RPI 2026 Off-Season: Please Pardon Our Appearance As We Upgrade This Area

[sezenack]

RPI's baseball and softball teams are currently participating in the Liberty League tournament.

The baseball games are being played at RIT, which is a member of the Liberty League in multiple sports (as I type, RPI is leading St. Lawrence, 8-2, in the seventh inning ).

The softball games are being played at the University of Rochester, which I believe is a member of the Liberty League only in baseball and softball.

As a general rule, I've found that football and basketball games against Liberty League opposition are livestreamed without charge, but there has been a charge if RPI has been on the road against a non-Liberty League school. RPI hockey home games used to be free on RPI TV, until the NCAA made them sign up with ESPN so that there is a charge to watch those games.

The baseball games at RIT are available on livestream without charge. The softball games at the U of R are also available on livestream, but there would be a charge to watch them.

If the Liberty League opts into revenue sharing, does that mean there would be a charge to watch livestreams of all sports involving Liberty League teams?

The Liberty League is a D3 league and D3 does not have revenue sharing. Clarkson (or any play up school) only opts in for the D1 sports when doing so

 

[rpi82]

Thanks for your reply. From what i gather based on some prior posts the dIII play up schools that opt in are just prepping for the donations from alumni so it will be legal if and when the checks arrive.

I'm pretty sure, and hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, RPI could legally (whatever that means in the context of the clown show that is the NCAA) share from its revenues today. However, since the program books are balanced with Institute funds that would just mean a corresponding increase in those subsidies. In practice, you are correct that it will take new sugar daddy(s) money to make "revenue sharing" of any substance happen for the D3/D2 schools that play-up and, for that matter, most of the D1 schools that don't have other big sources of athletic revenue or an existing pool of boosters with big pockets. I was looking at the Penn State financial reports and the primary reason they can throw around so much money is not just that their sugar daddy (Pegula) gave then an arena - no bonds to pay off - but their endowed funds for hockey (presumably mostly from Pegula) generated over $2M for the program operating budget.

 

[Wicked Slappaahs]

ESPN did a pretty in depth look at the NIL in college hockey which included Penn State and Denver (before they won another Natty) among others. It's a pretty well done piece, if folks didn't see it the first time around.

Inside the impact of NIL and revenue sharing on college hockey

Can competitive balance survive in the sport with the widest variety of athletic programs?

www.espn.com

 

[Wicked Slappaahs]

I happened to be near the HFH today and swung through to lay eyes on things. Excavating crew was working on the area outside the rear of the rink. The old exterior chiller equipment is gone and it appeared as though the crew was working on new piping and prepping the area for new concrete pads to house the new chiller units.

No signs of any big loaders or dump trucks, so I'm presuming the interior concrete demolition is complete (this is only a guess).

 

[Wicked Slappaahs]

I'm pretty sure, and hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, RPI could legally (whatever that means in the context of the clown show that is the NCAA) share from its revenues today. However, since the program books are balanced with Institute funds that would just mean a corresponding increase in those subsidies. In practice, you are correct that it will take new sugar daddy(s) money to make "revenue sharing" of any substance happen for the D3/D2 schools that play-up and, for that matter, most of the D1 schools that don't have other big sources of athletic revenue or an existing pool of boosters with big pockets. I was looking at the Penn State financial reports and the primary reason they can throw around so much money is not just that their sugar daddy (Pegula) gave then an arena - no bonds to pay off - but their endowed funds for hockey (presumably mostly from Pegula) generated over $2M for the program operating budget.

My understanding is that PSU hockey is self-sufficient and operates in the black, thanks to the Pegulas massive gift and other fund raising.