SaltyDawg
Well-Known Member
I don't know the specifics on the MWC tv contract, but I know Utah plays on ESPN a couple times every year. So BYU could certainly be playing on ESPN those weeks if ESPN wanted...Doesn't the Mountain West have a T.V. contract already? Maybe the argument could be made that if BYU were all that and a sack of money that ESPN might have kicked in the extra 10 million dollars or whatever the difference is between the MWC's current contract and the old contract. But I don't think the ESPN thing has any merit right now. I think that reflects more poorly on the other teams of our conference personally, not BYU/UTAH.
BYU has a pretty good demographic argument, however. You have Utah that's growing like crazy. You have Provo which is the fastest growing city in America. You have the Mormon church - which is churning out solid growth rates. BYU is the largest private school in America churning out graduates that add to a solid sized alumni base every year + BYU-Idaho + BYU- Hawaii . There shouldn't be any problems selling BYU by any standard.
I agree with your points on the demographics though. But again, it all comes back to BYU not playing on Sundays. If BYU came with no strings attached, they would be in several conference expansion rumors, just like Utah currently is.