2025-26 NECC Calendar (Click here to download)

We’re thrilled to announce important details about the 2025-26 academic year, including our core titles, play dates, event timeline, and updated pricing information.

Core Titles

We’re proud to introduce Marvel Rivals as a new addition to our list of core titles that we will offer for the upcoming year. Each of the eight games will have a dedicated Fall and Spring split.

Our core titles for 2025-26 are:

• Counter-Strike 2
  

• League of Legends

• Marvel Rivals

• Overwatch 2

• Rainbow Six: Siege

• Rocket League

• Super Smash Bros. Crews

• Valorant

We're proud to officially announce and share the news that that we've officially been given a license to sponsor Marvel Rivals competition and we’re extremely excited to officially add the title to our roster. In addition to our regular fall and spring splits, we’ll also host a summer event to celebrate the game’s inclusion.

More details about our summer Marvel Rivals event will be released later this spring. 

Play Dates

The schedule for our core titles remains unchanged, with Marvel Rivals joining the Wednesday slot for both Fall and Spring. Here’s the full play schedule:

• Monday: Valorant

• Tuesday: League of Legends / Super Smash Bros.

• Wednesday: Counter-Strike 2 / Marvel Rivals / Rainbow Six: Siege

• Thursday: Rocket League

• Friday: Overwatch

Timeline of Events

Fall Semester Registration
Opens later this spring. Teams must register by Friday, September 5th.

Fall Placements
Begin the week of September 22, with the Regular Season starting the following week (September 29).

Spring Semester Registration
Deadline is Friday, January 16th.

Spring Placements
Begin the week of January 26, with the Regular Season starting the following week (February 1).

Each semester will feature 7 weeks of regular season play, followed by a single-elimination championship tournament.

Pricing Information

While the cost of NECC membership will be increasing from last year, we are excited to continue to support all programs and will continue to ensure that all schools will have a variety of options so that they are able to compete in the NECC during the 2025-26 academic year. 

To participate in any and or all of our current game titles with an unlimited number of teams competing in our core titles, it will be $1,500 for the 2025-26 academic year. This includes access to each of our eight core titles: Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Marvel Rivals, Overwatch 2, Rainbow Six: Siege, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Crews, and Valorant.  

To participate in one game title (ex. Rocket League only) with an unlimited number of teams, the price will be $800.

For programs only looking to compete in one semester (either fall or spring), it will be $900 to compete across all core titles, and $500 for a single title. Again, those prices are regardless of number of teams.

If these prices look unrealistic for your program, please reach out to us directly. As we did last year, we are once again fully committed to working with your program to find a sponsor or payment plan that works for you.

Other Initiatives

We’ll also be running Project I again during the 2025-26 academic year. More details about the schedule of events will be released soon. We're excited to crown our first-ever Project I Champions in conjunction with our NECC Nationals in San Antonio this May.

We are extremely proud to be working with a handful of athletic (and other) conferences on an individual basis. If your conference or organization is interested in discussing this, please reach out to Jacob VanRyn (jacob@neccathletics.com) to discuss this effort further.

Each effort is different, with different goals, different needs, different titles, and we want to make sure we can provide your group with the best possible experience that we can!

For more details and answers to some commonly asked questions, please see below:

Q. How many teams can we have compete in the NECC?
A. As many as you want. There is no multiplier or cost add on whether you have one team competing in five titles or ten teams competing in five titles! 

If you choose access to one title, it's an unlimited number of teams in that game. 

Q. Why should we compete in the NECC as opposed to the other leagues that are out there?
A. We will never say another bad word about any other organization as we know how hard it is to manage and support an effort like this. We also never ask any program to choose us over another league and will never do so. We just hope that we're one of the leagues your teams and players compete in.

As it has been since we started, we hope that our commitment to the community and our efforts to support a positive experience for all of our players, teams, programs, and schools is extremely evident. 

In addition to our emphasis on competition and ensuring that your players have a good experience, we've been working on additional ways to support our NECC membership. A number of those efforts are in the works and we hope that these will be a value-add to our membership as well.

Finally, an added emphasis will be made to connect the dots between our member schools and our partners. If we can help save your program money or even add revenue to your program through an existing relationship we might have, all the better and we will do what we can to help in that area. 

As we head into our sixth year in 2025-26, we feel that we're a better organization than we ever have been. Since we started the NECC, we've tried to live by the motto 'better today than we were yesterday and better tomorrow than we are today' and we will continue to work towards that goal. 

Q. Why is the price going up?
A. There are a number of things that affect our price model. We have and will continue to do everything in our power to keep our costs down as we are proud to work with schools and programs of all shapes, sizes, funding models, etc. 

The biggest add-on cost for us will be the addition of Marvel Rivals. Running a core title at the NECC costs us around $25,000-$30,000 dollars annually between management, staffing and support, and streaming efforts. 

This will also allow us to do some things - both internally and externally - that will make competing in the NECC better than ever.

Improvements to our website; better response time on tickets; larger prize pools for teams; increased educational and professional development opportunities; support for program growth and development; and a better overall experience are all among the things that will improve as a result. 

Q. Will you still be offering prize pools?
A. Yes. And we will continue to award prizing to each of our Nationals-winning teams, across each of our Divisions. 

There will be more money in the prizing that is offered next year. 

Q. When is payment due?
A. We'll begin sending invoices for the 2025-26 academic year out in early July. Payment is due before the start of competition for your program.

If this timeline does not work or is not possible for your program for whatever reason, please reach out to support@neccathletics.com so we can set up a personalized plan for your program. 

Q. Does this price include access to everything you're offering?
A. No. It includes access to each of our eight core titles - Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Marvel Rivals, Overwatch 2, Rainbow Six: Siege, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Crews, and Valorant - with a fall and a spring split in each. 

We will still continue to offer other games and tournament-style efforts throughout the 2025-26 academic year. Some of them will have an additional fee, while some of them will be completely free to play in! 

Q. What else can you tell us at this time about '25-26?
A. We've got a lot of things in the works that we hope will be extremely beneficial to each of our members. While our focus will always be on competition and providing a great experience for our community of players, we're excited to be able to work with (and hopefully support) schools on a more detailed basis.

As a member-driven organization, we need to do everything we can so that every school we work with has the tools they need to be successful. We will continue to work towards that mission more than ever during the upcoming academic year. 

Q. How do I get more information about becoming a member?
A. Send Jacob VanRyn a note today to learn more and / or to set up a meeting - jacob@neccathletics.com (Discord - JacobVanRyn) or support@neccathletics.com

We also have a form on our website you can fill out if you'd like more information that can be found here.

About the NECC
The NECC fosters innovative competition experiences, provides quality broadcasting services, and works to support an inclusive community within collegiate esports. The NECC was started to provide the collegiate gaming community with the respect it warranted and deserved. The conference prides itself on responding to the needs of its schools, directors, coaches, and most importantly - its players.

With more than 500 colleges and universities currently competing, the NECC strives to be a positive home for the collegiate gaming community.

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