Sportonomics: Snippets on Mountain West and Northwestern

Today, Wednesday July 19th, there are multiple large stories in the sports business industry. San Diego State will remain a member of Mountain West and Northwestern University is initiating multiple investigations into their athletics department.

Mountain West: 

Mountain West, a collegiate football and basketball athletic conference, and San Diego State are finalizing paperwork for an agreement today, Wednesday July 19th, for the school to remain in the conference. The agreement has conditions: San Diego State will pay the Mountain West legal fees and will agree in writing to not retroactively use a controversially worded June 13th letter to invoke a smaller exit fee should it receive an invitation from the Pac-12 or another conference before next year. Gloria Nevarez, the Mountain West commissioner, is scheduled to give a state of the conference address today at football media days in Las Vegas. She is expected to reference and affirm the resolution. San Diego State’s decision to accept the Mountain West terms can be viewed as an admission that a Pac-12 invitation might not be coming anytime soon. While on the topic of the Pac-12, it will not unveil the details of its media rights deal on friday in Las Vegas during its football media day but a deal may still come in the near future. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is expected to give an update on Friday and it's possible that new entrants have come in. The media deal is expected to include a linear component and a streaming element. The big-12 made a deal last year that will give its members an annual distribution 31.6 million per school and the Pac-12 is confident it will land in the same ballpark.

Northwestern:

Northwestern will initiate 2 external reviews into its athletic department after investigations of hazing and firing of football coach Pat Fitzgerald and baseball coach Jim Foster. Michael Schill, the University President, in a letter to faculty stated that the reviews are needed to insure appropriate accountability for Northwestern’s athletic department. One review examines how Northwestern detects threats to athletes and how it implements accountability. The other review will assess the culture of Northwestern’s athletics and its ties to the university’s mission. A former Northwestern player on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the university, Schill, Fitzgerald, and other school trustees. The player alleges that the university was negligent in allowing hazing to take place within the program. The firm that filed the lawsuit expects to represent other former Northwestern athletes. Another firm is representing 12 former footballers in potential litigation against the university.