BYU sports is a way to normalize the LDS faith. Lets people see that Mormons who practice their religion are normal folks who love sports, love to compete, just like everyone else. Take that away, and it would make LDS look more insular, which as as missionary church, is not what is wanted.
BYUtv is proof if the Admin commitment to BYU sports. Look at all the sports broadcast on it, and it goes around the world, to places the church can't otherwise access. That is one way in which BYU sports are a missionary tool and in way in which winning is not the main goal. But exposure is. Which fits with everything we hear all the time from BYU.
When it comes down to it, there is a massive commitment to it, just not perhaps in the way that the BYU Football fans on this board might want to see. We want the exposure, but we also want to win and do what that takes. While the Admin perhaps just wants the exposure and enough winning to not be totally irrelevant.