Founded in 1980, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has been a staple of collegiate athletics in the Northeast United States. Led by its three charter members since the beginning (Saint Peter’s, Iona, and Manhattan), the conference has been home to names like Hubie Brown, Rik Smits, Digger Phelps and the first Latin player in Major League Baseball, Luis Castro. As a lower-level mid-major conference, the MAAC has created some special moments, like Saint Peter’s advancing to the Elite Eight of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
However, there has also been confusion over the years with the MAAC and the MAC, the Mid-Atlantic Conference. Teams like Akron, Bowling Green, and Toledo were mistakenly placed in a conference with Fairfield, Marist, and Rider. The MAC had a better leg to stand on; their conference has been around since 1948, 32 years before the MAAC came into existence. Needless to say, it became a mess as this commercial teasing a rebrand illustrated a couple of months ago.
Here’s hoping the confusion never happens again. On Thursday, a major move was made as the MAAC was officially rebranded as The Metro Conference. The change officially goes into effect on July 1, as last week’s conference baseball tournament was the last event under the MAAC name.
No more acronyms. No more confusion. This is who we are.
Welcome to The Metro
Learn more about the full brand launch coming July 1.
🔗: https://t.co/3oQko6CEIS pic.twitter.com/Z8gPXjz5bR
— MAACSports (@MAACSports) May 28, 2026
“The goal of this project was to establish a bold and clear identity that eliminated long standing confusion surrounding the Conference’s name,” said MAAC Commissioner Travis Tellitocci. “Throughout this process, we wanted to create a brand that better positions the conference for the future while still honoring the tradition and foundation that have defined this league for the past 45 years. We are excited about this next chapter and the future of the Metro Conference.”
The amount of work that goes into a rebrand is tough, but doing it for a conference with the MAAC’s history was an undertaking. Numerous names, fonts, and colors were evaluated with the Pennsylvania-based branding company Joe Bosack & Co. to help the conference develop its new identity. The chosen name reflects the region of the schools and pays tribute to the original conference name while fostering regional pride.
“The evolution from the MAAC to the Metro Conference represents far more than a name change,” said Mount St. Mary’s University President and committee chair, Dr. Gerard Joyce. “Over the past year, our committee engaged in a thoughtful and collaborative process grounded in feedback from campus leaders, student athletes, coaches, administrators, and conference stakeholders. The result is a bold new brand and logo that reflects strength, energy, identity, and the future vision of our conference. METRO captures who we are, the markets we serve, and the competitive spirit that unites our institutions. I am proud of the work that brought us to this moment and excited for what lies ahead.”
But of course, there is always someone to point out an issue. For 20 years, there was a Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, nicknamed “The Metro Conference” from 1975 to 1995, with schools such as Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Tulane. While this conference went the way of the dinosaurs in the 1990’s, some still mentioned it when the MAAC announced the rebrand.
“We discussed a lot about the history and could there be overlap,” said Tellitocci in an interview with John Fanta about the name change. “In the end, that was more than 30 years ago. Our student athletes hadn’t even been born by that point.”
Will the name catch on? It will take some time, as with any change of this magnitude. Fans will no longer confuse two very different conferences, and this brings the MAAC into the future with a new identity. So Saint Peter’s and Rider fans should be ready to see some new graphics on their courts at Run Baby Run Arena and Alumni Gymnasium for the upcoming season.
