Pantagraph.com | U.Sports | Gateway changing name to Missouri Valley Football Conference
Gateway changing name to Missouri Valley Football Conference
By Randy Reinhardt
[email protected]
ST. LOUIS -- Northern Iowa won the Gateway Football Conference championship last fall with a 6-0 record.
It will be the last Gateway title handed out after presidents of the nine Gateway institutions and 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools approved a rebranding that changes the name of the Gateway Football Conference to the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The change is effective immediately.
“This is going to allow the Missouri Valley Football Conference members to take advantage of year-long positive exposure received by the Missouri Valley Conference,†said Missouri Valley Football Conference commissioner Patty Viverito.
Viverito has been the Gateway’s commissioner since the league’s inception in 1985.
“Both leagues have developed a tremendous brand name, but the timing for the name change is right,†she said. “The league expands July 1 with two new members (North Dakota State and South Dakota State), and with this new, stronger lineup, rebranding now makes sense.â€
Illinois State athletic director Sheahon Zenger has been in favor of the name change since it was first discussed months ago.
“As much as anything, it brings clarity for the five football playing members of the Missouri Valley Conference also competing in the Gateway,†Zenger said. “It also brings clarity for the 120 football players at each of our institutions that they are part of the Missouri Valley.â€
ISU, Southern Illinois, Missouri State, Northern Iowa and Indiana State were members of both the Gateway for football only and the Missouri Valley for all other sports.
Although the league will share the Missouri Valley name, the football-playing members will compete under a separate administrative umbrella, as the Missouri Valley Conference and the Missouri Valley Football Conference will remain separate entities.
The football-only members are Western Illinois, Youngstown State, North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
“We are all very proud of the Gateway and everything we accomplished,†said Zenger. “But we wanted that clarity throughout the nation when we played out of conference and out of division.â€
Zenger does not believe the name change is an initial step toward moving the Missouri Valley from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
“That has nothing to do with it,†he said. “This is more for possible marketing opportunities and brand recognition.â€
The Gateway originally included women’s sports and was first called the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference. It became the Gateway Football Conference in 1992 when women’s athletics became part of the Missouri Valley.
Gateway changing name to Missouri Valley Football Conference
By Randy Reinhardt
[email protected]
ST. LOUIS -- Northern Iowa won the Gateway Football Conference championship last fall with a 6-0 record.
It will be the last Gateway title handed out after presidents of the nine Gateway institutions and 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools approved a rebranding that changes the name of the Gateway Football Conference to the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The change is effective immediately.
“This is going to allow the Missouri Valley Football Conference members to take advantage of year-long positive exposure received by the Missouri Valley Conference,†said Missouri Valley Football Conference commissioner Patty Viverito.
Viverito has been the Gateway’s commissioner since the league’s inception in 1985.
“Both leagues have developed a tremendous brand name, but the timing for the name change is right,†she said. “The league expands July 1 with two new members (North Dakota State and South Dakota State), and with this new, stronger lineup, rebranding now makes sense.â€
Illinois State athletic director Sheahon Zenger has been in favor of the name change since it was first discussed months ago.
“As much as anything, it brings clarity for the five football playing members of the Missouri Valley Conference also competing in the Gateway,†Zenger said. “It also brings clarity for the 120 football players at each of our institutions that they are part of the Missouri Valley.â€
ISU, Southern Illinois, Missouri State, Northern Iowa and Indiana State were members of both the Gateway for football only and the Missouri Valley for all other sports.
Although the league will share the Missouri Valley name, the football-playing members will compete under a separate administrative umbrella, as the Missouri Valley Conference and the Missouri Valley Football Conference will remain separate entities.
The football-only members are Western Illinois, Youngstown State, North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
“We are all very proud of the Gateway and everything we accomplished,†said Zenger. “But we wanted that clarity throughout the nation when we played out of conference and out of division.â€
Zenger does not believe the name change is an initial step toward moving the Missouri Valley from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
“That has nothing to do with it,†he said. “This is more for possible marketing opportunities and brand recognition.â€
The Gateway originally included women’s sports and was first called the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference. It became the Gateway Football Conference in 1992 when women’s athletics became part of the Missouri Valley.
