On Aug. 19th, the City University of New York (CUNY) Board of Trustees voted to authorize a $4.49 million contract with Mammoth Sports Construction, LLC. The company is now responsible for managing daily operations of the CUNY Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) — including championships and the student-athlete experience — for the next three to five years.
“The University Athletics Council determined that the University required outside expertise to manage and operate the CUNY Athletic Conference more efficiently and align its operations consistent with best practices followed by other NCAA regulated institutions,” states the CUNY Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda from Aug. 19th.
The Athletic Conference is CUNY’s National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division III conference, encompassing sports teams from across fourteen colleges, including Baruch College, York College, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Since administrative changes to the CUNYAC took place in Oct. 2022, the university has documented plans to address organizational concerns.
“CUNY needs a more formalized organizational structure,” states one bullet point in the 2023 Athletics Strategic Plan Overview. The Athletics Strategic Plan Overview also recognized the current state of athletic facilities and inconsistent funding as weaknesses.
This led to a partnership with Mammoth Sports Construction, who claim to be the largest installers of synthetic grass for sports stadiums in North America. The Kansas-based company flaunts collaborations such as turf installation for University of Nebraska — an NCAA Division I university — video production assistance in advertising University of Central Oklahoma’s new field, as well as architectural improvements for Kansas State University’s stadiums. In Oct. 2022, Dodge City Community College announced via The Conquistador the completion of a $48k gymnasium floor renovation completed by Mammoth. The college also announced architectural and equipment upgrades to their weight room, which opened in Fall 2023.
The Knight News reached out to CUNY to expand upon the details and motives behind the contract with Mammoth Sports Construction. In the request for comment, The Knight News inquired about the specific practices of other NCAA institutions that the university wish to align themselves with, whether the contract is indicative of CUNY placing a larger emphasis on their NCAA Division III athletics, and if any colleges within the CUNY system can expect to see upgrades to athletic facilities.
A CUNY spokesperson responded with the following statement:
“The CUNY Athletics Conference has a proud history of providing student athletes at eight of our senior colleges with the opportunity for intercollegiate competition at the NCAA DIII level. We will continue to provide this service to our conference members with an external partner who will help us to enhance the student athletic experience and better align the conference with our peer conferences from across the country.” The spokesperson also explained that most NCAA-affiliated institutions have conferences independent of their university or university system.
Queens College has confirmed with The Knight News that, because QC’s athletic teams are Division II and part of the East Coast Conference — not the CUNYAC — the college will not be affected by the approval of this contract.
