(09-09-2019 01:49 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(09-09-2019 11:04 AM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  What are they worth to the MWC? The current MWC TV deal is worth $18 million annually. ESPN and Fox are not going to care about these two markets. It is about the money. San Diego is 120 miles from LA. Is that really a "new market?" Do you really think UCLA and USC want San Diego State in the Pac-12? San Diego is a beautiful city and great place to live, but that doesn't mean they belong in the Pac-12. Hawaii belongs in the Big West.

Houston is 90 miles from Beaumont. That's a completely different world. No one in Beaumont aside from UH alums root for Houston athletics and even the pro sports teams aren't a slam dunk.

Unless you share a media market or a very common bond (like Boston and the surrounding states or Atlanta and much of the South), then even 50 miles away can be and usually is a different market.

I know the Golden Triangle area well. I went to two years of high school down there. My sister graduated from Lamar. I still have family there, as well as in the Houston area. If you live down in the Golden Triangle, you probably root for the Astros, Rockets and Texans. There are a lot of Dallas Cowboy fans in the area as well. For college sports, it is UT and Texas A&M, maybe Lamar. High school football is very big there.

In San Diego, you have the Padres and San Diego State. The Lakers are popular in San Diego. Fox Sports San Diego carries all of the Anaheim Ducks games, as well as Clipper games. The Angels are blacked out in San Diego because of the Padres. There are still some Charger fans left in San Diego.

There are Pac-12 alumni all throughout San Diego. There is no reason to bring San Diego State into the Pac-12. Schools like USC and UCLA recruit the San Diego area. They don't want the additional competition. As a MWC school, they are not really competition for an athlete. They like it that way.