The new sport will have three full members and a handful of affiliates, giving the MAC 13 women’s sports.
The Mid-American Conference announced the expansion of their suite of offered sports on Friday morning, announcing women’s rowing as a member sport starting the 2025-26 academic year.
“The member institutions of the Mid-American Conference take great pride in offering a broad array of sports offerings for our students,” Mid-American Conference Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher said via press release Friday. “Women’s rowing is a great addition to our sports sponsorship line-up. This is a sport that continues to grow in popularity, and I am already looking forward to awarding our first championship in May 2026.
The addition of women’s rowing expands the MAC’s sport offerings to 23 (13 for women and 10 for men), placing the MAC third of all FBS conferences.
Current full members Toledo and Eastern Michigan are set to join, with future full member UMass and affiliate members Delaware, High Point and Temple also set to partake in the sport’s inaugural season.
The addition of women’s rowing to the MAC’s offerings was vital for UMass, who had been looking for a solution since announcing their departure from the Atlantic 10 earlier this year.
“We’re extremely excited about the creation of the MAC Rowing Championships, beginning in the Spring of 2026,” UMass women’s rowing head coach Eric Carcich said via press release. “After experiencing the loss of two of our rowing conferences where auto bids were drawn from this past year, to be on the other side in creation mode is exciting. … The energy surrounding the creation of the MAC Rowing Championships is massive and it is exciting for UMass and EMU to be part of that foundation.”
EMU is set to host the inaugural conference championship at Ford Lake for the first three seasons, where the program has built a state-of-the-art course over recent years. They will host the title for the first three years of competition.
The conference will also host an invitational regatta in the spring of 2025.