(01-30-2020 12:40 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(01-30-2020 11:59 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(01-30-2020 10:40 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-29-2020 10:19 PM)bullet Wrote:  But the assumption is they can prove they didn't approve the contract. We obviously don't have the facts, but Boise gave the impression they did with their own public statements.

Yes, my impression from the Boise public statements is that Boise did agree to their portion of the deal. From a Boise press statement on January 17:

"ESPN has been a great partner of Boise State – and the Mountain West – for a long time, and we had some hesitation about moving away from that relationship. However, the terms and value offered to the Mountain West by FOX were better. We feel that our new partner is committed to helping Boise State continue to grow our brand and raise our institutional profile across the nation."

That implies to me that Boise agreed to a FOX deal for their rights. Could be wrong, but that's how I read that.

If so, then to get out of that Boise would presumably have to claim that they agreed under false pretenses by the MW or somesuch, but that would put the burden of proof on Boise to show that, not the MW.

I googled up the bolded part and found Idaho TV station news article that includes the statement.

TLDR: Boise likes the TV deal, doesn't want friction with Fox. But if part of this deal is that Boise is giving up their rights under the Re-Entry Agreement, then Boise State is going to the mattresses.

Quote:The new television agreement brings many benefits to the Mountain West, and we are looking forward to a new relationship with CBS and FOX. When the league set out to negotiate a new television deal, it was looking for three things – additional revenue for its member institutions, earlier kick times and exposure for both the league and its schools.

From a revenue standpoint, equal share tripled for all members of the conference, including Boise State. Due to our location, later kickoffs are going to be a part of any TV deal. FOX agreed to kick no later than 7:45 p.m., and between the two partners, they have agreed to move a maximum of 10 games per season off of Saturday.

ESPN has been a great partner of Boise State – and the Mountain West – for a long time, and we had some hesitation about moving away from that relationship. However, the terms and value offered to the Mountain West by FOX were better. We feel that our new partner is committed to helping Boise State continue to grow our brand and raise our institutional profile across the nation.

The Mountain West stated that this was the last time our deal would be negotiated separately. However, Boise State’s decision to join the conference was predicated on a number of negotiated provisions, including the right to separately negotiate material terms of media rights relating to our home games. This is stated in our conference agreement and cannot be changed by any vote of the membership or conflicting agreement. We will not support any change to this provision and are in the process of weighing our options to move forward.

Yes. While the excerpted part quoted earlier might imply approval on Boise's part, the entirety of their statement, coupled with their timely filing of a lawsuit, suggests otherwise.

The other members of the MWC are entirely within their rights to decide, in accordance with their bylaws, who can be a member. The reentry agreement cannot, based on judicial precedent, be deemed to be an agreement in perpetuity. And, since no shorter period of time was specified in that agreement, I see no reason why the MWC cannot vote to cancel it.

However, if they were to do so, it would seem incumbent on them to not hold Boise to any exit penalties should such decision cause the Broncos to leave. In effect, voting to cancel the agreement could be deemed as establishing the length of Boise's and the league's commitment to each other, not just the league's commitment to Boise.