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On June 20th a case study was released describing which team has carried the Mountain West competitively. The results likely didn’t surprise anyone. Many questions came up about which team has carried the conference financially though. The competitve aspect can be so subjective, but dollars and cents are equal everywhere. So it’s time to look at that. Note, this is money that goes to the conference that the Mountain West decides how to split up.
This case study goes back to 2013. It accounts for football and men’s basketball, as those are the big money makers. They’re also the easiest to find information on, although it still wasn’t easy.
For more recent events finding payouts for postseason games is a bit easier. Going back a decade though some gets lost. So some of what is presented here is an estimate. Much of it is sourced though.
There is realistically a $2,000,000 margin of error for each of these numbers, mostly the numbers are probably slightly lower, but they still paint a nice picture. The numbers are also rounded for simplicity sake.
Now for the order:
12th: San Jose State – $2,202,000
San Jose State has played in two bowl games since becoming a member of the Mountain West, and has never made the March Madness tournament.
11th: UNLV – $2,573,000
UNLV has had one bowl and one tournament game since 2013. At least they’re balanced.
10th: New Mexico – $5,096,000
New Mexico has played in two bowl games as well as two tournament games since 2013. They’re well balanced, just not very successful.
9th: Air Force – $6,879,000
Air Force has played in six bowl games, showing some success on the football field. A couple of them had really good payouts too. Their lack of basketball success really holds them back here.
8th: Hawaii – $7,150,000
Hawaii only plays in football, so they can’t have basketball numbers count towards the conference. They’ve played in five bowls since 2013, but the payouts have generally been higher for each bowl.
7th: Colorado State – $8,052,000
Colorado State has been solid. I’d expect this number to go up in the future with all the money they’re investing into sports. Since 2013 they’ve played in four bowl games and two NCAA tournament games.
6th: Wyoming – $8,266,500
Wyoming has had some football success, playing in five bowl games since 2013. They’ve only made the tournament twice though, and each time they were one and done.
5th: Fresno State – $10,419,000
Fresno State has had some football success, playing in 6 bowls since 2013. Having only one tournament game really holds them back.
4th: Utah State – $12,302,000
Utah State has been very consistent in football. They’re rarely the best in the conference, but they’re almost always good enough to be a bowl team. Their recent success in basketball also helps.
3rd: Nevada – $14,555,414
Nevada has played in five bowl games and six tournament games. Their run to the sweet 16 really helps them here.
2nd: SDSU – $36,996,570
This is where the gap really starts. SDSU has played in 14 tournament games and 9 bowl games in the time period. They are largely carried by the 2023 tournament earning $10,000,000 for the conference. Losing the 2020 tournament really hurt both them and the conference as a whole. Especially the conference, because Utah St. could’ve gone on a run too.
1st: Boise State – $37,140,900
To no ones surprise, Boise State is tops in the conference. They are largely carried by the 2014 Fiesta bowl that earned the conference $18,000,000. They had a few other high payout football games as well, and four tournament games in the time frame.
That does is. Once again, Boise State and SDSU are neck and neck.
The question on everyone’s mind? Does this mean the Moutnain West shouldn’t charge SDSU for leaving the conference? Of course not. They need to do what’s best for the remaining members. They will of course, need to take account for money they will lose not only in the media deal, but also for post season payouts. We’ll see how that turns out. In the mean time, now there are specific numbers to reference when trash talking your rivals.
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