Boise State AD: Mountain West TV dispute ongoing; no contact for athletes, coaches
Boise State Athletic Director Curt Apsey said Thursday on a media conference call that the school’s dispute with the Mountain West over its latest TV deal is ongoing and, beginning next week, coaches and players will have no in-person contact.
College sports have been shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s a natural anxiety from everybody about the unknown,” Apsey said. “For us to be as responsible as we can to chip into that effort and make sure we slow this (virus) down, right now needs to be the focus, and I think our campus is doing everything in our power to make sure we contribute to that.”
In January, Boise State filed a legal complaint against the Mountain West over its attempt to negate the Broncos’ additional $1.8 million in annual TV revenue and their right to have their home games negotiated as a separate package from the rest of the conference. Both stipulations were built into the agreement that kept Boise State in the Mountain West in 2012.
In February, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the Mountain West’s board of directors voted to rescind its stance against Boise State’s TV bonus. On Thursday, Apsey said the case remains in question. The Fourth District Court in Ada County also showed the case active and pending.
“It’s, right now, just discussions between the conference and Boise State,” Apsey said. “As we move forward, I’m hopeful that it will all work out the right way.”
Understandably, the TV deal has been on the back burner the past couple weeks. As cases of coronavirus continue to stack up around the United States, Boise State has been focused on the safety of its students. Classes will be offered online for the rest of the semester, and all students are encouraged to return home if possible.
Following the NCAA’s and Mountain West’s cancellation of all remaining winter championships and spring seasons, Boise State football announced on Tuesday that it has suspended team activities.
Apsey said Thursday that the majority of athletes were already off campus but, to this point, some were still gathering in small groups to train. That will change on Monday. Apsey said all organized athletic activities are on hold and coaches will have to resort to remote means to contact their players, many of whom remain in the dark about their futures.
“Some are devastated, some are wondering what’s going on,” Apsey said. “Obviously, the future has lots of questions in it, and for the most part, everyone has handled it in a great way, understanding what’s most important.”
Apsey said coaches will take advantage of video chatting programs, such as Zoom and Skype, to keep in contact with athletes and potential recruits, and he expects many athletes will continue to train at home on their own.
“It’s sort of business as usual except for the fact that there’s no visitation either way,” Apsey said.
He also said the athletic department has been involved in discussions with coaches, the Mountain West and the NCAA about potentially granting spring athletes another year of eligibility, but no decision has been made.
“I do think there’s certainly going to have to be some leniency from the NCAA, which they are very aware of, and there’s going to have to be some changes made where we’re going to have to do business a different way this next year, whatever that may look like,” Apsey said.
Apsey said there has even been preliminary discussions about how the cancellation of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament will affect Boise State, which is scheduled to host first- and- second-round games in 2021. He said there haven’t been in-depth conversations about adjusting the football season yet, but he didn’t rule it out.
“There’s going to be modification to deadlines and NCAA rules, and all those things are going to have to be taken into consideration,” he said, adding that no decision has been made on the football team’s Spring Game. “It just depends on how long this goes until the powers that be decide that society is safer.”
Apsey said Boise State will follow the suggestions of health officials and the NCAA’s guidelines in deciding when it’s safe to go back on the field.
“I think that’s going to come from health officials in the beginning and then each institution will decide how they want to phase that in, making sure it’s following the health guidelines in each state going forward,” he said.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 6:00 PM.
