much is why independence even worked at all.

First, you have to consider that there just weren’t that many media groups looking to buy inventory. NBC already had ND. CBS wasn’t really looking. That left ESPN and FOX. I don’t know how serious FOX ever was. Regardless of how valuable BYU was during independence, ESPN was always bargaining from a position of “if you don’t like the offer you’re free to go somewhere else” knowing there was really no nowhere else. Also, in order for independence to work, BYU needed exposure to stay visible/relevant and no media partner offered that more than ESPN.

Second, what was ESPN buying? Rights to 6-7 home football games (and 15-20 basketball games). Some of those they passed on and BYU aired them on BYUTv. So, really they were buying 4-5 football games. Being in a conference maximizes BYU’s value because ESPN/FOX are buying BYU’s home games plus all of BYU’s conference road games. They are getting much more inventory against guaranteed higher quality opponents.