MWC Commissioner interview on expansion

[LocoRebel]

Conceding that if top 3 or 4 schools leave, the remainders have nothing left but to hope AAC leftovers want to merge.

But why would all these undesirable schools want to say "yeah, we are gonna let a large number of schools escape without paying any price"?

 

[WarthogRebel]

It’s like there’s one empty life boat on the titanic. It has 10 seats. The 12 mountain west conference presidents are on the deck next to the boat deciding who gets to go in the lifeboat. In a curious decision, all 12 of them decide to stay on board and go down with the ship so as not to offend the other two.

 

[LocoRebel]

It’s like there’s one empty life boat on the titanic. It has 10 seats. The 12 mountain west conference presidents are on the deck next to the boat deciding who gets to go in the lifeboat. In a curious decision, all 12 of them decide to stay on board and go down with the ship so as not to offend the other two.

I think its more like 3 or 4 seats that will be offered to MWC schools

 

[saulpaul21]

It’s like there’s one empty life boat on the titanic. It has 10 seats. The 12 mountain west conference presidents are on the deck next to the boat deciding who gets to go in the lifeboat. In a curious decision, all 12 of them decide to stay on board and go down with the ship so as not to offend the other two.

Right on! What is MWC commissioner thinking? If the top 3 leaves, she is likely out also. She needs a plan to bring along as many as she can to something new. Bringing 9 schools with no exit fees is attractive to another league.

 

[WarthogRebel]

Right on! What is MWC commissioner thinking? If the top 3 leaves, she is likely out also. She needs a plan to bring along as many as she can to something new. Bringing 9 schools with no exit fees is attractive to another league.

I think much of this if she wants to keep her job. If the conference disbands she’s done. She’s willing to risk everything in an effort to bring on at least two of the four pack 12 teams. I believe she has no interest whatsoever in teams leaving.

 

[saulpaul21]

I think much of this if she wants to keep her job. If the conference disbands she’s done. She’s willing to risk everything in an effort to bring on at least two of the four pack 12 teams. I believe she has no interest whatsoever in teams leaving.

Dumb by her as if 3 or 4 leave she will get blamed and is out anyway.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

It's a waiting game. Until Stanford decides what it's going to do nothing is going to happen. Stanford will decided if we merge and my gut says they want nothing to do with the MWC in respect to merging. If they go indy then we have a chance to absorb the three remaining schools. If they choose to rebuild the Pac# then all hell will be unleashed on the MWC. Until then we have no choice but to wait. Nothing Gloria can say or do is going to change the minds of those arrogant pricks.

 

[dcut03]

I'm behind on podcasts, but I do listen to the Hey Reb podcast with Joe Arrigo. I am well aware that he actually knows a fraction of what he claims to know, and he is just a sycophantic homer, but he does have some access and it is nice to hear some of what they are seeing.
Anyhow, on their first podcast of the season which was a week and a half ago, he mentioned that Cal may drop football and join the Big West if they can't make it into a power conference. Mostly because they are 100's of millions in debt due to being in the middle of upgrading their football stadium. I hadn't heard that anywhere else, which is why I question it even moreso.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

I'm behind on podcasts, but I do listen to the Hey Reb podcast with Joe Arrigo. I am well aware that he actually knows a fraction of what he claims to know, and he is just a sycophantic homer, but he does have some access and it is nice to hear some of what they are seeing.
Anyhow, on their first podcast of the season which was a week and a half ago, he mentioned that Cal may drop football and join the Big West if thy can make it into a power conference. Mostly because they are 100's of millions in debt due to being in the middle of upgrading their football stadium. I hadn't heard that anywhere else, which is why I question it even moreso.

People throw tons of shyt on the wall and hope something sticks. Is Joe one of those I don't know I don't listen to him.

That stadium rebuild is a curse. It's been a while since I read about it but they were borrowing something like $400 million and their interest alone was like $20 million per year. They took out the worst loans possible with those high interest rates. I'm not sure how cancelling football is going to make all that debt disappear. If their football program is adding more debt then yeah maybe it's time to cut loose. I hate to see it but, maybe they have no other choice. Hooking up with the Big West will save them money on travel for the other sports.

That could be good for the MWC as it will force OSU and WSU to join the MWC. What would be the point for them to rebuild the Pac when no P5 conference is going to let the Pac remain P5 with those two schools and a mix of MWC/AAC schools.

 

[dcut03]

People throw tons of shyt on the wall and hope something sticks. Is Joe one of those I don't know I don't listen to him.

That stadium rebuild is a curse. It's been a while since I read about it but they were borrowing something like $400 million and their interest alone was like $20 million per year. They took out the worst loans possible with those high interest rates. I'm not sure how cancelling football is going to make all that debt disappear. If their football program is adding more debt then yeah maybe it's time to cut loose. I hate to see it but, maybe they have no other choice. Hooking up with the Big West will save them money on travel for the other sports.

That could be good for the MWC as it will force OSU and WSU to join the MWC. What would be the point for them to rebuild the Pac when no P5 conference is going to let the Pac remain P5 with those two schools and a mix of MWC/AAC schools.

I guess the reasons to rebuild the PAC from scratch with just the 2 schools would be 2 reasons I could see. 1. It may be the only way that the remaining 2 keep all of the NCAAT money. and 2. They may be able to cherry pick enough schools to get a better contract than joining the MW.

Without Stanford and Cal it actually makes it a little easier to destroy the MW because the academics won't matter nearly as much, and it allows more room to add potentially 9 teams. Without Stanford or Cal, I'm not sure that they would be able to get a contract good enough to bring in SMU (who may not want to join without Stanford) or Tulane, UTSA, etc. Also without the Bay area schools, not sure if SJSU would be worth joining or not. In the market, but poor reach within that market. Definitely do not need them with Cal or Stanford in the conference.

But pulling that off is still a lot of work and would be tough to do, and it would likely net only a few million extra per year over just joining the MW.

 

[TimothyC3]

When does the pay out of the Pac 12 $420 mill in revenue distribution for 2023 occur? I would think that the remaining Pac 4 would want the check for $105 mill in hand before making the final move.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

When does the pay out of the Pac 12 $420 mill in revenue distribution for 2023 occur? I would think that the remaining Pac 4 would want the check for $105 mill in hand before making the final move.

The Pac 8 schools leaving will be gone 8/1/2024. I would think they have to wait until then to split the money. I'm sure the lawyers from all schools are waiting like vultures to grab anything they can so the waters may get muddy.

 

[LocoRebel]

I'm sure the lawyers from all schools are waiting like vultures to grab anything they can so the waters may get muddy.

To that end, hopefully they are litigating some of that out in advance. If the conference ceases to exist, or if it exists with drastically different membership, they'll want to have as much squared away in advance as possible I would guess.

 

[TimothyC3]

The Pac 8 schools leaving will be gone 8/1/2024. I would think they have to wait until then to split the money. I'm sure the lawyers from all schools are waiting like vultures to grab anything they can so the waters may get muddy.

Interesting. If it's August of 2024 and I were either OSU or WSU, or both, I would play hard ball with Cal and Stanford. If you leave before 8/24 you are free to go. But you are not taking the $105 mill! IMO this could be a big part of the hold up.