“We are pleased that commissioner Jon Steinbrecher has agreed to a contract extension through the 2015-16 academic year,” noted Toledo’s Michael O’Brien, outgoing MAC chair, council of directors of athletics. “Jon’s leadership has given us terrific momentum as a conference. We look forward to him serving as our commissioner for many years to come.”
During his first two years at the helm of the conference, whose footprint initially remained in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, Steinbrecher has increased its football membership and thereby boosted the conference’s bowl- game profile.
With the addition of Temple University as a full football member and the University of Massachusetts as a football-only school starting in 2012, the MAC has increased to 14 teams.
Last summer, the MAC entered into a three-year regional television deal with an Ohio cable network to expand its television coverage in football and both men’s and women’s basketball. This provides the MAC a regional television presence for conference-specific programming throughout the year, and increases promotion and marketing opportunities for the conference.
Steinbrecher was also instrumental in negotiating a six-year contract extension with Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena to host the MAC men’s and women’s basketball conference tournament through 2017. The extension guarantees the continuation of the conference tourney at the same neutral site since 2000.
“I am very appreciative to the Council of Presidents and the confidence they have placed in me during my two years as Commissioner of the Mid-American Conference,” Steinbrecher said. “We share the same vision and I look forward to continuing to lead this conference, our members and our student-athletes.”
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