Gonzaga to the PAC (1)2
- Thread starter CL82
- Start date
They turned down Mountain West invite in the past so what changed now? I'm surprised they didn't hold out until 2030/2031 when the next round of conference realignment is expected to happen. This seems like a solution to a non-existent problem.
They had a lot going for them in the WCC - imbalanced revenue share, automatic advance to conf semifinals, 16 game conf schedule to allow for national schedule, strong recruiting, tremendous post season success, etc.
They had a lot going for them in the WCC - imbalanced revenue share, automatic advance to conf semifinals, 16 game conf schedule to allow for national schedule, strong recruiting, tremendous post season success, etc.
Full conference payout share even though they don't have football, basically another form of imbalanced revenue share
Is that confirmed? There were early reports of expected revenue share to be about $15M per school. Memphis was skeptical about the report but told Pac12 they will come if they're guaranteed $15M. PAC12 wouldn't guarantee it (because I think we all know that number isn't realistic) so Memphis rejected offer.
The Big. East looks to be a likely target to be raided if a power 5 conference wants to add a school that doesn’t need to have football but does have a major basketball program.. If that does happen UConn and Nova would lead the list of schools to be poached.
Nobody knows what a full share will be worth yet as the PAC12 doesn't have a new media contract.
Gonzaga’s Move to the Pac-12 Is a Financial and On-the-Court Upgrade
The move clearly positions the Pac-12 as a “best of the rest” conference in basketball, at least on the West Coast.
Every article I’ve ever read from the “experts” on this realignment stuff has Uconn, Nova and St Johns as the targets.
It's something to worry about but the difference here is that Gonzaga's TV deal was, at least in terms of actual games on national linear TV, was poor compared to what Big East conference members deal with. All of our games were on some combination of Fox Sports, CBS Sports, CBS or ESPN. Their games against big programs and some conference members made it on ESPN/ESPN2/CBS, but many of their other games were on local TV and something called Root sports. I can't imagine that they were satisfied financially with the situation that they found themselves in with the WCC even as the flagship member with all of the aforementioned benefits given to them, so I'm not surprised that they thought that the new Pac-12 with former Pac-12/MWC members would be a better deal even without having specific numbers in hand.
Correct. They have no media deal in place - the $15M/team was just a reported estimate. But I was questioning your full share statement. Was it reported that they are getting a full share?Nobody knows what a full share will be worth yet as the PAC12 doesn't have a new media contract.
Gonzaga’s Move to the Pac-12 Is a Financial and On-the-Court Upgrade
The move clearly positions the Pac-12 as a “best of the rest” conference in basketball, at least on the West Coast.www.si.com
Their thought process might have been with Randy Bennett and Mark Few getting older they need to do something to level up now.
On a side note, if I were a coach/fan in the WCC I would be ecstatic about this news. I couldn't image how disheartening it would be competing in a one bid league (in most years) where you have no realistic shot to compete for a conference championship. Gonzaga did not match the athletic profiles of the WCC schools.
The flip side to this is that the WCC just became the MAAC -- one good program (St. Mary's) and a number of schools that rotate through good seasons. The reason for the imbalanced revenue share was that Gonzaga was that important to the WCC's well being.
If St. Mary's goes as well, the WCC becomes a Northeast Conference type league.
Similar threads
