Boise State is taking issue with the MWC's new deal changing how it sells home football game rightsGETTY IMAGES
Boise State has sued the Mountain West Conference over a new TV contract announced earlier this month, claiming that the MWC "breached its contract with the school and 'violated, nullified and significantly impaired'" the school's rights by signing the deal without its approval, according to a front-page piece by Blanchard, Counts & Cripe of the IDAHO STATESMAN. In a complaint filed in Idaho district court on Friday, Boise State also claims that the MWC "put an end to two benefits the school negotiated" as part of its '12 deal to stay in the conference, including a $1.8M annual bonus. The school's statement focused on MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson's comments that this "would be the last time that Boise State's home football games were sold separately" from the rest of the conference. The '12 deal "convinced Boise State to renege on plans to join the Big East in football and the Big West in most other sports." Meanwhile, the school also said that the MWC "plans to end" its TV bonus at the end of the new deal with Fox and CBS Sports. Thompson has valued that deal at $270M over six years. The complaint also says that Boise State President Marlene Tromp wants the MWC to "increase" the school's bonus in "recognition of the role it played in drawing interest of Fox." Finally, Boise State alleges that it "suffered damages" as a result of the MWC's actions. The school is "requesting a jury trial" (IDAHO STATESMAN, 1/23).
MORE MONEY: The ATHLETIC's Dave Southorn wrote that the $1.8M bonus has "long been a point of contention in the eyes of the league's other members," which earned $1.1M each from the last TV deal with CBS and ESPN, while Boise State earned $2.9M. The new contract with CBS and Fox will "triple other schools' distribution and double Boise State's." When Boise State returned to the MWC, the conference "made it clear it needed the Broncos when it agreed to the school's re-entry agreement." Boise State has been the conference's "biggest television draw and has won more games (95) than any other Group of 5 school" since joining the MWC (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/22).
MORE PROBLEMS: USA TODAY's Dan Wolken writes within American Athletic Conference circles, the question of "whether Boise State would make sense as a football-only member has become an informal but significant topic of conversation in recent days." Maybe Boise State's complaint is "just a ploy to get back to the negotiating table so that they can keep their sweetheart television deal in perpetuity." But the school's grievances with the MWC are "now adding up." The AAC is "watching this soap opera closely, considering whether the time is right to make a play that would significantly strengthen its brand as the best football league outside the Power Five." Thompson said that he "wasn't concerned about Boise State leaving the conference and added that everyone should be celebrating a new TV deal that will more than triple the financial distribution for most members." Wolken writes Boise State's actions over the last week have been "so provocative they could easily be construed as laying the groundwork for an exit," and unless the school is "prepared to go the independent route ... the only possible alternative would be the AAC" (USA TODAY, 1/23).
CONFERENCE SHAKEUP? In Orlando, Matt Murschel wrote the AAC "could be a destination now that the league is looking for a replacement" for UConn. The AAC received a waiver from the NCAA that "allows it to host a conference championship game in football with less than the required 12 members." But the waiver is "only good" from '20-22, "unless the league proposes changes to the NCAA legislation." Murschel: "Adding Boise State, particularly as a football-only member, would give the AAC a boost" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/22).
