BoiseDevBoise State continues to evaluate its options when it comes to conference affiliation – including paying an outside contractor this year to provide a profile of the athletic department and how it might look in conferences like the Pac-12 and American Athletic Conference. According to reporting...
https://boisedev.com/news/2021/07/22/boise-state-conference/[https://boisedev.com/news/2021/07/22/boise-state-conference/?amp&__twitter_impression=true]
It seems pretty spot on. Some excerpts:
“The Pac-12 has, to this point, never shown any real interest in Boise State despite its football program being easily the most recognizable brand in all of the Group of 5. Why? Academics. (Just so you know, I hate denigrating a school’s academics. Those rankings are completely arbitrary. But I can’t deny they play a huge role with notoriously snooty university presidents.) Boise is in the “No. 298-389” tier in U.S. News’ rankings, well below any current Pac-12 member.
When it comes to the Pac-12, MRJ showed Boise State would rank last among all schools when it comes to ticket sales for football and men’s basketball based on current metrics. For overall revenue, the school also would rank in last place – though this partially hangs on its current media rights deal. If the school joined the Pac-12, media rights could increase, increasing revenue but still leaving the school below the conference average.
The picture in the American is different. Boise State’s overall revenue would rank ahead of Tulane, Tulsa, and Wichita State – though still below the conference average. For ticket sales, Boise State would rank behind only Memphis and Cincinnati – and above the average for the league. MRJ project a decline in total revenue in the American Athletic, owing to a media rights deal that’s inferior to Boise State’s current enhanced deal as a member of the Mountain West.