The proponents of the new requirements said they had a "deep commitment" to football, Reardon said, adding, "We tried to show that we had a deep commitment to football, but that we also had a commitment to other sports."
"Their only interest is their television appearances and their television dollars," Peters said. "I just don't think they realize the commitment we have to intercollegiate athletics, especially football."
The major proponents for the change in requirements were members of the College Football Association (CFA), a splinter group of the NCAA which has recently come into conflict with the parent organization over television contracts.
The 61 CFA schools, which include most of the nation's football powers except members of the Big-10 and Pac-10 conferences, have threatened to sign a television contract with NBC. The NCAA already has a contract jointly with ABC and CBS.
"I believe television is at the root of the whole thing," Reardon said. "The big schools wanted their own small group within Division 1-A and their own small group within Division 1-A and their own contract so they could get all the money," he added.
TV Contracts
Texas and Oklahoma have taken the NCAA to court over the issue of who has the right to negotiate television contracts. Reardon said the NCAA was left with a choice of throwing the CFA schools out--which would leave the NCAA with a television package that was less attractive--or reaching a compromise, the purpose of the special convention.
The convention's vote to eliminate the 12-sport rule "guarantees more ultimate TV revenue for the CFA and the other Division 1-A schools," Reardon said.
However, the drop to Division 1-AA is not expected to cut back Harvard's football revenues, Reardon said, adding that temporarily there may even be an increase since Division 1-AA teams receive the same amount of money for an appearance on television as 1-A teams, and there may now be more chances for Ivy teams to appear on television.
"There is a feeling that in the next few years, the Ivies will do as well or better than they have in the past, television-wise," Reardon said. And Peters added, "I happen to think that CBS and ABC will find Ivy games appealing and put them on."
When two Ivy teams meet in a televised contest, the net take is approximately $440,000, of which the participating teams get two shares, and the other League members receive one share each, Reardon said