FOX WINS MOUNTAIN WEST RIGHTS FROM ESPN

Fox Sports has reached an agreement with the Mountain West to carry a package of the conference’s football and basketball games that formerly was held by ESPN. Separately, CBS Sports Network renewed its package of MWC games. My colleague Michael Smith and I are told that the Fox and CBS deals combined will be worth about $35 million annually -- around $20 million from CBS and $15 million from Fox. The length of the deals is not clear yet, but MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson has said that he wanted shorter terms than the 10-year deals the MWC had previously. The games in the Fox package are expected to run primarily on FS1.

The new Fox and CBS contracts, which will go into effect July 1, provide the conference’s 10 schools -- not including Hawaii and Boise State, which have separate arrangements -- with a significant revenue lift. Under the old contracts, those 10 schools made $1.1 million per year, per school. That per-school figure should jump to about $3 million or more. The league’s media deals are complicated because Boise State’s home games are negotiated separately from the rest of the conference. In the previous arrangement, Boise was paid a $1.8 million annual bonus, a deal negotiated in 2012 when the school jumped to the Big East and then quickly returned. Thompson has said that Boise will continue to receive a bonus above what other MWC schools get as an incentive to keep the Broncos in the league. Hawaii also has a separate deal, as it is a football-only member of the MWC.

Fox is now in business with five FBS conferences -- the MWC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big East. The network also is believed to be in the running for the SEC’s package of 15 football games that CBS currently has. Even though Fox won the bidding, ESPN will continue to have a bowl relationship with the Mountain West and work with the league on playing in the early-season basketball tournaments. The MWC worked with Wasserman as an adviser on the deal.

Via sportsbusinessdaily.com

Glad to hear Fox Sports is in. They means Sling Blue is in play. I bet Stadium is in play with 3rd tier and with rights to broadcast OTA. All others going to MWDN.

Sucks still with CBS, not the most accessible channel as well as expensive to get.

Wonder if FS1 will have the CCG.

(12-16-2019 09:05 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  Sucks still with CBS, not the most accessible channel as well as expensive to get.

Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV might be your best bets for getting CBSSN without needing a premium tier or sports package, if your home internet is fast enough to stream TV.

Pending full details (specifics on Boise standalone, Hawaii inclusion with these numbers appearing to cross the threshhold of Spectrum on-island $2.3M, etc) this is a VERY GOOD deal for the mwc.

We've previously discussed the relationship between ratings/viewership and primary media rights dollars -- straight line comparisons being challenged by staggered years of contracts.

Looks like:
mwc got 17.5% of B12 last money vs 8.4% of B12 viewers '17-'18.
mwc got 42% of AAC more recent money vs 29.6% of AAC viewers '17-18.

Comparison:
AAC got 42% of B12 last money vs 28.3% of B12 viewers '17-'18.

I don't seem to have my latest number crunching available for more conference comparisons, and Imma wait til tomorrow to get it rather than re-creating the wheel tonight.

Congrats on the raise!

Hawaii's current PPV contract with Spectrum ended this year

A logical assumption would be their new TV deal will the new threshold. I.E. if Spectrum or whichever provider they go with gives them a raise then the threshold will be increased

Jay Tust

@KTVBSportsGuy
UPDATE regarding the potential new MW television deal that was reported earlier tonight...

From the @MountainWest:

“The story is inaccurate as reported. No deal has been signed by any party and negotiations are ongoing.”

(12-16-2019 11:35 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  Jay Tust

@KTVBSportsGuy
UPDATE regarding the potential new MW television deal that was reported earlier tonight...

From the @MountainWest:

“The story is inaccurate as reported. No deal has been signed by any party and negotiations are ongoing.”

so is it coming in less than 30 days?

(12-16-2019 11:35 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  Jay Tust

@KTVBSportsGuy
UPDATE regarding the potential new MW television deal that was reported earlier tonight...

From the @MountainWest:

“The story is inaccurate as reported. No deal has been signed by any party and negotiations are ongoing.”

Dennis Dodd reports the same, and that the stated numbers are "not close" to being accurate.

https://twitter.com/dennisdoddcbs/status...7391498240

(12-16-2019 11:48 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(12-16-2019 11:35 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  Jay Tust

@KTVBSportsGuy
UPDATE regarding the potential new MW television deal that was reported earlier tonight...

From the @MountainWest:

“The story is inaccurate as reported. No deal has been signed by any party and negotiations are ongoing.”

so is it coming in less than 30 days?

I think it is. Must be very close to have the info leaked.

At least we know who is involved. Seems they are still working on Boise’s package....that still could be with ESPN.

(12-17-2019 08:13 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(12-16-2019 11:48 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(12-16-2019 11:35 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  Jay Tust

@KTVBSportsGuy
UPDATE regarding the potential new MW television deal that was reported earlier tonight...

From the @MountainWest:

“The story is inaccurate as reported. No deal has been signed by any party and negotiations are ongoing.”

so is it coming in less than 30 days?

I think it is. Must be very close to have the info leaked.

At least we know who is involved. Seems they are still working on Boise’s package....that still could be with ESPN.

Think it's a safe bet that it will be with ESPN.

So did they or did they not sign a deal?

(12-17-2019 10:14 AM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  So did they or did they not sign a deal?

No, they didn't.


--

Dennis Dodd‏Verified account @dennisdoddcbs

Dennis Dodd Retweeted Dennis Dodd

I'm told by sources late Monday the @MountainWest deal is not done, and that terms stated are "not close." Stay tuned.

(12-17-2019 10:14 AM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  So did they or did they not sign a deal?

It's unclear. SBJ is highly reputable, probably the best source for this kind of information there is, and they say so. But the MW has taken the step of totally denying it.

So .... it's unclear.

How does this compare to the previous deal?

Last year, the first figure leaked by the SBJ was $10M with a GOR for the AAC contract. It turned out to be $7M with no GOR, so I would take this news with a grain of salt until confirmed.

Leak intended to provoke realignment?

BSU, SDSU, and Air Force. Football-only to the AAC. 14-team conference is complete.

(12-17-2019 11:49 AM)TampaTom Wrote:  Leak intended to provoke realignment?

BSU, SDSU, and Air Force. Football-only to the AAC. 14-team conference is complete.

BYU, Boise, and AFA as full members and it’s a deal.

(12-17-2019 11:49 AM)TampaTom Wrote:  Leak intended to provoke realignment?

BSU, SDSU, and Air Force. Football-only to the AAC. 14-team conference is complete.

Complemented by VCU, Dayton, & Saint Louis non-FB.

So safe to assume that the MWC will be making significantly less than $3.5 million a school.