I disagree with Jarom that BYU has any interest in making money.  While the school doesn't want to lose money, making money is not a goal at all.  If it were, the easy way to make money would be to solicit more donations.  The goal is exposure.  This is done via TV contracts, bowl/post-season arrangements, and most of all winning.  Tom Holmoe's comments about the ESPN deal were focused on post-season arrangements rather than about money.

Joinging a G5 with a path to the playoffs is intriguing.  However, since invitation to the playoffs is still done via an opaque committee, there's no guarantee that the path to the playoffs is easier with the G5 versus independence path.  There are multiple G5 conferences, so the committee is still the decider and is more important than conference affiliation or even winning.