Football Independence and Join WCC for Other Sports

Put it all into perspective - BYU is owned by the LDS church whose mission is to spread the gospel throughout the world. There are many avenues they use. We all know about our missionary program, the MTC, Young Ambassadors, KBYU-TV, etc. but we have not been able to capitalize on our sports programs to gain recognition. Specifically our football program which sells out most games (64,000 plus), a geographically wide audience and a very loyal traveling fan-base. They want national exposure - and a contract with the big heavy ESPN will help us get the games and bowls that we need. We haven't been able to achieve this via the current MWC TV contract.



Neither the MWC or WAC is a good fit for our other sports programs, and joining the WCC makes more sense by inclusion in Men's Basketball (perrenial power Gonzaga and very good teams in Santa Clara, St. Mary's, Loyola Marymount and Portland). The WCC already has a TV contract with ESPN and our BB team could use the exposure. The mens/womens soccer teams (national champs) and men's baseball team (5th best league in country) are added bonuses not to mention their volleyball prowess.



This is a win-win in all aspects with this potential arrangement.

The more I think about the WCC, the more I like it. Other than MBB, it's more about quality competition than national exposure/money, and the WCC provides more of this in the non-revenue sports BYU cares about (WSoc, Baseball, WVB) than either the WAC or MWC (other than TCU baseball). I wonder if BYU would try to get NCAA Men's Soccer. Oh, the WCC doesn't appear to sponsor Track & Field.

On the surface- the WCC seems like a good fit until you see enrollment-



WCC Institutions: Enroll

Gonzaga University 6,375

Loyola Marymount University 8,300

Pepperdine University 8,000

University of Portland 3,300

Saint Mary's College 4,768

University of San Diego 7,548

University of San Francisco 8,000

Santa Clara University 8,377



Brigham Young University 34,000+



I know enrollment is not the biggest indicator since TCU is a small school also but all of these schools are pretty tiny so I can see some saying a step down in some sports.

The WCC can't help broker football games for us, the WAC could. That football scheduling was a huge part of making this a viable plan. I think plan B has been and always will be to stick it out with the MWC for now. BYU hasnt' even contacted the WCC at all...

I for one don't mind ESPN brokering football games for us including with members of the [former] WAC. We don't need the WAC to do it for us. In the meantime, I think this hits the spothttp://www.deseretnews.com/blog/62/10009798/Campus-beat-WCC-a-good-option-for-BYU.html. 'Nuf said.

I said last night I'd prefer the WCC over the WAC. I still think that that is a better fit. I'd also think that it wouldn't be that hard to play a service acadamy or two every year.

With the proposed Independence approach, has there been any talk of also broadcasting games live on BYU-TV and selling spots for commercial time? Being out-of-state, this would be a huge bonus to be able to watch the games and know they are bringing in revenue via sponsors.

byucougar1 wrote:
With the proposed Independence approach, has there been any talk of also broadcasting games live on BYU-TV and selling spots for commercial time? Being out-of-state, this would be a huge bonus to be able to watch the games and know they are bringing in revenue via sponsors.

BYU-TV is a non-profit entity. It can't sell ad time. The idea is rather that a BYU Sports channel will emerge in the future.

We all seem to be on the same page regarding exposure via the Independence route, as noted from Bronco's statement this afternoon:



"BYU-TV has 60 million homes, so the mission of this institution and church is phenomenal. There are 60 million people tied to BYU's TV network. I think that would be a pretty powerful thing as far as exposure." — BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall on the school's possible move to independent status in football.

Could they do like the MTn does with a separate HD channel that could be a sports channel? On Directv that would be channel 374-1 HD. Could they then do advertising?

Any chance that the other sports could go the Big12-2? 11 teams allow for an even number of conference games. The BYU tv facilities allow those non revenue Provo games to be televised. Not much in revenue but added exposure to the events. It would also be the next step to a future invite too.

It looks like Hawai'i is considering the Independence/WCC option:http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news;_ylt=Aqr1SChAwEV0mPhq6zni4NwcvrYF?slug=tsn-166084. Is this part of a bigger picture that is working in the background?



If there are several additions to the WCC, that conference could look even more attractive for BYU basketball and other sports. Who else besides - or in addition to - Hawai'i could make a good addition to the WCC and perhaps also bring the benefit of annual football games? bowl games? etc?



Would Boise State consider such a move? Utah State?



What if they were able to add/receive additional programing value through BYU TV connections?

dsmith1212 wrote:
It looks like Hawai'i is considering the Independence/WCC option:http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news;_ylt=Aqr1SChAwEV0mPhq6zni4NwcvrYF?slug=tsn-166084. Is this part of a bigger picture that is working in the background?



If there are several additions to the WCC, that conference could look even more attractive for BYU basketball and other sports. Who else besides - or in addition to - Hawai'i could make a good addition to the WCC and perhaps also bring the benefit of annual football games? bowl games? etc?



Would Boise State consider such a move? Utah State?



What if they were able to add/receive additional programing value through BYU TV connections?

I think Boise is stuck, but I think it would be great if Utah State went that route. We should push for it if we are going that route because they stuck their neck out for us. Utah State would be a great basketball rivalry and a good additon to an already strong basketball conference. We should also schedule a home and home in football as well--you know, as a bye week.

The problem, though, is that USU needs a home for football or it will not survive.

Schmoe wrote:
The problem, though, is that USU needs a home for football or it will not survive.

1. Drop football (not ideal, but maybe a blessing in disguise)

2. Move football to 1AA

3. Beg the sunbelt for inclusion as a football only school.

I guess I should post the link here too, since this thread is about the WCC. I think the fans would be happy to see us, though we have a reputation for being high maintenance. They would love to sell out every game we came to. http://wholurks.blogspot.com/2010/08/byu-and-west-coast-conference.html

I should also add that I like this option because it provides stability. With a good other sports conference that is not affected by the whims of football, our other sports might enjoy not being jerked around everytime someone comes up with a new configuration for a conference. And we could stay independent in football indefinitely as far as I care. As an independent we would only be held back by how we schedule and whether we win games. If we schedule a strong schedule and win out, we won't be kept back because of the stench of being in a "mid-major" conference. Anyway, that's 100 posts for me. I can't wait to see what I become after a recruit. :evil: ;)

scott715 wrote:
Any chance that the other sports could go the Big12-2?

No.

Could the I-AA schools make a push and add a couple sports by the necessary join date (2 years)?