The Case for FBS Georgetown Football
Georgetown football could use some momentum. The Hoyas have had only one winning season this century and finished 2–9 last season. But the football team’s struggles are no reason for apathy. In fact, Georgetown could conceivably build the strongest football brand in DC if the administration invested in an FBS-level program.
Georgetown football has a long and complex history. The Hoyas initially enjoyed some modest success and even played in the 1941 Orange Bowl, but the program folded a decade later due to financial struggles. The university brought football back in 1970, with the Hoyas playing in Division III. In 1993, Georgetown jumped to Division I-AA (better known as FCS) and has stayed there ever since.
FCS football allows Georgetown to compete with academically rigorous schools like Bucknell and Colgate while keeping the football budget modest. For a university relentlessly fixated on finances, that may seem a sensible choice. But FCS football, especially for a struggling program, isn’t a lucrative revenue source — Georgetown only received about $20,000 from the Patriot League in 2019. By contrast, FBS football (Division I-A) is incredibly lucrative for schools in major conferences. The SEC will make about $300 million annually with its new TV deal alone, while the Big Ten’s deal will bring in about $1 billion annually for the conference. On its current TV deal, widely considered one of the worst of any Power 5 conference, the ACC distributed an average of about $36 million to members in 2020. Georgetown, by contrast, received only $4.9 million from the Big East in 2019. A transition to FBS would require significant investment, but it could provide a substantial boost to the athletic department’s finances.
If Georgetown chose to pursue an FBS program, it could position itself as the only competitive football in the DC area. The Washington Commanders, formerly the Football Team, lack both a competitive team and a distinctive identity. There aren’t many college programs in the area; Maryland, Howard, and Georgetown are the only D1 schools. Maryland is the only FBS program of the group, but competing in the Big Ten against powerhouses like Michigan and Ohio State has consigned the Terps to irrelevance. Howard’s conference consists of fellow HBCUs, and the university seems unlikely to jump to FBS, where no HBCUs currently compete. If Georgetown invested in an FBS-level program, it would jump into a lucrative, wide-open market.
Consider some of the advantages a Georgetown FBS program would have. There’s a strong pool of local players to recruit from, giving the Hoyas a built-in recruiting edge. Georgetown’s academic excellence would help it stand out in recruiting, an advantage already leveraged by programs like Stanford and Duke. The College Football Playoff’s upcoming expansion to 12 teams will also provide opportunities for revenue and relevance to more programs — including those, like Georgetown, that haven’t been historically competitive. The DC market itself is another draw; with the 9th-largest TV market in the US, a successful team should draw strong crowds. Those factors could make Georgetown an appealing option for FBS conferences.
Finding a conference affiliation would be one of the most challenging aspects of any FBS transition. Georgetown would have three distinct options: the Hoyas could compete as independents, they could join a Group of 5 conference like the AAC or the Sun Belt, or they could attempt to join the ACC.
Independence would allow total scheduling flexibility, but it could be a profound financial risk. Independents have to deal with all the expenses of an FBS program while enjoying few of the benefits. There’s no conference TV deal offering sizable annual payouts, leaving independents at a competitive disadvantage. They (with the exception of Notre Dame) also face an uphill climb to contend for the College Football Playoff. It’s not an appealing option for Georgetown.
The Hoyas could also try to join a Group of 5 conference as a football-only member. This would provide some TV revenue and make the program more financially viable, but there’s plenty of downside. Georgetown would likely compete against low-quality opponents and the annual revenue would be quite small. CFP contention would also be quite difficult in a G5 conference. Worse, conferences might demand membership in all sports — an unacceptable downgrade for Georgetown basketball.
Finally, the Hoyas could attempt to join the ACC. It’s not even clear that there’d be mutual interest, and the ACC might demand full membership. That would present Georgetown with a difficult choice, especially for basketball: the Hoyas would join a stronger conference, but they’d have to leave behind the Big East and traditional rivals like Villanova and UConn. However, ACC membership would extend the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry to football while creating more basketball matchups between the two. The Hoyas would also face off against former Big East rivals Louisville, Boston College, and Pitt, so a move to the ACC wouldn’t be a total loss for tradition. And it would give the Hoyas a much stronger chance to contend for the CFP.
While conference affiliations would present a challenge, facilities would be Georgetown’s most pressing issue. With a capacity of only 3,750, the newly renovated Cooper Field is woefully insufficient to host an FBS program. But the options elsewhere in the DC area are sparse. There’s FedEx Field in Landover, home of the Washington Commanders. It’s also widely considered the NFL’s worst stadium, and it’s too far to be easily accessible for students. Audi Field, home of D.C. United and the Washington Spirit, would be an appealing option — but its capacity is only 20,000. RFK Stadium is the only other option in the District, but it’s scheduled for demolition. If Georgetown ever transitions to FBS, it’ll need to wait for a viable football stadium in DC.
With the Commanders exploring a new stadium, the next few years will be critical for Georgetown’s FBS viability. The old RFK site remains the most likely option for a new stadium in DC, but the Commanders’ search seems focused on northern Virginia. That presents a serious challenge for Georgetown: the Commanders’ likely sites in Prince William County and Woodbridge are both far from DC. Georgetown will need significant changes in the stadium search to even have a shot at FBS.
Of course, a jump to FBS couldn’t happen overnight. Georgetown would need to invest in its football program quickly and aggressively. The program would need a larger fanbase and aggressive recruiting efforts to transform itself into an appealing conference prospect. It would have to accept dramatically higher costs for nearly all elements of the program: scholarships, facilities, staff salaries, and more. And it would need to commit to a full complement of athletic scholarships, a commitment the administration has previously been hesitant to make.
A move to FBS would be incredibly risky for an FCS program with limited resources and little recent success. But there’s a window, however small, for the Hoyas to build a larger following as the best football in DC. Georgetown has a chance to establish a premier football program, and it should explore that possibility.
