Mountain West expansion, next TV deal weigh heavily on conference commissioner

The Mountain West Conference appears to be on the verge of big changes to its television contracts, football bowl affiliations and even its membership structure

Craig Thompson, the league commissioner, told members of the media last week that the Mountain West’s TV deals with CBS and ESPN have been an ongoing topic of internal conversation among the league office and university presidents and athletic directors, with revenue and start times among the priorities for the league.

The league’s current contracts run through the 2019-20 season, and while the deals can open for renegotiation in the spring, Thompson said the networks were taking a wait-and-see approach.

“Right now they’re hesitant to do that because they’re kind of in the same boat with all the mergers, all the changes in the industry,” Thompson said. “So they’re not real prone to jump in to do something now. They want to see how things play out too.” Craig Thompson, commissioner, Mountain West Conference

When talks do begin, Thompson said the league would want to secure as much revenue as possible while maintaining some control of game times.

“It still gets down to exposure and relevancy, to recruitment and revenue, and certainly the control of kick and tip times,” he said.

Thompson said he understood why the networks preferred to schedule some Mountain West games to start after 8 p.m., as that gives the league an opportunity to gain more late-night viewers in the Eastern time zone. That brings in additional TV revenue but makes it more difficult for local fans to attend games.

“We have been told directly by the television partners, the later you play the more value you bring to us,” he said. “So we have to balance that out. Do we want fans to attend, or do we want that exposure so somebody in the Eastern or Central time zone at 10, 11, midnight can watch our games?”

With news that the Las Vegas Bowl could be ending its relationship with the Mountain West when the game moves into the new Raiders stadium in 2020, Thompson was pressed on the possibility of new bowl allegiances. Besides the Las Vegas Bowl, the Mountain West currently has affiliations with the Arizona Bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl.

The Mountain West can sign up to as many as six bowl affiliation deals.

“We’ve got a very high probability we will renew in Boise, Albuquerque and

“It still gets down to exposure and relevancy, to recruitment and revenue, and certainly the control of kick and tip times.”