When the 2025-26 school year came to an end, it was the first time in five years that a Niagara University athletic team had not won either a regular season or conference tournament title.
But that’s not what athletic director Simon Gray wants to focus on. Instead, when he reflects on this past academic year, he thinks about the good things that happened, the growth of the programs and the steps forward taken by the athletic department.
“I thought we accomplished several significant things … as we were adapting to this new age of collegiate athletics,” Gray said. “…. We had several teams that had bounce-back years from the year before, and we had bowling that tied for the regular season title in the Northeast Conference and then baseball and lacrosse that finished second.”
This year was Gray’s 12th at the school, and he is proud of the work that the school has done over the years. However, he is ready to try to adapt to the changing landscape of college sports while reinforcing the school’s belief that education comes first.
The two biggest changes that he has faced in recent years and last year are name, image, and likeness rights and the transfer portal. While Gray did not disclose exactly how much money the school has in its current NIL budget, he did say that the number has increased every year. The way that they talk to donors and explore how to generate revenue has changed over the years as a result of NIL.
The athletic department has spent time trying to figure out how to add revenue to the athletic department and one of the ideas that has been pondered is something that other teams around the country have done, adding company logos to their jerseys.
“The NCAA has now enabled athletics departments to obtain more revenue based on corporate patches on uniforms, some additional enhanced venues, signage, corporate opportunities,” Gray said. “So we’re actively seeking partners in that realm … to enable us to raise some revenue for our teams. We also continue to look at more community engagement and ticket sales, raising revenue that way, getting more people into our games in the Gallagher Center and Dwyer Arena.”
During the 2025-26 school year, the Purple Eagles basketball and hockey teams had a total attendance of 34,082. In this upcoming year, Niagara will be using a new ticketing platform, Fanbase, as they try to increase attendance at the school’s sporting events.
One of the ways that Gray believes attendance can be increased is through more community engagement and stressing the belief that the games are family-friendly. He is hoping to get more students and community members to come to more Niagara events regardless of which team it is.
The athletic department’s 19 programs finished the school year with a combined 186-231-5 record. This past season, the Purple Eagles basketball programs went a combined 9-50.
“We have tried to find ways to adapt and we are adapting and we have significant momentum in this current landscape right now,” Gray said. “I’m excited about what’s ahead for both basketball programs, not being in the MAAC … tournament was not what we were aiming for. And so making it back there and competing for championships is our focus in basketball.”
In discussing the basketball team’s performance and the athletic department as a whole with donors and alumni, Gray is getting positive feedback. He is hearing patience as the school navigates trying to build a competitor in the Metro Conference.
As he looks to the future both in the immediate and the long term, Gray is ready to adapt to the ever-changing landscape in college athletics.
One of the current and most recent challenges the athletic department is facing is the age-based eligibility model that the NCAA adopted on June 23. The ruling from the NCAA states that student-athletes have five years of eligibility from the moment they enroll in college “no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday”.
“What I can tell for sure is that we will continue focusing on our pillars of academic excellence, community engagement and competitive success,” Gray said. “How we achieve those three pillars is evolving and there is no way to guarantee what Division I looks like in the short term or the intermediate term. So we will focus on developing student-athletes here in the immediate and providing an elite-level student-athlete experience to the best of our ability.”