Frisco set for its 15th and final FCS title game for now, including 11 with North Dakota State
Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott throws the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Portland, Ore., Sept. 17, 2022. Credit: AP/Craig Mitchelldyer
FRISCO, Texas — This is the 11th time North Dakota State has made the journey from Fargo to Frisco in the 15 seasons since the Football Subdivision Championship game moved to the professional soccer stadium about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas, and not too far from the headquarters of the NFL's Cowboys.
“When you have a fan base who has their favorite restaurant, bar, hotel at the site of the national championship, that means you’ve been here a few times," North Dakota State athletic director Matt Larsen said. “And so it’s been really special.”
After the nine-time champion Bison play top-seeded undefeated Montana State on Monday night, a multiyear renovation project will get underway at Toyota Stadium. The FCS title game will move to the Vanderbilt campus in Nashville for at least the next two years.
Frisco has hosted the FCS title game more than any other city. Before an NCAA announcement last month, it was also set to be the site of next year's game, with an option for another one at the end of the 2026 season.
“(Frisco) has worked very well, it’s been great community here. That hasn’t changed,” said Ty Halpin, NCAA director of championships. “The only thing that changed is that we have about half capacity if we were going to stay here. And we just can’t afford to tell both of our fan bases, whoever make it, we don’t have tickets for you.”
When completed, capacity at the 20,500-seat stadium will increase about 10%. But the $182 million project will be done in stages, with MLS team FC Dallas playing this year with one side of the stadium under construction — and the other side being renovated in 2026. Work is expected to continue well into 2027, and will include a new roof structure, new club areas and a larger video board.
Halpin said the project is a major positive for the community and FCS long-term, but that he couldn't “commit to absolutely, we're going to be back," though that is certainly possible.
North Dakota State quarterback Cam Miller (7) passes during the first half of the FCS Championship NCAA college football game against South Dakota State, Jan. 8, 2023, in Frisco, Texas. Credit: AP/LM Otero
Another bid process will determine the hosts for games after the next two years in Nashville.
“Until shovels go into the ground and you start to see the cranes and everything else, that puts us in a spot where we need to make sure we protect the game,” Halpin said. “We've got to be flexible, we've got to be relatively nimble. Frisco been a major part of building this to the point where when the decision was made, ‘Hey, we need to look for a few other spots,’ there was a lot of interest from some pretty, pretty high-level venues, high-level cities, very well-organized folks.”
Montana State's only FCS title came 40 years ago in Charleston, South Carolina. The Bobcats first made it to Frisco at the end of head coach Brent Vigen's first season three years ago and lost to North Dakota State, his alma mater.
Vigen was a Bison assistant coach when they won championships in each of their first three trips to Frisco from 2011-13.
“Frisco's grown tremendously in the last 15 years,” Vigen said of the area, where the population has nearly doubled since 2010 to around 230,000. “This community has continued to embrace this opportunity to host the championship, and I think it certainly deserves a fair shake to get it back here.”
