The NCAA has extended its agreement with RefQuest Plus, its officiating services provider, aiming to implement a long-term strategy that offers more resources and tools to address concerns about officiating in all conferences.
Starting in the 2024-25 academic year, the NCAA will cover the costs of the RQ+ officiating platform for Division II and III, as well as single-sport conferences. This includes payment transaction fees and signature software costs. For Division I conferences, the NCAA will supplement up to $10,000 in platform costs.
“This agreement with RQ+ establishes a long-term strategy to solve some of the main concerns we’ve heard from our members about officiating,” said Anthony Holman, NCAA vice president of championships. “We are investing financial resources to support conferences and nurture the next generation of officials while also better educating and supporting current ones.”
The initiative offers collective benefits for schools, conferences, student-athletes, and officials by:
Providing financial relief for conferences.
Increasing the number of NCAA-registered officials from around 23,000 to over 35,000.
Ensuring better-educated officials and consistency in officiating through national standards in education and training.
Addressing regions with officiating shortages.
Enhancing integrity through an officiating compliance program, including background checks and sports wagering education.
Improving the student-athlete experience by maintaining a consistent, fair, and safe competition environment.
Creating more opportunities for officials to work across conferences and divisions.
Protecting officials with general liability, professional liability, and accident/medical insurance.
Increasing the number of officials eligible to work NCAA championships.
“With this initiative, the NCAA is showing its unwavering commitment to its members and the officiating community,” said Bo Boroski, RQ+ founder and CEO. “This collaborative effort aims to provide opportunities, education, and protections for all stakeholders.”
The RQ+ platform will assist members with assignments, secure payment, document management with integrated signature software, and education tools.
This comprehensive platform serves as a centralized location for athletics administrators and coaches to access essential information. It will also help conferences and schools utilize their resources effectively. The officiating database will aggregate key metrics, including trends by sport and region, attrition rates, and median-age tracking.
A key component of the initiative is the officiating compliance program, which provides conference offices with recurring reports to ensure officials have completed their NCAA central hub registration and background check consent. RQ+ will offer administrative support to conference offices and officials for these requirements.
RQ+ representatives will start contacting each conference office on Wednesday with more detailed information.