Imagine a typical fall Sunday on the Front Range with fans leaving the Broncos’ game in the late afternoon, stuck in Interstate 25 traffic. Then imagine Colorado State or Air Force kicking off that evening.
Had the Mountain West Conference renewed its contract with ESPN, that could have been a real scenario.
ESPN is moving nine college games into the Sunday night slot previously occupied by its NFL telecasts. Doing so has created an uproar in the Mid-America Conference.
“We’re prostituting our programs,” Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak said.
MWC commissioner Craig Thompson moved away from ESPN in part because of ever-changing kickoff times. Had the network proposed Sunday night kickoffs when it telecast his league, Thompson said he would have laughed.
“I don’t think I would have taken it to (the presidents),” he said.
There is confusion over where to find MWC games on television this fall, but there are many reasons why the MWC left ESPN for CSTV. A major reason was CSTV’s fan-friendly starting times on football games.
Thompson recalled a conversation with ESPN executives two years ago when league presidents were contemplating a change.
“I just got off the phone with ESPN and their latest-and-greatest offer and took it to the board room. (The presidents) said it was way undervalued, and they would never play Tuesday and Wednesday (football games)” Thompson said.
ESPN paid the MWC about $49 million for the original seven-year contract which expired with the conference basketball tournament. The MWC signed a seven-year contract for $82 million with CSTV.
ESPN and its group of networks are scheduled to televise 59 college football games this fall that are not played on Saturday. Thompson said 48 of the 55 dates controlled by MWC schools will have Saturday kickoffs between noon and 6 p.m.
