Former Sun Belt/WAC/MAC Commissioner Karl Benson joined the Canzano & Wilner podcast to discuss what comes next in Pac-12 realignment, the next steps for the Mountain West, and how the dominoes will fall around the rest of the country.
Benson is also on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Benson explains that a school near a big media market doesn’t mean it can deliver that market, and media companies have gotten better at divining the actual value teams can bring.
As such, Benson says he’s been “led to believe” that Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State had the “highest viewership over an eight- or 10-year period, and some that got left out that maybe were surprised to get left out did not have that viewership history. The media companies have been smart for a long time, but they’ve thrown money at some bad products in the past. I think that in today’s corporate world, those media companies are not going to overpay for a product.” As far as litigation by the Mountain West is concerned, Benson believes there will be some “saber-rattling,” but “at the end of the day there’s probably some type of a settlement involved.”
From the standpoint of rebuilding the MWC, Benson says the first thing to do is to look at the footprint. He cites UTEP, New Mexico State, Montana, Montana State, UC Davis, Cal Poly, and Sacramento State as possibilities. More from Benson. (link)
