The Missouri Valley Football Conference Presidents Council has voted to reward MVFC Commissioner Patty Viverito with a three-year contract that extends through June 30, 2025.  Viverito is in her 37th year directing the Missouri Valley Football Conference as its commissioner.
 
“Commissioner Viverito provides tremendous leadership and guidance and has done so for nearly four decades,” Illinois State University President Terri Goss Kinzy said. “The success of our programs has a direct correlation to the support she provides the membership. Her national reputation is a great asset to the MVFC."
 
“Patty has provided great stability to our league during her tenure and especially during the past few years,” added North Dakota State Director of Athletics Matt Larsen, who has been at NDSU since 2014 and currently serves on the NCAA Division I Football Committee.  “She helped us successfully navigate COVID as well as the ever-changing world of college athletics. We are grateful for her past and continued leadership. “
 
In the MVFC's 37 years, league membership has been stable under the guidance of Viverito, which has aided the Missouri Valley Football Conference to establish itself as the nation's premier FCS conference.  Strong coaching and great players have helped make the league a national force, but the stability and leadership of Viverito -- the only commissioner the league has ever known -- has helped make the MVFC a standard bearer on the FCS scene.
 
In 2021, for the first time in Conference history, six Missouri Valley Football Conference teams earned bids into the 24-team FCS playoff field.  League schools combined for eight wins in the 2021 tournament, capped by North Dakota State’s championship game victory against Montana State.  Notably, an MVFC institution has competed in an FCS=record 11-straight title games under Viverito's leadership.  The 2021 season was capped by an incredible presence in the April 2022 NFL Draft.  A total of nine MVFC players were drafted, setting an all-time high for the Conference.
 
Viverito, who also is commissioner of the Pioneer Football League, currently serves as the FCS commissioners’ representative on the NCAA Division I Council and Vice-Chair of the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee.  Previously, Viverito has served on the prestigious NCAA Executive Committee, the NCAA Council, the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and was chair of the NCAA Committee for Women’s Athletics and Olympic Sports Liaison Committees and countless other terms on various NCAA committees.  She served as the Tournament Director of the 2001 and 2009 NCAA Women’s Final Four.  Notably, the Missouri Valley Conference's Most Valuable Player at the women's basketball championship is named in her honor.
 
About the MVFC
  Members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (and initial year of membership) include Illinois State University (1985), Indiana State University (1986), Missouri State University (1985), the University of North Dakota (2020), North Dakota State University (2008), the University of Northern Iowa (1985), the University of South Dakota (2012), South Dakota State University (2008), Southern Illinois University (1985), Western Illinois University (1985), and Youngstown State University (1997). The Conference will expand to 12 members for the first time with the addition of Murray State University in 2023.