Saturday's UC Davis-San Diego State football game is one of six Mountain West Conference games that will be "streamed on Facebook" via Stadium this season, a sign of "where viewing is headed," according to Kirk Kenney of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson said, "It’s fun and it’s intriguing because something’s there." Thompson added that there were 30,000-40,000 people "watching on Facebook Live when the conference streamed coverage from last month’s Mountain West Football Media Summit in Las Vegas." He said, "Some of our games (on TV) only get like 50,000 or 60,000." Kenney notes the MWC's current TV contract expires in three years, with each school getting around $1M "in TV money each year." Kenney: "Is that enough revenue for conference members to continue with traditional TV, where ESPN and/or CBS Sports Network dictate unfavorable kickoff times and days?" Thompson said of streaming games, "Nobody knows how it’s monetized. ... Something’s there, but nobody’s paying for it yet. It’s explosive. It’s millions of people. I think we’re all going to have to just sit tight and see how it develops” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/1). Saturday's Miami (Ohio)-Marshall game is one of Stadium's 15 total games being "streamed exclusively on Facebook." Marshall AD Mike Hamrick: "We look forward to this new venture. It appears that's the way a lot of broadcasts are going and will be into the future" (Huntington HERALD-DISPATCH, 8/25).
