Financial commitments from Boise State and the Big East helped convince the Big West to take the Broncos’ Olympic sports programs, Boise State President Bob Kustra said Wednesday.
Big West presidents will vote on Boise State’s membership after school starts, Kustra said, but he is confident the Broncos will be accepted into the California-based league. Eight of 10 presidents must vote in favor of adding Boise State.
“No doubt, as far as I’m concerned,” Kustra told the Idaho Statesman.
Two or three presidents, he said, had initial concerns about allowing Boise State into the league. The Broncos were not invited last year when they initially committed to the Big East in football. Instead, Boise State agreed to place its teams in the Western Athletic Conference, which has since been raided and is in danger of collapse.
Money appears to have converted those against adding Boise State.
“They were concerned with flights to Boise. We’ve dealt with that from a financial standpoint,” Kustra said. “... We’re going to pay. The Big East is going to participate in that. Again, when it’s all said and done, it will be a more favorable agreement or arrangement than we feel we had under the WAC and it will also be one that is financially attractive to the Big West and takes care of the concerns they’ve had since the beginning.”
Kustra did not disclose specific financial arrangements. But in a June 9 email to Kustra, obtained by the Statesman, Boise State Athletic Director Mark Coyle suggested the Broncos are considering giving the Big West a percentage of their television revenue from the Big East.
The Big East will begin negotiations on a new television contract Sept. 1.
The Big East also made an offer to the Big West in June. The Big West scheduled a conference call with its athletic directors to discuss the Big East offer and an anticipated media rights proposal from Time Warner Cable, according to a June 12 email from Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell to Kustra.
The Statesman obtained the emails through a public records request.
Despite that offer, Kustra felt compelled to ask the Big East for more help near the school’s June 30 deadline to officially withdraw from the Mountain West.
“In those days, I had to go to the Big East and say, ‘You guys are not neutral arbiters here. You must help us make this happen.’ So the Big East Interim Commissioner Joe Bailey deserves credit for jumping in,” Kustra said.
The Big East hired Mike Aresco, an executive vice president at CBS Sports, to be its commissioner this week. Kustra served on the search committee. Aresco said Boise State is a key part of the Big East moving forward.
“Boise is a household name, a brand name,” Aresco said, comparing the Broncos to Gonzaga’s basketball program. “Boise has really forged an identity around the country. ... Having an addition like Boise is extremely valuable and they have a national reach.”
Aresco, who takes over in early September, said he did not know what deals the league made to help Boise State with the Big West.
San Diego State, which like Boise State is moving its football program to the Big East next season, also played a role, Kustra said. The Aztecs are joining the Big West for non-football sports next season.
“If we had not made the decision we made, San Diego State, according to them, would probably not have been able to hang in there. And the Big West couldn’t handle that,” Kustra said. “They couldn’t lose San Diego State. It was a true partnership every step of the way.”
The next step: A formal vote.
Kustra attributed the lack of a vote to presidents’ hectic schedules before school starts.
“There has been so much groundwork laid. Now it’s just a matter of getting the presidents together for a final vote,” he said. “... It’ll just take a few more days to get all these guys together around a table.”
The 11 teams in the Big West next year will be Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Hawaii (football in Mountain West) and San Diego State (football in Big East).
Boise State sponsors three sports that aren’t a part of the Big West — wrestling (now in the Pac-12), gymnastics (now in the WAC) and women’s swimming and diving (now in the Mountain West).
Brian Murphy: 377-6444,Twitter: @MurphsTurph
