SWAC's McClelland Reveals 2027 Football Overhaul, SWAC TV Surge

HOOVER, Ala. — As the student-athletes competed at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Oxmoor Valley, the 2026 SWAC Men's and Women's Golf Championships delivered newly crowned champions. We learned from SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland about several changes to football in 2027 and how the conference will continue to evolve financially through new revenue streams.

Dr. McClelland joined the SWAC golf championship commentators, Santoria Black and Charles Bishop, course-side for a wide-ranging conversation on SWAC TV's rapid ascent, the league's expanding footprint inside NCAA governance, and the strategic pivots reshaping the conference for the name, image, and likeness (NIL) era.

"We've had to revise our strategic plan simply because it's taken off a little faster than what we thought it would," McClelland said of the SWAC TV rollout, the digital network the conference launched eight months ago.

SWAC TV: 55 Million Minutes Watched in Eight Months

In its first eight months of existence, SWAC TV has logged more than 55 million minutes watched, over 2.5 million unique viewers, and roughly 580 million impressions across the platform, according to McClelland in his conversation.

The commissioner framed the network's origin as equal parts vision by the conference and cultural timing. As corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments shifted in the post-George Floyd landscape, SWAC redirected partnership dollars into media infrastructure to develop the network.

"Those corporate partners are putting those dollars into media," McClelland said. "So it was kind of godsent that we shifted to media. When we shifted to media, we've been able to hold on to them because of the media coverage."

The network launched with football and added volleyball and soccer. By year three of the strategic plan, McClelland expects all 2,080 SWAC sporting events—across 12 institutions and 18 sports—to be available on the platform.

"To give our student-athletes this platform for mothers and fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, cousins to be able to see their loved ones compete weekend and week out has been tremendous," he said.

McClelland pushed back on reporters and fans who have labeled the platform a streaming service.

"Yes, this is digital, but this is far from streaming. This is a legitimate television network. The same as ESPN Plus, same as Paramount Plus," he said, adding that a FAST channel launch on Roku or Pluto TV sits inside the conference's three-year plan, with a full cable network as the long-term target.

𝙎𝙒𝘼𝘾 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙨 ‼️⛳️

Congratulations to Prairie View A&M for claiming the 2026 SWAC Women’s Golf Title!#SWACWGLF | #BuildingChampionsForLife pic.twitter.com/p9iEeZphG3
— Southwestern Athletic Conference (@theswac) April 15, 2026

Golf Gets a National Stage

The commissioner tied SWAC TV's Robert Trent Jones broadcast directly to the conference's brand strategy.

"We have 18 sports, and we want to highlight all 18," McClelland said. “Those who are interested in golf, they deserve to see golf on SWAC TV. And those that are participating deserve to be on this network."

Playing a top-rated golf course carries recruiting and development weight, too. "This is what SWAC is all about. We're first class now," McClelland said. "Our student-athletes deserve to be at some of the better courses."

He confirmed that golf and tennis coverage will expand in the 2026-27 cycle as the network's production budget grows, but uniformity of broadcast standards across all member institutions will be the next operational priority for the conference.

Ashley Robinson (center), Director of Athletics for Jackson State helps accept donations for the program on Signing Day at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, February 1, 2023. TCL SigningDay207 | Hannah Mattix/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK

33 SWAC Administrators on NCAA Committees

McClelland also laid out the governance play that has quietly reshaped the conference's national positioning. At peak, 33 SWAC administrators were seated on NCAA committees this year.

Jackson State Athletic Director Ashley Robinson represents the conference on the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee, and Alabama State President Quinton Ross serves on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, both of which have significant influence. McClelland himself sits on the NCAA Board of Governors' Audit and Finance Committee.

"When you're talking about at the highest level, when dollars are allocated and spent, it has to be approved," McClelland said.

The commissioner connected that inside-the-room positioning to the conference's First Four strategy. SWAC programs have won five of the last six First Four games, generating $10.8 million in NCAA Tournament unit distributions that flow back to member institutions over six-year windows.

"Couldn't understand it year one, year two, year three, but we're distributing that money back to the schools," McClelland said. "They get one-half of that unit that they've earned for that six-year time frame."

Southern's women's basketball run this season added another unit to the ledger, with the Jaguars earning a three-year share after advancing out of the First Four round.

Dec 13, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; South Carolina State Bulldogs head coach Chennis Berry celebrates after a scoring play is upheld against the Prairie View A&M Panthers in overtime at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

SWAC Eliminates Non-DI/DII Football Opponents

"Everything that was a weakness for the Southwestern Athletic Conference in the old structure as it relates to football has turned into a strength."
SWAC Comm, Dr. Charles McClelland

The conference has also voted to eliminate non-Division I and non-Division II football opponents from league schedules beginning with the 2027 season, a mandate McClelland credited to the athletic directors.

"No longer are we going to play games that don't count," he said. "It's going to allow our teams to have more competitive games. It's going to allow our fans to have more competitive games to go watch and go support."

The commissioner cited the Southern-Alabama State game as one of the Week Zero contests featuring neutral-site matchups between SWAC programs. The new model fits the same revenue logic: controlled gate, controlled broadcast inventory, and a payout structure that outpaces a regional FBS guarantee game.

McClelland returned repeatedly to a thesis that has guided his tenure as commissioner: SWAC's isolation from the FCS playoff apparatus and its autonomy-level spending are no longer a disadvantage.

He pointed to Big Sky Conference data shared at a recent commissioners' meeting — an FCS national champion spent roughly $750,000 to compete through the playoff bracket. The Celebration Bowl, by contrast, returns a payout roughly double that figure to participating programs, with additional revenue for the SWAC Football Championship host.

On name, image, and likeness and revenue sharing, the commissioner drew a hard line between the old SWAC and the current one.

"If we gave somebody a hamburger under the old system, we were on the death penalty," McClelland said. "So now we can do it legitimately. We're embracing it because we now can participate in a system that we normally were not able to participate in."

Byron Smith presented the SWAC Championship Trophy by Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland. | CREDIT: Keisha J. Kelley, Black College Experience

Leadership and Humility

Pressed on personal growth, McClelland credited his late mother for keeping him grounded and his father for keeping him honest.

"I promised her that I was going to maintain a certain level of humility," he said of his mother, who passed roughly 12 years ago.

He recounted his father's reaction to the conference's shift of women's basketball to a Thursday-Saturday scheduling model — a membership-driven decision that still earned the commissioner an earful at home.

"He said, 'Yeah, but you commissioner. If you can't change it, then who can?'" McClelland recalled, laughing.

The commissioner acknowledged the buck stops at his desk but said the conference's national rise belongs to a collective.

"The success that we have is not solely on my shoulders," McClelland said. "There are so many different individuals that contribute at the institutional level, at the conference level and the ancillary level."

The Bottom Line

As the championships unfolded, McClelland emphasized the mission statement underlying every strategic plan and media partnership the conference undertakes.

"We are graduating students that normally would not have an opportunity to even go to college," he said. "That's what this is all about."

The SWAC was once defined by what it lacked, but it is now shifting its financial focus and becoming more competitive in football and basketball.

FAQ’s about the SWAC

How many minutes has SWAC TV streamed since launch?

SWAC TV has logged more than 55 million minutes watched, 2.5 million unique viewers, and approximately 580 million impressions in its first eight months of operation, according to Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland.

When will all SWAC sports be on SWAC TV?

Commissioner McClelland stated the conference plans to have all 2,080 SWAC sporting events across 12 institutions and 18 sports on the platform within 12 to 18 months, fully realized by year three of the network's strategic plan.

How much money has SWAC earned from the NCAA Tournament First Four?

SWAC programs have won five of the last six First Four games, generating $10.8 million in NCAA unit distributions, shared among conference member institutions over rolling six-year windows.

When will SWAC stop scheduling non-Division I and non-Division II football opponents?

The SWAC membership has voted to eliminate non-Division I and non-Division II football opponents from conference schedules beginning with the 2027 football season.

Who is the SWAC commissioner in 2026?

Dr. Charles McClelland serves as commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and sits on the NCAA Board of Governors' Audit and Finance Committee.

Is SWAC TV a streaming service?

Commissioner McClelland characterizes SWAC TV as a legitimate digital television network comparable to ESPN+ and Paramount+, with plans to expand onto FAST platforms such as Roku and Pluto TV and eventually launch as a cable network.

Where was the 2026 SWAC Golf Championship held?

The 2026 SWAC Men's and Women's Golf Championships were contested at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Oxmoor Valley course near Birmingham, Alabama.

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