Conference musical chairs

[OrediggerPoke]

I find it most interesting that there are no buyouts if the PAC takes all the MWC teams....

Which makes complete sense. Why would there be a buyout if all the teams agree to merge? There would be no one to collect haha.

 

[Lost Poke]

I find it most interesting that there are no buyouts if the PAC takes all the MWC teams....

Which makes complete sense. Why would there be a buyout if all the teams agree to merge? There would be no one to collect haha.

This is what's interesting to me:
- It's "affordable" to take 1 or 2 teams - Where do they get the other 5 or 6 teams?
- It's a straight bargain to take all of them

 

[OrediggerPoke]

Which makes complete sense. Why would there be a buyout if all the teams agree to merge? There would be no one to collect haha.

This is what's interesting to me:
- It's "affordable" to take 1 or 2 teams - Where do they get the other 5 or 6 teams?
- It's a straight bargain to take all of them

Which is why it’s well drafted. It’s virtually impossible for the PAC2 to raid the MWC of any teams without taking all of the teams during the term of the contract.

But there is a HUGE downside. The fee terminates 2 years from when the contract is up on August 1 2025 (ie August 1, 2027). So come August 2, 2027, those fees go away. By doing a 2 year scheduling agreement we are basically keeping them afloat and then they could raid the conference on August 2, 2027. But that scenario still seems unlikely to me.

 

[Poke in New England]

This is what's interesting to me:
- It's "affordable" to take 1 or 2 teams - Where do they get the other 5 or 6 teams?
- It's a straight bargain to take all of them

Which is why it’s well drafted. It’s virtually impossible for the PAC2 to raid the MWC of any teams without taking all of the teams during the term of the contract.

But there is a HUGE downside. The fee terminates 2 years from when the contract is up on August 1 2025 (ie August 1, 2027). So come August 2, 2027, those fees go away. By doing a 2 year scheduling agreement we are basically keeping them afloat and then they could raid the conference on August 2, 2027. But that scenario still seems unlikely to me.

Don't the Pac 2 have only 2 (or only 1?) more year that they can remain as a two team league per the NCAA?

Side note, man I am glad that Craig Thompson was not the one leading the way through all of this.

 

[Wyokie]

Which is why it’s well drafted. It’s virtually impossible for the PAC2 to raid the MWC of any teams without taking all of the teams during the term of the contract.

But there is a HUGE downside. The fee terminates 2 years from when the contract is up on August 1 2025 (ie August 1, 2027). So come August 2, 2027, those fees go away. By doing a 2 year scheduling agreement we are basically keeping them afloat and then they could raid the conference on August 2, 2027. But that scenario still seems unlikely to me.

Don't the Pac 2 have only 2 (or only 1?) more year that they can remain as a two team league per the NCAA?

Side note, man I am glad that Craig Thompson was not the one leading the way through all of this.

If the NCAA approves a waiver, they get a 2-year grace period. After that, they have to join a conference OR go indy.

Damned glad Hairball Thompson wasn't involved in all of this as well.

 

[McPeachy]

Don't the Pac 2 have only 2 (or only 1?) more year that they can remain as a two team league per the NCAA?

Side note, man I am glad that Craig Thompson was not the one leading the way through all of this.

If the NCAA approves a waiver, they get a 2-year grace period. After that, they have to join a conference OR go indy.

Damned glad Hairball Thompson wasn't involved in all of this as well.

That is an understatement (on the Hair). He would have killed the conference, by doing his usual (nothing).

 

[Wyokie]

If the NCAA approves a waiver, they get a 2-year grace period. After that, they have to join a conference OR go indy.

Damned glad Hairball Thompson wasn't involved in all of this as well.

That is an understatement (on the Hair). He would have killed the conference, by doing his usual (nothing).

I call 'em like I see 'em. I believe Will Rogers once said that. Too bad he was from Oklahoma though...Always though he shoulda been from Wyoming.

 

[Lost Poke]

But there is a HUGE downside. The fee terminates 2 years from when the contract is up on August 1 2025 (ie August 1, 2027). So come August 2, 2027, those fees go away. By doing a 2 year scheduling agreement we are basically keeping them afloat and then they could raid the conference on August 2, 2027. But that scenario still seems unlikely to me.

That coincides with the expiration of the MWC tv comtracts. No one in the MWC would agree to a deal longer than that, because that is when teams will leave for literally any other conference if we don't have a new deal negotiated.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Which makes complete sense. Why would there be a buyout if all the teams agree to merge? There would be no one to collect haha.

This is what's interesting to me:
- It's "affordable" to take 1 or 2 teams - Where do they get the other 5 or 6 teams?
- It's a straight bargain to take all of them

So mwc team can notify at any time as long as they don't officially leave by Aug.?

 

[OrediggerPoke]

This is what's interesting to me:
- It's "affordable" to take 1 or 2 teams - Where do they get the other 5 or 6 teams?
- It's a straight bargain to take all of them

So mwc team can notify at any time as long as they don't officially leave by Aug.?

No. Any invitation followed by an acceptance during the term triggers the fee.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

So mwc team can notify at any time as long as they don't officially leave by Aug.?

No. Any invitation followed by an acceptance during the term triggers the fee.

Gotcha. That helps. Aug would be tough to put a schedule together.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

A different perspective on the buyout. I guess on the plus side we'd be in. (I had to hit back and then hit the link again to get around the sign up pop up).

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/pac-12-mailbag-strategy-for-wsu-and-osu-poaching-penalty-for-mw-schools-and-more/

 

[evilpoke]

CSU, SDSU, Fresno, UNLV, and Boise are in.

Air Force is in if they want to be.

Everyone else is nervous.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

A different perspective on the buyout. I guess on the plus side we'd be in. (I had to hit back and then hit the link again to get around the sign up pop up).

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/pac-12-mailbag-strategy-for-wsu-and-osu-poaching-penalty-for-mw-schools-and-more/

The article is off the mark. It looks at the issue purely from the WSU and OSU perspective with the $10 million dollar per school entrance fee. In addition to that, any school leaving the MWC would also be on the hook for the standard $5 million exit fee.

You think MWC schools will also pay $5 million to join a marginally better conference (including us)?

 

[ragtimejoe1]

A different perspective on the buyout. I guess on the plus side we'd be in. (I had to hit back and then hit the link again to get around the sign up pop up).

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/pac-12-mailbag-strategy-for-wsu-and-osu-poaching-penalty-for-mw-schools-and-more/

The article is off the mark. It looks at the issue purely from the WSU and OSU perspective with the $10 million dollar per school entrance fee. In addition to that, any school leaving the MWC would also be on the hook for the standard $5 million exit fee.

You think MWC schools will also pay $5 million to join a marginally better conference (including us)?

I don't know but I'm guessing there's a reason those teams negotiated it down. Maybe it was far enough? I actually think that group would pull all the stops to get in.

 

[evilpoke]

A different perspective on the buyout. I guess on the plus side we'd be in. (I had to hit back and then hit the link again to get around the sign up pop up).

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/pac-12-mailbag-strategy-for-wsu-and-osu-poaching-penalty-for-mw-schools-and-more/

The article is off the mark. It looks at the issue purely from the WSU and OSU perspective with the $10 million dollar per school entrance fee. In addition to that, any school leaving the MWC would also be on the hook for the standard $5 million exit fee.

You think MWC schools will also pay $5 million to join a marginally better conference (including us)?

$17-$34 million exit fee

 

[ragtimejoe1]

CSU, SDSU, Fresno, UNLV, and Boise are in.

Air Force is in if they want to be.

Everyone else is nervous.

You're right.

On the other hand, according to WYO dogma, we better hope like hell we don't join osu, wsu, bsu, csu, suds, Fresno, unlv, + 1 or 2. According to the dogma we'd be perennial doormats through no fault of our own.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

The article is off the mark. It looks at the issue purely from the WSU and OSU perspective with the $10 million dollar per school entrance fee. In addition to that, any school leaving the MWC would also be on the hook for the standard $5 million exit fee.

You think MWC schools will also pay $5 million to join a marginally better conference (including us)?

$17-$34 million exit fee

67.5 mill for 6 schools + mwc penalty.

It appears the other loophole is agree to terms but don't accept invite until contract expiration.

Reality is that mwc would likely have to work with schools wanting to leave. You can't hold half the conference hostage. Meetings and conference operations would get dysfunctional.

Again, I have no idea what will happen just that nothing is certain.

 

[307bball]

Wyoming will be left behind by all of this...I've pretty much accepted that.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

The article is off the mark. It looks at the issue purely from the WSU and OSU perspective with the $10 million dollar per school entrance fee. In addition to that, any school leaving the MWC would also be on the hook for the standard $5 million exit fee.

You think MWC schools will also pay $5 million to join a marginally better conference (including us)?

I don't know but I'm guessing there's a reason those teams negotiated it down. Maybe it was far enough? I actually think that group would pull all the stops to get in.

My belief is this.

1) The fees were negotiated to a point where a court is unlikely to step in and set them aside. They appear reasonable. They are also large enough to form a real deterrent.
2) WSU and OSU know that the fees pretty much ensure that they can’t just take a bunch of MWC teams and leave others behind to re-form the PAC. The only real option is a full merger between the two.
3) However, WSU and OSU realize the volatility in the ACC and negotiated an agreement that essentially gives them 2 years to see how things shake out. WSU and OSU are hopeful that the ACC will fall apart in the short term leaving Cal and Stanford and maybe some other schools to come back to the PAC. The fees are such that they could afford to take 4 or so MWC teams (SDSU, Boise, Fres no, etc..). A conference with the additions of Cal and Stanford (and whoever else maybe SMU) then makes leaving the MWC a no brainer for the invited schools.

4) My 2 cents. But a total cost of $15 million per team to simply join WSU and OSU makes zero sense. There is marginally more media value to that than just the current MWC. Even then, that newly reformed conference has some volatility.

I think Wyoming is in a decent spot to maintain the status quo. Which may be are best scenario under all circumstances because we simply can’t compete with non-peers in the NIL and transfer portal world.