Not sure I agree. I would put Hawaii and Air Force up with any of the markets they took from the MWC. Air Force has there military tie in that always makes their games popular, and Hawaii has a good following with the islands and the Polynesian community.
Currently CSU is a poor step child of Colorado; SDSU had crowds between 18K and 25K with the one big exception being 31K at the Hawaii game, and they have never had any real media following being the poor step child to nearby USC and UCLA; Utah State will always be a far third to both Utah and byu; Fresno State has really good attendance to their games, but has never been able to move forward because Fresno is a very poor farming community and they just do not have the money for NIL and will likely continue along their existing path.
BSU is the exception to that with a program that is popular and has done well for decades.
Oregon State and Washington State couldn't get anyone to take them and are trying to hold on in relevance by going for what they perceive is the cream of the crop with the MWC, but screwed up in not going after Air Force and UNLV instead of settling for Utah State.
If the PAC is able to hit a home run and get a school like Memphis, then that may change my opinion, but for now, I think they screwed up playing a game of checkers when I hope UNLV is play chess!
SDSU AVERAGES 25k the past 2 seasons, probably their worst 2 seasons in recent memory. We got that last season in our second best season in recent memory.
I honestly don't know how to measure AFA. You could be right, but I do think their attendance is goosed by a LOT of non paying cadets going to the games. They do have a bit of a national brand, but I think they are a distant 3rd amongst the military academies in terms of popularity/following. Even though they have been the better football program of the 3 most seasons.
SDSU easily has better media value than AFA, Same with Fresno, CSU? Harder to say, but both in basically the same market, and I think CSU easily beats them at least locally. Nationally? Mayeb AFA is better?
About a year ago WAZZU and OSU was a part of a 10 team conference that was offered 30 mil per school (without USC/UCLA). They were on the low end of that spectrum obviously, but how much are they worth? But just because they weren't worth 30-80 mil a year for a different P4, doesn't mean they are only worth 5 mil or less. They could be worth 10, 15, or 20 each and still be left behind. I think their partners really like them, which is what matters. They have historical data at least to back that up.
No question the PAC screwed up. But I think they truly went by what their media partners said. I don't think that we were blackballed by anyone. I mean really, you are going to let some petty BS hold you back from creating a solid conference that makes everyone's bottom line look good, especially when they are scrounging for an 8th?
No, I think they truly followed their metrics from what their media partners were willing to pay. I truly think they picked the 4 best in their eyes, tried to keep the poaching fees down by stopping at 4 and "shooting for the stars" AAC 4, then came back around to us as an option B.
