miller in that title-game setting.

HeroSports summarized the Sequence proposal this way: the new playoff system would be operated by a new private entity, owned by FCS conferences while Sequence Equity takes a minority stake, with Sequence reportedly injecting "tens of millions of dollars" into the playoffs. Front Office Sports reported the presentation was made to commissioners at the Conference Commissioners Association meeting in Chicago on Tuesday and that commissioners have since reached out to NCAA leadership to discuss the idea, though reporting says conversations remain preliminary.

Big Sky Conference Commissioner Tom Wistrcill, who talked with HERO Sports on the FCS Football Talk podcast hosted by Craig Haley and Sam Herder, framed the pitch as part of a broader search for revenue. Wistrcill told The Associated Press, "I’m very open to the suggestion because it’s a new day and we have to figure out new ways to generate revenue. We’re sharing revenue with our student-athletes now, so that leads us to a place where we’ve got to find new revenue streams. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, it doesn’t mean I’ll be in favor of it when it’s all said and done, but these are the types of discussion we have to be having."

Not everyone on the FCS side is sold. Schemmel told AP and Yahoo Finance he has "a hard time envisioning the NCAA allowing the FCS playoffs to be run by an outside entity" and suggested private equity would more likely enter a partnership with the NCAA. Schemmel added, "Once you bring in private equity, that means those investors are looking for a return and a substantive return ... From an institutional perspective, that’s been difficult for schools to get their arms around, to share some of the revenue, to share whatever the return is on that investment to make both parties happy." AP reporting also notes that several conferences and athletic departments have explored private equity in the past but none followed through.

Key governance and financial details remain unresolved: news accounts say conferences would own the majority of the proposed entity but do not provide board structure or exact percentage splits, Sequence Equity has not released a public dollar figure beyond "tens of millions," and Front Office Sports did not publish a calendar date for the Chicago presentation. Podcast discussion on FCS Football Talk also touched on championship-format changes and recent Ivy League hires such as "Penn's Santos," but specifics were not provided in the reporting.

With 2025 viewership showing clear audience upside and with Montana State's reported postseason loss as a counterexample, commissioners face a choice between leaving the current bid-and-revenue model intact or negotiating complex governance and revenue-sharing terms with outside investors and the NCAA. Conversations are ongoing, NCAA leadership has been contacted, and the proposal could reshape realignment and postseason economics if it moves beyond the preliminary stage.