(01-27-2020 06:45 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(01-26-2020 07:10 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(01-26-2020 06:27 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(01-26-2020 06:15 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(01-26-2020 05:31 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Since it's about money it will be settled. It's just how much more will get Boise to accept and drop things. Beyond that Boise State wants the MWC to affirm their special rights and status -- I think that is more important than a few $K more.

The more Ive thought about, the more Im convinced, that's why this happening. The MW presidents are getting rid of the Boise bonus and the MW presidents have looked at the worst case scenarios presented by their lawyers and decided those wold be preferable to continuing on with the Boise bonus.

I think the bonus is gone at the end of this CBS/FOX deal. If Boise leaves over it---I think the MW presidents are willing to accept that outcome. They have had a can full of the "Boise bonus" (and perhaps Boise as well). The only real question is "Is there some monetary "buy out" or some set of temporary concessions the MW can give Boise that will get them to stay in the MW with equal revenue distribution?"

If you think about it----Its not like the Boise alternatives to the MW are "perfect"....so, Boise might in the end have to swallow their pride and take some sort of face saving settlement in order to stay in the MW simply because they decide its in the best interests of the school long term to stay.

legally though I don't think there is anything that they could do short of kicking Boise out to change it.... They can't just be like we don't like that any longer and be done with it.

I think thats where they are. That said, some of the lawyers have said that perpetuity clauses can difficult to enforce when challenged, so that may be a legal strategy the MW might attempt to use. Again, pure educated speculation on my part---but I think the MW presidents are willing to let the cards fall where they may. They just want an end to the special deal. They probably have looked at it and decided there are no real financial damages Boise could hit them with at this time---so, worst case scenario is Boise leaves. They have likely decided they prefer a Boise exit to going on with the current deal. I suspect the presidents believe that, once Boise takes a hard look at the options, they can all come to a reasonable settlement that keeps Boise in the MW----and if not---the presidents are ok with that.

By the way, (and by their own admission in the complaint) Boise wanted a proportional increase in their bonus. The new MW TV deal roughly triples the old deal. That would produce a 5.4 million dollar bonus for Boise. Thus, all the other MW teams would receive about 3.6 million each while Boise received about 9 million. So, perhaps that request was the last straw for the other MW presidents.

My question would be, looking back, why did the MWC sweeten the pot for Boise the first time? Geez, all those bad bets back then.

And I think the MW presidents are fine letting Boise go. That this was, to some degree, hashed out between other member schools, the conference, and lawyers to put the kibosh on the special membership deal. That the deal forced ESPN terms on them that weren’t favorable with a lesser overall cut.

Ball’s in Boise’s court. Eat the slice of humble pie and give up your bonus to become an equal, or take a walk.

In 2012 when the MW offered Boise that deal, the MW was looking at losing their top 2 teams (Boise and SDSU) and had a reasonable expectation that the Big East might try to take at least 2 more. If you think our replacement options in the east are limited, the replacement options available in the West were almost nonexistent. After NM State, your looking at CUSA/SB schools in Texas or FCS move ups. Getting Boise back in 2012 was worth it at the time because the conference was desperate to prevent the league from being depleted to CUSA/Sunbelt levels.