Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5 p.m. to include NIU Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation Sean Frazier’s comments on NIU’s financial savings from the conference move and Horizon League Commissioner Julie Roe Lach’s comments on potential further expansion from Thursday’s press conference.
DeKALB – NIU will move most of its non-football sports from the Mid-American Conference to the Horizon League in 2026, as the university cleared the final hurdle to become the Horizon’s 12th full member.
The NIU Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve payment of the $1.4 million entrance fee to join the Horizon League during a special meeting Thursday morning, completing the final step in a process that has largely been considered a formality.
“This has been a significant journey, a massive lift, but that we’re ready for,” said NIU Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation Sean Frazier to the trustees during Thursday’s meeting. “The Horizon fits into all the things that we’ve talked about – our shared values, our core values and what we espouse to academically and athletically.”
The move comes nearly two months after NIU announced it will join the Mountain West Conference as a football-only member in 2026. As the MAC by-laws require members to compete in football, moving its program meant NIU needed to find another conference to house its non-football sports. However, the school has applied to keep its gymnastics and wrestling programs in the MAC as affiliate members – as the Horizon does not sponsor either sport – and is still awaiting a decision from the league.
“Every one of our student-athletes in every one of our sports will have the opportunity to compete regionally, or in the case of football, in the Mountain West,” NIU President Lisa Freeman said.
Frazier later stated that NIU has other options for gymnastics and wrestling should the MAC deny the school’s application, but emphasized the desire to stay in the conference for those sports. He also said the MAC’s affiliate membership fee is normally between $5,000 and $10,000 annually.
When asked by board member Eric Wasowicz how the university can benefit from a financial standpoint, Freeman said finances were “top of mind” as NIU explored switching conferences.
“We know that this is a positive resource decision, as well as positive from a student-athlete development and competition decision,” Freeman said.
NIU will pay its entrance fee to the Horizon League in six annual installments of $233,333.33. Unlike most athletic conferences, the Horizon does not have an annual membership fee.
Frazier noted during a press conference Thursday that the move will save NIU $400,000 to $500,000 in operational funds.
As they are in the MAC, the Huskies will become the league’s westernmost member, effective July 1, 2026. NIU will join Cleveland State University, University of Detroit Mercy, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Indiana University Indianapolis, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Northern Kentucky University, Oakland University, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Robert Morris University, Wright State University and Youngstown State University.
When asked if the Horizon League has plans to expand further, commissioner Julie Roe Lach said “there’s no magic number” when it comes to membership.
“It is a very dynamic landscape, so we’re constantly looking at who might be a strong potential candidate should we like to expand, or if there’s healthy attrition that happens,” Lach said.
The move simultaneously marks the end of NIU’s decades-long run as a full member of the MAC – which spanned across two separate stints – and a return to the Horizon League, which it was a member of from 1994 to 1997, when it was named the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.
