NIU? Door, butt, slam.

I tried to dig into Mountain West finances and it might make sense for them financially, (still skeptical about the cost of all that travel, lodging, etc) because by a lot of accounts they currently operate at the largest deficit in the MAC. (-$3M)

Mountain West schools receive around $6 million annually, with nearly $4 million coming from media value. Median is about $5M, Boise pulls up the average. All but one Mountain West team — San Diego State with a deficit of -$1,348,615 — logged a fiscal profit. Fresno State was around $7M for comparison.

https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/how-the-mounta...

MAC teams are paid about $1.5-2.5M from ESPN for MACtion. I'm guessing OU is at the high of that.

Combing through about a million articles it looks like, OU had around $80K in profit from football. They're always hovering around a net profit, though never enough to make any big spends. A lot of projections seem the same. $7M-8M revenue. Roughly $7M-$8M in spend.

NIU is currently operating at around a -$3M deficit. Only one of the schools who showed a profit from football, Ohio University, ended up showing an overall profit in the athletic department. $1.3M.

https://businessofcollegesports.com/finance/how-does-the-... /

So by my calculations, at the end of the day they might not be wearing diamonds and fur, but the additional $3M or so they could get from the MWC could at least get them out of an operational shit show.

https://forum.katfans.com/forum/bearkat-nation/fbs-footba...

You might be right. I'm not sure where the UMASS guy was getting their #'s, maybe it also includes basketball?

https://www.hustlebelt.com/2014/8/19/6045303/explaining-t...

"Since then, Brett McMurphy of ESPN (and several others) have reported that this 13-year deal with ESPN is worth more than $100 million, or roughly about $8 million a season."

That's much less.

Might be what the hold up is about... decreased overall revenue in the MWC, combined with an extraordinary increase in travel costs for NIU... does that make sense for them considering they already run their program in the red.

TV revenue is split evenly among the schools.

There is confusion sometimes on conference payout which includes basketball revenue and reimbursement for bowl games and TV media payout. Then there is also the cost of travel and how much you're paying the staffs.

MWC is going to cost NIU more but they could say to themselves they want to spend more on athletics figuring the prestige of the MWC outweighs the cost.

What is Ohio's situation? In recent years in particular the university is spending 30 million a year in merit aid scholarships. The applicant pool is stronger on average, up there with the top schools in-state and the need is there for that merit aid to compete. Higher level conferences are going to redirect more institutional money into athletics. Where its been that once in a while athletics lands a transformative gift is fine but it's probably best overall for the university when 95% of giving is going to academics.

NIU however is not competing really for the scholarship student and is gambling they can use the MWC to generate better fan support, stronger alumni giving whereas Ohio already has that engagement in the MAC.

What do you think they brought to the table that isn't easily, and better replicated by UMASS?

Gloria Navarez - one of the dumbest human beings on the planet just outflanked Dr Jon Steinbrecher and his merry band of idiots. Let that sink in.

There needs to be a vote of no confidence on this clown ASAP, but I assume Gonzales and her peers are busy playing Minesweeper or Solitaire with no plans to actually get off their asses.

I mean... they're a fine football team, with minimal support, that has won 2 of their last 9 bowl games and has two 10 win seasons over the last 12 years. They did get a huge win against ND. I haven't stopped applauding them for it. Even when they lost 4 of the next 6.

Does people trying to roast ND for losing to a bad NIU team add value...? Enough to weep when they leave? I submit that it does not. But occasionally the MAC is mentioned, so maybe there is some dollar value added to the mocking.

Now do basketball.. where the UMASS program is in a different library let alone same page.

UMass will likely never be all that good at football, the prize here is basketball.

This is so funny. NIU has won 5 MAC football in the last 20 years, and our record against them seems dismal to me.
I’m not sure who is weeping that they’re leaving but I still think we will miss them-they’re one of the top 3-4 teams in the league-how can that help the MAC? Agreed their support is lousy, but that’s the MAC for you-it ain’t getting better anywhere here that I can see.

So the prize here is basketball with UMASS, huh. They have made the NCAA tourney once since 1997!! One time ! They’re had 7 winning seasons in the past 20 years! 7 winning seasons and they’re the prize winner for their basketball program. That is pretty sorry.

Which is ridiculous. No one in ChicagoLand gives a rats ass about NIU; same goes for Rutgers and NYC. TV media markets shouldn't mean much when no one is watching the product.

UMASS seems to be taking football more seriously. I'd target U Albany or Delaware to give them a travel partner and keep them in the league instead of them leaving for CUSA.

+1

Why would UMass go to CUSA when it a step down in media deal?

Why would another conference covet UMass when the football team is so poor?

20 years ago you could have said the same for Ohio and Buffalo but not now.