If the Mountain West Conference could have patented its concept of a 24/7 conference television channel and bartered it for an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series, it could claim victory before the first football game kicked off in September.
As it stands, MWC fans are just hoping for a cable distribution agreement in time for the games.
Following the MWC’s lead in jumping to recent start-up venture CSTV, the Big Ten will launch its network in 2007. The Big 12 and SEC are exploring the possibility of doing likewise.
The Western Athletic Conference and Division I-AA Big Sky have Internet streaming packages for their games this season.
“We’re not oblivious to what goes on in other conferences and the impact that they have on recruiting and things of that kind,” Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said.
It’s unlikely any of the BCS conferences will leave the security of the “mother ship,” as ESPN is known. The Big Ten Channel will be on Fox, while its main network will remain ESPN. Weiberg has said he wants to renew contracts with ESPN.
“Leaving the mother ship, while risky, is beneficial in other ways,” said media consultant Ray Harmon, a former CBS executive who helped launch the Cleveland Indians regional network. “Yes, there’s a risk for a young conference to go out on their own and match up with a young network. A lot of people like to be on the cutting edge, not necessarily the bloody cutting edge. There’s a lot to be said for the courage of (Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson) and the university presidents.”
Media analysts have applauded the league for innovation while wondering about the long-range impact of losing ESPN’s national coverage.
“They got more money but they’ve given up some exposure,” Fox Sports Networks president Bob Thompson said.
Added Kevin O’Malley, a former CBS executive who serves as a consultant to colleges on TV rights, “The Mountain West took a very aggressive entrepreneurial position to not get into another situation with ESPN. College sports needs increased outlets to come on like CSTV, Versus (OLN) and the regional Fox networks.”
O’Malley and Harmon said a conference channel won’t work for all leagues, but the MWC is the ideal testing ground because key league schools such as Utah, BYU, UNLV and New Mexico don’t have competition from pro markets.
Two years ago, the MWC signed a seven-year, $82 million pact with then-embryonic CSTV. The deal replaces ESPN’s seven-year contract for just less than $49 million, which just expired.
But the pioneering concept does little good if fans can’t watch their teams play. Now, only fans in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico who have Comcast cable can get games. Negotiations with national satellite carriers DISH and DirectTV, along with cable operators in San Diego, Las Vegas, Wyoming and Fort Worth, Texas, are expected to continue until the first games, if not longer. The same is true for internet streaming rights.
There will be eight national games on CSTV, including the most high profile, such as Colorado-Colorado State and Notre Dame-Air Force. There will be 30 MWC home games on The Mtn., a subsidiary CSTV started that has a joint partnership with Comcast. Comcast also will put eight games on OLN (which will change its name to Versus next month).
Meanwhile, ESPN and ABC are rolling out a big combined Saturday night college football package this fall which will not include any MWC games. But ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said, “We will aggressively discuss any emerging teams, regardless of what conference they are in. If there are news stories, rest assured we will be addressing those topics.”
If fans within the league have trouble finding their teams, what about voters for college football’s various polls?
“Whoever desires information will find it,” Craig Thompson said. “We only had eight games on ESPN last year. I don’t know what people think they are missing.”
Many MWC football games not on ESPN a year ago were carried in local markets by outlets such as FSN-Rocky Mountain.
Unlike the Big Ten’s partnership with Fox for its own channel, and other conferences forming dual partnerships, the MWC was placed in an all-or-nothing deal with CSTV.
Fox’s Thompson said there were preliminary talks with the MWC, but the network was not interested in an all-MWC channel. Craig Thompson said CSTV’s exclusivity was “a tradeoff to develop the first and only channel dedicated to a single conference.”
The Comcast-The Mtn. partnership is regarded as a coup for the MWC.
“What Craig has going for him and the conference is this deal with Comcast,” Harmon said. “They will have the opportunity to score early. They are coming into the ball game with a lot of subscribers in their pocket. It’s a huge plus for them. Did they foresee it two years ago? Probably not.”
Denver Post staff writer Chris Dempsey contributed to this report.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
