The Truth the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth

Losing Fresno St and Nevada threw a monkey wrench in their plans but they still have until Sep 1st to figure something else out. In the end they’re gone. And I don’t blame them.

This made me do it:

BYU deserves more revenue than any team in the MWC

.

set a precedent for BYU by forcing the Big 12’s hand. The Longhorns basically received a 1/4 share of their conference’s revenue as part of their agreement to stay put. The Cougars have to be looking for something similar if Thompson and the MWC are hoping for BYU to stay. With the addition of Houston, the a MWC with two 6-team divisions isn’t a terrible option at all - assuming BYU is able to get the extra dough making the extra football revenue sharing worth it.

So, I think the possibility of BYU staying in a larger MWC still exists, they aren’t gone yet. But the idea of football independence and WCC basketball is very, very intriguing to me.

 . . .pockets, personally, 5 million annually? That goes into his bank account?

That’s a specious and frankly ridiculous accusation.

BYU has made zero BCS trips since the Mtn West was formed, and they deserve more than anyone else because Utah put the MWC on the map with their two wins? So because people consider the Mtn West tough after Utah’s wins, BYU should get more? TCU did more than Utah with their loss last year? That’s ridiculous. You guys just scream this “we’re numbver 1” crap without thinking it through. Geez you guys are so sensitive and so irrational about your team.

I support BYU leaving, I think they can do well as an independent, it’s a tough road, but BYU has wanted a better shot at the limelight for decades, let them take it. I wish them luck, I really do, you’ve had a greta program for 3 solid decades, you deserve some notice; but you guys need to be at least a little reasonable in your thinking. Accusing a guy of lifting 5 million annually is irresponsible.

First of all any comments about Utah deserving money are irrelevant since they are leaving the MWC. They are further made irrelevant by the fact that before 2004 Utah was irrelevant. And if that isn’t enough, Utah doesn’t have near the fan base or support that BYU does to deserve a larger piece of the pie. The only bowl games Utah fans have traveled to are the two BCS bowls. BYU sells out every bowl game it goes to.

BYU gets more than TCU right now because BYU built the MWC. They are the ones who spearheaded the move from the WAC and they are the ones who have carried the MWC year in and year out since the MWC inception.

The best segment on this was on Fox Sports radio yesterday. I wish I could find the sound clip, but it was a very unbiased opinion, proved time and again by the accurate, but negative comments about BYU, and they agreed!

Jeremy, valid point. However, I recall a conversation I had with an educated and die hard Ute fan (educated in terms of history, numbers, data, etc) and he told me that the stats were miserable for Utah in terms of Bowl attendance, something like less than 13,000 tickets sold from Utah’s allotment on average, except for the BCS games. Now there were probably Ute fans who bought tickets through another medium, but that is still a really low number and they have played in close proximity to Utah as well.

As a side note to all…
I am going to make strong opinions on one side or the other of a topic, because I want there to be great dialogue in the comments. I have no problem admitting when I am wrong and we may end up with disagreements in the end, but I want to hear good constructive comments. Much like the ones that have been given here so far.

PS: First admittance of guilt…$5 Million may be off. I was quoted at a couple, case in point if Thompson were not getting a HUGE benefit from having the mtn. then he would work a TV deal with BYU to either let them use their own stuff or broadcast all MWC games on BYU TV in HD.

I see two possibilities with Thompson 1) He is too proud to admit he screwed the conference in terms of exposure or 2) He is getting enough monetary compensation out of the deal that he won’t change it.

Good points!
BYU deserves more because they can get more! If we went by records like so many commentators have been saying then we should say BSU deserves more revenue last year than ND or Florida or Texas. The fact is revenue is not based on what you do; it is based on what you potentially could bring in. Every team at the beginning of the season can potentially bring in bowl money, but only a few teams can guarantee money (such as through TV deals). BYU is one of those teams. They are guaranteed to bring in big money via TV audience and game attendance. They have a huge following, people want to see BYU play, and hence ESPN and likes want to show these games.
 Fresno St, UNLV, TCU, Wyoming, and every other team in the MWC not so much. Yes that includes Utah. Utah is a great team and they have a great fan base. They love their football. But they don’t compare at all when it comes to the size of fan base. In the state of Utah it may be equal, but I live on the East coast and you can find 50 BYU fans to every 1 Utah fan. BYU has a national fan base. This isn’t because BYU is better, rather BYU attracts a lot of LDS members who really love BYU because it is an LDS school.