Dream of College Football in Puerto Rico Appears to Be Dead For Now

The announcement of a college football game in Puerto Rico was one of the more enthralling developments of the 2025 college football offseason. Kentucky State ambitiously announced it would play Franklin Pierce in Puerto Rico when it released its 2025 schedule. Unfortunately, the cloudier confines of Rindge, New Hampshire, hosted the game after a series of complications.

This year, however, the dream of college football in Puerto Rico must wait again. Kentucky State’s 2026 schedule release lacked a game in Puerto Rico. As previously reported, the Thorobreds had a three-year contract to play in the commonwealth. Caribbean Athletic Education Cooperative leader Rhonda Russell-Henderson expressed doubts about a 2027 game when contacted yesterday.

This absence has consequences beyond the field. Not only do college football fans miss out on the chance to witness a historic spectacle, but Kentucky State loses a significant enrollment-boosting opportunity. The partnership with the Caribbean Athletic Education Cooperative included an arrangement to give Puerto Rican students in-state tuition at Kentucky State.

The influx of prospective students from Puerto Rico would have built on the university's strong momentum. Kentucky State’s 2025 enrollment increased 34 percent from 2024 and 70 percent from 2023. The football team’s best season since the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration (1935) signals a renaissance in Frankfort. A game in Puerto Rico would have continued the positive press run for a university that long needed it.

The likely demise of the Puerto Rico HBCU Classic, the end of the Bahamas Bowl, and the unknown status of the U.S. Virgin Islands HBCU Classic leave the Caribbean without football for the first time since 2014. The game had enthusiastic goals but ultimately could not clear the logistical hurdles that grounded its launch.