Information on the ESPN deal.

[KillerDog]

I kept my ears open all weekend in an effort to get the numbers for the ESPN deal with BYU. What I was able to discover was that only four people at BYU know the real number. Holmoe, Samuelson, Athletic Department Controller, and the BYU attorney who negotiated the deal. There is a non-disclosure clause in the contract and BYU is not leaking the information. ESPN insisted on the clause because they paid really well for their deal with BYU. Truth is, the contract wasn't the $20mm BYU initially asked for but they are all looking like the cat that ate the canary when asked about the real number and they are all "very, very pleased" with the dollar amount.

The BOT responded with some humor when the AD approached them about independence. Basically their response was, "what do you think we have been spending all this money on. Find a way to increase the exposure."

BYU first explored independence 5 years ago because the MTN contract was such shit. Utah caught wind of the exploration and asked BYU to stay in the conference with them. Because the pieces weren't all in place and BYU and Utah could help each other in conference votes, BYU tabled the idea. When Utah left to the Pac-10, BYU no longer had a reason to stay in the conference, no longer had the support necessary to make it liveable in the conference, and had the rest of the pieces in place.

Dave Rose was pissed when he was told he was going to the WAC. When he was informed that the talks had changed and the WCC was the conference he asked what he could do to get it done. Basically he thinks the exposure is better than the MWC and the RPIs aren't significantly worse.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I kept my ears open all weekend in an effort to get the numbers for the ESPN deal with BYU. What I was able to discover was that only four people at BYU know the real number. Holmoe, Samuelson, Athletic Department Controller, and the BYU attorney who negotiated the deal. There is a non-disclosure clause in the contract and BYU is not leaking the information. ESPN insisted on the clause because they paid really well for their deal with BYU. Truth is, the contract wasn't the $20mm BYU initially asked for but they are all looking like the cat that ate the canary when asked about the real number and they are all "very, very pleased" with the dollar amount.

The BOT responded with some humor when the AD approached them about independence. Basically their response was, "what do you think we have been spending all this money on. Find a way to increase the exposure."

BYU first explored independence 5 years ago because the MTN contract was such shit. Utah caught wind of the exploration and asked BYU to stay in the conference with them. Because the pieces weren't all in place and BYU and Utah could help each other in conference votes, BYU tabled the idea. When Utah left to the Pac-10, BYU no longer had a reason to stay in the conference, no longer had the support necessary to make it liveable in the conference, and had the rest of the pieces in place.

Dave Rose was pissed when he was told he was going to the WAC. When he was informed that the talks had changed and the WCC was the conference he asked what he could do to get it done. Basically he thinks the exposure is better than the MWC and the RPIs aren't significantly worse.

$20 million per year? Was BYU really asking that? Or was that for three years or something? BYU would probably be more than happy getting $1 million per game.

[MarkGrace]

Holmoe said the contract is not BCS money but definitely better than what they were getting. Sounds like they did alright with the deal.

[LiveCoug]

I doubt we will ever see the numbers leaked. Too bad, I am very interested. I HOPE that Dave Rose is satisfied with the WCC, cause I'm still not sold. At all.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Sounds like Utah saved BYU from making the independence decision at a horrible time. Five years ago either means BYU was just entering Bronco's first season or was just finishing up Bronco's first season. BYU was in no position to get any kind of decent contract with ESPN and probably couldn't have scheduled too many decent opponents.

[Mormon Red Death]

Sounds like Utah saved BYU from making the independence decision at a horrible time. Five years ago either means BYU was just entering Bronco's first season or was just finishing up Bronco's first season. BYU was in no position to get any kind of decent contract with ESPN and probably couldn't have scheduled too many decent opponents.

you are welcome

[Indy Coug]

I doubt we will ever see the numbers leaked. Too bad, I am very interested. I HOPE that Dave Rose is satisfied with the WCC, cause I'm still not sold. At all.

I don't think Rose is sold on the WCC and Santos' comment about the WCC and MWC RPIs being comparable is a complete joke.

[KillerDog]

$20 million per year? Was BYU really asking that? Or was that for three years or something? BYU would probably be more than happy getting $1 million per game.

BYU's initial offer number, to my understanding, was $20mm a year. They did not get it but were very pleased with what the got.

[KillerDog]

I don't think Rose is sold on the WCC and Santos' comment about the WCC and MWC RPIs being comparable is a complete joke.

Maybe he is only pleased compared to how we felt with the WAC option. Aparently he blew up when he was told he would be in the WAC. Maybe pleasure is only in reference to the other options. I just know he had interest in doing all he could to make it happen.

[jay santos]

I don't think Rose is sold on the WCC and Santos' comment about the WCC and MWC RPIs being comparable is a complete joke.

Which comment was that? I haven't even looked at RPI's. My guess is that the comparison would be a complete joke. It's a terrible situation for the BB program.

I've made the comment that the MWC of 2012 is not the MWC of 2010 with BB, making the move not AS bad. Take out Utah, add Fresno, Boise, and UNR and then further dilute it by turning it into divisions with less games against the best BB schools of UNM, UNLV, SDSU.

I walked past Coach Rose coming out of the MC as I walked to the game Saturday. I stopped and made a comment about the conference move and based on his reaction I would say he's definitely not happy about the move.

[Goatnapper'96]

Which comment was that? I haven't even looked at RPI's. My guess is that the comparison would be a complete joke. It's a terrible situation for the BB program.

I've made the comment that the MWC of 2012 is not the MWC of 2010 with BB, making the move not AS bad. Take out Utah, add Fresno, Boise, and UNR and then further dilute it by turning it into divisions with less games against the best BB schools of UNM, UNLV, SDSU.

I walked past Coach Rose coming out of the MC as I walked to the game Saturday. I stopped and made a comment about the conference move and based on his reaction I would say he's definitely not happy about the move.

If this move is long term I am concerned that Dave Rose will pursue other options and my guess is his stock will never be higher than it will be after this year. Dave Rose is the one to watch.

[KillerDog]

MWC last year vs WCC last year in RPI is not a very good comparison. The WCC had a sub 300 team, 4 sub 200 teams and a sub 100 team. They had three teams with rpi better than 100 and two in the top 50. That gave them the 13th conference rpi.

The MWC had two below 200, four above 50 and everyone else between 100 and 200. That resulted in the 6th best rpi by conference.

The gap between the WCC and the MWC in rpi is as big as the gap between the MWC and the #1 conference in hoops rpi. I don't think there is a question the rpi of the MWC is better than the rpi of the WCC. That said, I believe the WCC is a better conference for BYU for hoops. If BYU beats USU, what does the national media say after yawning? Nothing. Despite the fact that USU is the best program in a better rpi league than Gonzaga, Gonzaga has earned more respect.

Rose is pleased because he will get some nationally televised games in a conference where there is a ton of respect for at least one program and the conference tournament will approximate home court advantage for the Cougars for once.

[byu71]

The BOT responded with some humor when the AD approached them about independence. Basically their response was, "what do you think we have been spending all this money on. Find a way to increase the exposure."

"we hve been spending all this money on". I assume that means the money they have been spending on the TV facilities. I wouldn't want any of our non-BYU fans to get the idea money is being spent from church funds on BYU athletics.

Maybe they are donors and that is what they were referring to.

[Green Monstah]

If ESPN doesnt want numbers leaked, that means we did very well. Stab in the dark guess: $900k per game.

[All-American]

If ESPN doesnt want numbers leaked, that means we did very well. Stab in the dark guess: $900k per game.

Makes a lot of sense. The last thing they would want to do is advertise to other teams how much they'd be willing to pay. "Hey, guys, they're paying BYU x. Surely we could get x + y . . . "

If independence is going to be the new business model (as some are predicting), the networks will be the ones who pay for the transition, as they'll have to pay for the contracts with the conferences and then with the individual teams. My guess is that if ESPN had to pay for the MWC's TV deal, they wouldn't have been quite so eager to pay for BYU's deal as well.