Elon competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, fielding 17 varsity teams in 11 sports.

The moniker is said to have been coined by a sportswriter covering a contest between Elon and nearby Guilford College, a Quaker school.

Both titles were won in championship games played on Elon's home field in neighboring Burlington, North Carolina.

In 1993, the South Atlantic Conference and its members moved from NAIA competition to NCAA Division II, where Elon would remain through the 1996–1997 season.

Still known as the Fightin' Christians at the time, many did not feel that the nickname was universal enough for a team making the transition to Division I athletics, and in 2000, Elon College officially changed its mascot to the Phoenix.

At the beginning of the 2001–02 season, the school was renamed Elon University to better reflect growing educational options.